What is the understanding of the apostolic office among the young Pentecostal pastors aged 25-40 years in Zimbabwe? How is this understanding different from the traditional Pentecostal understanding of the Apostolic Office?

Abstract

Church structure is a huge point of debate among many Pentecostals, furthermore the meaning or the use of the title Apostle among Pentecostals is a point of much contention among Pentecostal Christians. This research is about the use of the title Apostle among young pastors and how this understanding has affected how they relate with older ministries. In the research I discuss the development of the understanding of the title apostle, and why young pastors use the title. Furthermore, we will look at how the traditional Pentecostal understanding of this title differs with the young pastors understanding of the same title and how this has been the cause of much conflict. A qualitative method was used to carry out the research. The aim of the study was to explore the various understandings of the title apostle among young pastors and older pastors and what effects this has on how they run their ministries. The research data was obtained via WhatsApp questionnaire, Telephone interviews, and Facebook observation. From the results of this study we noticed a rift between young pastors and older pastors in the Pentecostal churches. We also noticed that most churches started in the Pentecostal movement among young pastors are splits from other churches and this is a cause of much conflict. The young pastors use the title Apostle to assert their independence and also the commission to implement the vision that they feel God has given them and called them that they could not express when under the main ministry. In this research it was recommend that there is a reconciliation needed between young ministers and older ministers and that Pastors groups need to be more inclusive of young pastors and not excluded them. I also recommend more dialogue between young pastors and old pastors so as to limit church splits among pastors. Furthermore, there is need for reconciliation and healing among ministries as church splits are a common occurrence among Pentecostal ministries.