Impact of the Church on Conflict Transformation of Political Crises at Community Level: A Case Study of two Church Denominations in Dzivarasekwa, Harare

Abstract

This study, based on Lederach’s conflict transformation (CT) theory, analyses the participation of the local church in CT of political crises in Zimbabwe at  the grassroots level – from 2005 to 2020. It compares the CT interventions of one Pentecostal church denomination and of one African Independent  Church denomination in the Dzivarasekwa suburb of Harare. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used. SPSS software was used to analyse  quantitative data while the NVivo application was used for qualitative data analysis. One key finding is that both denominations believe CT entails  community engagement. Major challenges to local churches’ CT participation include financial constraints, repressive laws and church executives’ fear of  victimisation. The study concludes that the impact of the local churches is low because their interventions are limited to congregation members and their  immediate neighbours. Another conclusion is that CT is politicised in Zimbabwe, which restricts effective church participation. The study makes some  recommendations to address this most effective in achieving peace in the region.