Abstract

MASENGWE, Gift  and  DUBE, Bekithemba. 'Robert's Rules of Order' on religious conflicts in the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe. Verbum Eccles. (Online) [online]. 2023, vol.44, n.1, pp.1-7. ISSN 2074-7705.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v44i1.2666.

Church conflicts arise due to poor ethics, hermeneutics or doctrine. Unending conflicts may be historical and conflict resolution may not have been done. This article identifies fissures in the history of conflict in the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (COCZ). It proposes to use 'Robert's Rules of Order' (RONR) to redirect deliberants' energies towards comprehensive solutions (Robert 2020). This can eradicate collegial competition, litigious animosity, divided loyalties, mutual hatred, and violent tendencies in negative energy to increase growth tendencies in the organisation. Trust was lost due to highly adversarial contact where legal battles and acrimonious criticisms have not been addressed. The COCZ has tactical, technical and strategic management principles inherited from the restoration history, which can apply in conflict resolution. Using scientific methods of handling conflicts like RONR, and the COCZ principles can hopefully lead to better results in that church. CONTRIBUTION: The paper contributes to alternatives to conflict resolutions which have been tested within the Church of Christ. The Robert's Rules can be used in different religious organisations to resolve conflict through peaceful resolutions of difference.

Keywords : history of conflicts; social causes of conflict; Somabhula-Devure splits; Somabhula conference centre; Robert's Rules of Order'; Church of Christ in Zimbabwe; constitution.

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