Abstract:
This study sought to establish the extent of knowledge among church-going
Zimbabwean diaspora adolescents in Cape Town. A case study of the Apostolic
Faith Church (AFM) was carried out using its Parrow branch in Cape Town. The
research sought to establish several objectives that include knowledge of leadership
and its key principle among church-going Zimbabwean adolescents; the influences
of worldviews leadership praxis in Zimbabwean society; servant leadership
awareness by adolescencts in the church and society in Zimbabwe; leadership
teachings and practices adolescents are exposed to in churches. The research also
highlighted some literature by previous authors on church leadership.
A descriptive survey methodology, questionnaires were used as research
instruments in this case study. A sample size of 39 church attendees participated in
the study which revealed that church-going Zimbabwean diaspora adolescents were
knowledgeable of servant leadership model and its key principle of serving others.
The findings revealed that the Zimbabwean adolescents’ most influential role
models’ of leadership style was the Christian worldview; and that adolescencts were
aware of servant leadership praxis in the church and Zimbabwean society. The
results further indicated that adolescents were exposed to leadership teachings in
churches. Several recommendations were made to improve the consistency of
servant leadership approaches in churches and these include: the promotion of
intentional Christian servant leadership development programs; encouraging the
church to develop Christian servant leadership curriculum; and encourage the
church to confront gender related functions which have implications on the
knowledge and practice of the servant leadership model in Zimbabwe and Africa.
Finally, it is recommended that further researches be undertaken in order to
establish servant leadership in Zimbabwe especially the use of interpretive and
qualitative approaches to knowledge; investigate the knowledge of Zimbabwean
youths on specific servant leadership qualities; the development of Christian servant
leadership measuring instruments that would measure servant leadership qualities in leaders; examine the relationship between the cultivation of servant leadership
qualities and domestic functions; and empirical research on whether Zimbabwean
women possess more servant leadership qualities than men.
