The role of leadership in the growth of the reformed church in Zambia 2000 -2020.

The role of leadership to the growth of the Church cannot be over emphasized as without leadership a church, organization and even the state would be directionless. This particular research explores the role of leadership in the growth of the Reformed church in Zambia. The Reformed Church in Zambia has existed for over hundred and twenty years since the pioneering work of the Dutch Reformed Mission of the Free State. Like any other church it has undergone various challenges such as schisms to mention but one. The last schisms took place in a space of three years but the church held up and grown to
be one of the core churches in the Council of Churches in Zambia. From the academic perspective there is need to find out the role leadership in the growth of RCZ amidst all kinds of challenges. The study used a case study design which employed the qualitative strategy in order to effectively address the issues raised by the research question. The method of data collection included in depth interviews and document study. The target group included 5 Synod leaders, 5 former synod leaders, 5 Rev. who left the church and 15 lay leaders (5 from each fellowship men’s, women’s and youth). Purposive sampling techniques
were used to select 30 participants. Data was analyzed qualitatively. This involved explanation and interpretation of the raw data. The study revealed that the role played by leadership led to the growth of the church. Some of the roles included planning, leading, directing, church planting and modeling the way. However, the leadership was faced with many challenges as well such as lack of finances, shortage of human resources, language barrier, low technology
assimilation, COVID-19 and overall, the church failed to resolve conflicts and work out sustainable income generating activities. It was concluded that church leadership is imperative for the growth of the church and that the leadership of the RCZ played her role in growing the church despite the challenges which were faced. The study recommended the church leadership to teach peace building at all levels of the church to help resolve conflict, implement sustainable income generation activities so that the church can sustain it activities, continue with human resource development and invest in ICT so that growth can be
guaranteed in this technological world the church find herself.