Leadership and Conflict in African Churches

"I am grateful for Mkunga H. P. Mtingele's well-researched and informative book, which paints a picture of leadership challenges in Tanzania and the rest of Africa from the perspective of an insider. This is stimulating and worth reading." -Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church "In an Anglican Communion in which the member churches are only just beginning to get to know each other, books like this make a vital contribution. As Augustine wrote in his Confessions, 'To the best of my power and the best of my will I have laid this long account before you because you first willed that I should confess to you.' It is in this spirit that Mkunga H. P. Mtingele offers this analysis of conflict within the church in Tanzania: to help the church acknowledge its weaknesses and better understand itself, so that it might be renewed and live more fully into its calling. Through sharing his own church's struggle, may Mtingele inspire and equip other churches do the same." -Christopher C. Brittain, Chair in Social and Political Theology, University of Aberdeen "Mkunga H. P. Mtingele has produced an excellent work on the causes and consequences of conflict and conflict management in the Church in Africa under indigenous leadership. Taking the Anglican Church of Tanzania as a case study, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the context, nature, and causes of conflicts that affect the African Church in the past fifty years after indigenous leaders took over from the missionaries. Tribalism and power struggles have not spared the African church. The discourse is rich, informative, and educative not only to experts of church conflict management but also to general leadership interested in leadership and church politics in Africa. I strongly recommend this book which has been published at the right time when the African church needs transformative church." -Palamagamba John Kabudi, University of Dar es Salaam School of Law "This is a shocking book, a real eye-opener! Based on original primary research data, Mkunga H. P. Mtingele not only provides sufficient evidence on the leadership crisis in the Anglican Church of Tanzania but equally elsewhere in Africa." -Aloo Mojola, Chairman Department of Theology, Biblical Studies, and Philosophy, St. Paul's University Limuru-Kenya