Use of Technology in Leadership Development in the 21st Century. Case of United Methodist Church, Zimbabwe East Annual Conference (2019-2022

Abstract

This study sought to understand how technological communications can be used to advance leadership developments in church a case of United Methodist Church. The church is failing to fully utilize the benefits of technology to leverage on the communication technologies to advance leadership development. The study used a case study of United Methodist Church Harare East district and focused on Zoom and UMConnect as communication technologies. This study used a qualitative approach. A case of Harare East was used and snow balling sampling method was used to select a sample size of 30 respondents. Open ended questionnaires were used to collect information from 30 participants and interviews were used to get information from 10 pastors. Thematic data analysis technique was used to analyze the qualitative data. The results indicated that the UMC church was failing to fully utilize the communication technologies to advance leadership development. This is mainly because the leaders are not getting the support from the church for them to be able to use these technologies effectively, 70% of the leaders lack either at least one of the following reliable network connection, knowledge on how to operate the technologies, reliable gadgets that support the technology or power. The study recommends the church to support the leaders by providing the support they need in order to enjoy the benefits of communication technologies.