Causes and implications of apostasy in the West Zimbabwe conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 1998-2008

摘要

This study seeks to investigate the causes and implications of apostasy in the WestZimbabwe Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1998 to 2008. Theresearch was undertaken due to the realisation that apostasy has reached a point ofconcern to both members and local church leadership. The researcher also noted withconcern that not much if any has been done on the causes and implications of apostasysince the introduction of the Church in Zimbabwe over one hundred years ago and theorganisation of the West Zimbabwe Conference about forty years ago.The research was motivated by these concerns coupled with the increasing number ofapostasy which continuously reflect negatively on the church and may subsequently limitthe church’s ability to evangelize the communities. The aim of the study therefore is toinvestigate the causes and implications of apostasy and make recommendations that willassist both church members and the church leadership in formulating policies andprograms geared towards minimizing apostasy in the church.The study combines both the quantitative and the qualitative research designs. Thepopulation for the study consisted of the one hundred and seventy one (171) churcheswith a total church membership of one hundred and fifty three thousand, seven hundredand two (153,702). A sample percentage of ten was adopted for the selection of churches while the proportional stratified sampling technique was used. The instruments used forthe study were both face and content validated and a pilot study carried out to determinethe reliability of the questionnaire. The data collected from the study was analysed usingdescriptive statistics and a descriptive interpretive method.Findings from the study confirm that there is apostasy within the WZC of the SeventhdayAdventist Church. Accordingly, the data analysis revealed that the causes of apostasyin order of magnitude are external, internal and doctrinal respectively. The study alsorevealed that youths, females and urban church members are highly susceptible toapostasy than their adult, male and rural counterparts respectively. Apostasy had aconsiderable effect on church membership as well as the receiving of tithes and offerings.Recommendations were made based on the findings of the research.