Religious Leadership in National Political Conflict. Lloyd Tichaenda Nyarota

It is one thing for a religious leader to confront and challenge political leaders; it is altogether another thing when such a leader becomes a partisan political leader. This is what happened in the case of Bishop Abel Tendekai, a bishop of the United Methodist Church. For such a religious leader to attempt to traverse both worlds political and religious are in some ways uncharted waters; in other ways, they are treacherous waters. The pages which follow in this lucid and detailed volume is an effort to «look back» on the challenge and complexity of moving from colonialism to independence, to the making of a new independent nation on the Continent of Africa. What happens when the prophetic voice expected of and from the Church becomes the identified political entity? How does it challenge itself, or how is it distinguished from the political power it seeks to hold accountable on behalf of all the people? These are several of the questions Nyarota tackles through the examination of the impact of the struggle for liberation upon the United Methodist Church, its leader, Bishop Muzorewa, as both find themselves in the midst of nation building, political struggle, and the vying for political power.