Leadership mentoring and succession in the Charismatic churches in Bushbuckridge

Abstract

Leadership mentoring and succession programmes are critical in the development and preparation of emerging leaders for leadership transitions. By virtue of their one-founder-leaders whose special leadership talents are usually celebrated by their followers, Charismatic church leaders may fail to identify and develop young emerging leaders who may be equally gifted to prepare them for leadership succession. This quantitative study investigated the state of leadership mentoring and succession programmes in the Charismatic churches in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, South Africa (Bushbuckridge is one of five local municipalities in the Ehlazeni District Municipality situated in the north-east of the Mpumalanga province in South Africa. It borders private game ranches and the Kruger National Park). A population of 287 respondents drawn from 48 churches from rural and urban locations was assessed. Many of them (85%) were reported to have leadership mentoring programmes in their congregations and 72% of them reported that they had leadership succession programmes in place. Location was found to have no statistically significant effect on leadership mentoring. Gender and education levels were reported to have a statistically significant effect in describing leadership mentoring. Charismatic groupings in Bushbuckridge believe and take the Bible seriously as authoritative for faith, life and ministry. We therefore think it is appropriate to include in this article a relevant illustrative text – 2 Timothy 2:1–3.