The role of missional leadership in the growth of urban African Initiated Churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Globally, leadership has been a pivotal factor in the expansion of the Church and the relocation of the Centre of gravity of Christian leadership from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern and Eastern Hemispheres. Urbanization and globalisation have been identified as the most significant among the various causative factors. This is an absolute requirement. In recent decades, a notable phenomenon has emerged in sub-Saharan Africa: the rapid inception and phenomenal growth of churches initiated exclusively by Africans and for Africans. The African Initiated Church (AIC) phenomenon has also affected Christianity in the DRC. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the second most populous country in terms of church membership, with Nigeria being the most populated. The following section will present the methodology employed in this study. This study employs qualitative research methods to gain insight into and examine the extent to which African-descended churches in the DRC, as urban churches, are utilizing missionalleadership as a strategy and style to foster their growth. The main question is as follows: "To what extent is the growth of the AIC in the DRC due to missional leadership?" The study is concerned with the missional characteristics of the leadership in question and their impact on the qualitative and quantitative growth of the church. The findings reveal that to facilitate growth within the church, the AIC in the DRC requires implementing a missional leadership approach for several key reasons. Some reasons are intrinsic to the factors that motivated their inception and to the strategies and leadership styles that are being applied to the development of the church. The absence of a biblical vision, mission, methods, and church objectives has prompted the AIC's leadership to rely on expedient and passive church development strategies, such as transfer and natural birth rate, which result in a numerical increase but fail to facilitate the spiritual development that would naturally lead to church development through communal participation in the mission of God. This attitude is further compounded by the influence of political, social, and economic factors and the impact of globalisation, urbanization, and migration. As a result, the church is experiencing both proliferation and growth, but not necessarily in a balanced or appropriate manner. In light of these circumstances, it is evident that the DRC's AICs must transform their approach. Rather than relying on traditional strategies, leaders must adopt a missional mindset through training and other initiatives. Before addressing these multifaceted challenges, the AIC leaders in the DRC must transition from Christendom to a missional mindset. This shift can be facilitated through training, equipping, and other strategic initiatives rather than relying on these unproductive attitudes. It is inadvisable to prioritize natural birth, given that the Christian birth rate is less than that of Muslims. Moreover, the rate of decline in the number of Christians is greater than that of Muslims, which has the effect of slowing down the pace of church development.