**5. Overview of conflict involving pastors in the AFM in Zimbabwe church**

The AFM in Zimbabwe church is one of the oldest Pentecostal denominations in Zimbabwe, hereinafter referred to as a faith-based organization, tracing its origins as far back as 1915. Ever since its establishment, the AFM in Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesian African Church in 1915, was largely run under the supervision of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa but even then conflicts involving pastors have been an integral part of this church's life.

In 1989, the AFM's self-autonomy in Zimbabwe ushered in a new period in which the church encountered a multitude of head-on conflict situations involving pastors and the majority of cases arising from sexual immorality, violent tendencies, drunkenness, forced transfers, misappropriation of church funds, confiscation of church property, disputes over leadership roles and personality clashes [3]. To exemplify practical instances of conflict among pastors, the researcher identified cases that occurred between 1990 and 2018. The researcher, therefore, made a conscious choice of the period 1990 to 2018, which covered an upsurge of conflict situations resulting from the behavior of AFM in Zimbabwe pastors which resulted in the split of the church under review in 2018. Most of these conflict situations were both glossed over and degenerated into various levels of intractability, which have troubled this faith-based organization for 28 years.

For instance, in 1990, Masvingo Province experienced a conflict situation involving allegations of sexual immorality, leveled against a pastor by the church elders. After investigations by the Provincial Committee the matter was discussed in the Provincial Council meeting and a resolution was passed to suspend the pastor indefinitely. Another example of conflict situation of similar nature, an extra-marital affair, was also witnessed in 1994. The case was unearthed following reports by the church elders to the Provincial Overseer. The Provincial Committee made investigations and a resolution to place the pastor under censure for one-year pending reinstatements was passed.

In 1995, two cases were unearthed. The first involved a Provincial Overseer, who faced allegations of promiscuity. Following investigations a resolution was passed by the Apostolic Council to depose him from serving as Overseer with subsequent indefinite period of censure. The second case involved allegations of extra-marital affair, which the probing committee found no substantial evidence.

Also, in 1996, four gruesome conflict situations haunted and shook the church in the same year. A surge of tension occurred within one congregation following allegations of extra-marital affair leveled against a pastor. A report was forwarded to the Provincial Committee and the pastor denied the allegations. Following this, a resolution was made by the Provincial Committee to transfer the pastor to another congregation and the case came to a standstill.

During that same period three more cases heralded. The first one involved allegations of confiscating church property by a pastor and before investigations were made, it appears the pastor unceremoniously left for another province and the case was left insoluble. The second case involved allegations of polygamy. Following reports to the Provincial Overseer, the Provincial Committee made investigations and the matter was deliberated at a Provincial Council meeting and a resolution to suspend the pastor indefinitely was agreed upon. The third mishap involved a wrangle over the control of an assembly between a deputy Overseer and a junior pastor. Tension occurred following a decision by the Provincial Committee to place the deputy Overseer at the congregation which was already under a junior pastor. As pressure from the Provincial Committee was mounted on the junior pastor to create space for the deputy Overseer, the matter was left insoluble following the junior pastor's decision to unceremoniously leave the church to join another denomination.

In 1997, a resident pastor was alleged of attempted rape. The Provincial Committee made investigations following the pastor's arrest amidst allegations by family members of the victim. Subsequently, the matter was brought to court which some Provincial Committee delegates did attend and the pastor pleaded not guilty. And findings from the court proceedings were presented to the Provincial Council by the Provincial Committee delegates. The Provincial Council resolved that the pastor was to be suspended pending placement under censure by the Apostolic Council.

Apart from that, 1999 saw the province under review recording another conflict situation which spilled over to 2005 resulting in factions in the same church. Tension occurred following allegations of embezzling church finances being leveled against a Provincial Overseer by some members of the Provincial Committee. The case subsequently translated into violence between 2001 and 2003 and police had to be called in to restore order at the church premises where the alleged Overseer was stationed. The Provincial Committee and the Provincial Council discussed over the matter and recommendations were made to the Apostolic Council, which did not resolve the matter promptly. The Daily News newspaper of Tuesday 28, January 2003, confirms that police arrested the alleged Provincial Overseer on allegations of misappropriating church funds, common assault and malicious injury to property. According to the newspaper, the arrest followed disturbances in which the

#### *Managing Conflict in Faith-Based Organizations in Zimbabwe DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96932*

Provincial Overseer was alleged to have teamed up with other members and turned the church premises into a boxing ring. After a week, the newspaper of February 4, 2003 reported that the alleged Provincial Overseer appeared in court for a similar case in which he was charged with embezzlement of church funds but was not asked to plead against the charges. According to the newspaper report, the pastor had loaned church funds to a church member who returned it within a week and instead of depositing the money into the church's bank account the pastor allegedly converted it into his own use [8].

Furthermore, after the alleged pastor's acquittal the Apostolic Council cleared the charges and the pastor's suspension was lifted pending expiry in April 2003, a resolution contested against by the Masvingo Provincial Council, which demanded ostracization of the alleged pastor from pastoral duties. Accordingly, the Provincial Committee refused to abide by the decision of the Apostolic Council and this resulted in the alleged pastor's congregation splitting into two camps. And the two factions waged bitter war to gain control over the affairs of the congregation in which some youths resorted to physical force to ensure their favored pastor retains control. As the story goes, about four youths were arrested in connection with fighting, demolition of church property, the use of force to take over the church premises and driving the church vehicle with flattened tyres [8]. According to the newspaper report, despite the alleged pastor's acquittal by the Masvingo Magistrate who declared that "There was no evidence for the clergyman to warrant prosecution" [8], tension was still raging between Apostolic Council and Provincial Council over the status of the alleged pastor in the church until 2007.

As if that is not enough, to give an update information on some of the conflicts involving pastors that received wide media coverage. The following newspaper titles demonstrate the size of the problem;


In the first case, for example, the headline was a response following Makandiwa's decision to leave the church unceremoniously against the background of allegations of conflict of interests with the AFM in Zimbabwe church. Case of concern is number six, which records the pastor taking a complaint after misunderstandings against the church's decision. His decision resulted in him being indefinitely suspended. Another case of concern is number 15, which documented the ostracization of a pastor arising from misunderstandings between the parties to the dispute. Case number 16, represents a watershed conflict that changed the membership the AFM in Zimbabwe church. According to reports, the 2018 break-up was due to power struggle and other factors between top leadership involving the long-time and out-going church president, former deputy and the general secretary. At the time of writing this article, the once united AFM in Zimbabwe church has two rival church presidents one group has identified itself as the 'Original AFM and its rival identifies itself as 'Reformist AFM' with each camp claiming legitimacy and ownership of church property. These issues are still being decided by the courts of the land. From these cases, one can conclude that the church under review is more inclined toward adversarial position in which case the majority of pastors respond by going through the courts of law as they fight for what they consider as a violation of their rights (we discussed in detail on the principles focused on powers and privileges below). Against this background, this article assess the extent to which the faith-based organization is dealing with conflicts involving pastors with a view to recommend effective strategies. Whether the current strategies produced sustainable outcomes or just alleviated the impact or not resolved at all, are questions to be considered?

#### **6. Conceptualizing conflict**

Conflict is part and parcel of human life, and neither is the church spared [9]. As such, if the church wants to make the most of circumstances of conflict, conflict dynamics must be known. Although it is difficult to define conflict because of a variety of meanings in circulation, this article is closely associated with Adler & Towne's concept of conflict, who understand conflict as' an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive conflicting goals, scarce rewards, and the other party's intervention in achieving their goals' [1]. There are two major points to remember about conflict here. Conflict, in the first place, is an expressed struggle that implies that it is an open confrontation. In that sense, when all the parties concerned become aware of their differences, that is, in one way or the other, conflict may be said to exist; each party involved must realize that there is discord, tension or clash between them.

Second, disputes are made up of interdependent groups. This is so because "Any relationship… no matter how close, how detailed, how compatible there will be times

#### *Managing Conflict in Faith-Based Organizations in Zimbabwe DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96932*

when feelings, acts, needs or priorities will not match those of those around" [1]. The tension inside an interaction is crystal clear. Thus, as family, colleagues, workmates, church mates or neighbors, the parties experiencing a conflict engage in different spheres of social interaction. Since this article is interested in a church organization's conflict situations, it is important to remember that faith-based organizations are like family structures. Faith-based organizations are made up of people who affect each other, such as the teacher of the Sunday school, usher, deacon, deaconess, elder, priest, overseer, church president, to name a few. The actions of one participant impacts others as these individuals interact, thereby necessitating conflict, misunderstandings or disagreements. Conflict thus exists during an interaction [4].

There are three levels of social interaction from which conflict frequently arises: interpersonal, intra-community or intercommunity interactions [10, 11]. Conflict at an interpersonal level includes tension between people. Conflicts typically arise from variations in personality, attitudinal issues, communication failure, different expectations, limited resources and incompatible behaviors at this stage. Such factors may also fuel tensions between individuals.

An Intra-community tension includes tension within a community between individuals or groups that can also erupt due to, among other factors, personality differences, attitudes or limited resources. A conflict between a pastor and an over scarce resources is a good example. A common example of an intragroup conflict includes tension between cultures or community members, a clash of ideologies between Christians and Muslims [10].

The majority of researchers believe that conflict is a dynamic phenomenon that can be positive or negative [10, 12, 13]. When contained, handled and resolved, conflict becomes constructive in a way that prevents it from escalating into abuse (harm by intention). In contrast, it is considered destructive and thus harmful when a dispute transforms into hate, resentment, hatred, animosity and hostility between the parties [13]. Conflict only becomes negative if conflicts or misunderstandings are not adequately resolved, then conflict will turn into a crisis that will probably have a negative impact on human life [14]. The possible negativity or positivity of conflict is reflected below:

Conflict is not always a mechanism that is negative. Conflict, therefore, is one of the most important positive forces for social change. It tells us that something is wrong; conflict is a growth and development driver. There will be stagnation without conflict [15].

The above sentiments imply that conflict is not inherently a bad experience, but it helps to reveal other people's goals, priorities and roles, which can in turn foster development and positive social interactions between individuals and groups. This article is more concerned with the management of intra-church conflict.
