Entrepreneurship With and Outside Tithes: The Ambivalence of the Anglican Diocese of Matabeleland for Sustainability and Social Impact

Abstract

From a bricolage vintage, this paper interrogates the business model of the Anglican Diocese of Matabeleland towards financial sustainability and social impact. The paper comes against the backdrop that churches in Zimbabwe face financial challenges due to unemployment and economic meltdown since independence. This is coupled with dwindling donor funding due to unfavorable investor policies and poor financial management. The paper is couched in bricolage theory which argues the use local available resources to redress pressing challenges facing people. The paper is a qualitative study premised in transformative paradigm where 10 people responded to two questions, what are the trajectories faced by Anglican church in financial sustainability and social impact, and how can entrepreneurship skills underpinned in theological connotation redress the ambivalent terrain of scarcity? The paper found that a business model of running church is an indispensable way to navigate financial challenges faced by the diocese of Matabeleland. In addition, the study found out that the current resources owned by Anglican diocese of Matabeleland can be reconfigured, reevaluated and repurposed to achieve social impact and sustainability. I conclude the paper by arguing that a theological framing of business model is urgent, doable and needed to repurpose the church as an enterprise that can address the lived reality of the people in which the church is located. In short the paper argues that churches should think beyond tithes and donations for sustainability and social impact.