Rethinking strategic planning models for the survival of the Anglican diocese of Matabeleland in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The paper argues that the survival of the church in the 21st century revolves around a strong strategic management model as opposed to only the spiritualisation of matters. The Anglican Diocese of Matabeleland in Zimbabwe has done a lot of programmes that address the spiritual wellbeing of followers, with less effort to address poverty and unemployment engulfing the Matabeleland region. The paper is located in the Strategic Management Theory. Qualitative methods were used as an approach to generate data, where interviews and focus group discussions were employed to collect information from 10 participants. The participants responded to two questions: what are the challenges of strategic planning in the diocese, and how can strategic planning be enhanced in the diocese? The study findings reveal that for a long time, the church has focused primarily on the spiritualisation of issues such as business. In some cases, leadership positions are determined on the basis of one’s spiritual acumen rather than a thorough understanding of the dynamics of business models for sustainability. The paper argues that while spiritualisation should remain the core business of the church, strategic management is indispensable to address congregants’ needs and the challenges of surviving in resource-thwarted communities such as Matabeleland. To this end, this article argues that strategic management should be an integral part of the curriculum for ministers to enable them to run churches as both spiritual and business entities, thus remaining relevant in addressing the totality of humanity.