Women’s leadership role in the Apostolic Faith Mission Church of South Africa

Abstract

Women’s advancement into executive leadership in the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) church in South Africa (SA) has not been able to keep pace with women’s movement into the workforce. As part of a resolution passed at the AFM of SA’s National Leadership Forum (NLF) meeting, a task team was appointed in March 2020 to determine what prevents women from being elected to leadership positions in the church. This team consisted of three women ordained as pastors in the church. A questionnaire was distributed by the team to women in the AFM assemblies in nine provinces of SA asking why women were not advancing in leadership in the church and what could be done to change the phenomenon. A sample of 89 participants responded to both closed and open-ended questions. The open-ended questions were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings illustrated that a change in perceptions and bias toward women in leadership is needed. Women require support from church leadership, training, mentorship, and intentional changes to policy and practice. Finally, women require representation on all levels of leadership in the church.