Gift Masengwe, Paul Gundani

Navigating the Complexities of Clerical (University) Education in the Era of Digital Religion in Zimbabwe

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The proliferation of digital platforms within the religious milieu of Sub-Saharan Africa has engendered a paradigm shift in the pedagogical terrain of clerical training, precipitating a recalibration of traditional ministerial education to meet the novel exigencies of the digital era. This study delineates the intricate interplay between digital religion and the training of religious leaders at Zimbabwe Open University, accentuating the exigent challenges and opportunities that digital media presents to the institutionalized processes of clerical training in the region. This study, by employing a qualitative analysis of digital content and social media discourse, reveals that digital religion has furnished new avenues for fostering connectivity and communal bonds, while simultaneously perpetuating extant power structures and reinforcing social exclusions. The intrinsic anonymity to online spaces has engendered a proliferation of obscenities, thereby exacerbating controversies confronting traditional notions of clerical authority. Furthermore, the digitization of religious knowledge has necessitated novel skills in digital literacy, online communication, and social media management for effective religious leadership. In response to these challenges, this study advances a revised approach to clerical training that integrates digital pedagogy into ministerial education. Religious leaders can acquire a more comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of digital religion, by assimilating digital tools and platforms into the educational process, thereby fostering more efficacious communication with their congregations and promoting a more inclusive and empathetic faith community.