Between Expectation and Experience: Leadership Transitions, Grief, and Lived Religion in Zimbabwean Adventism

Abstract

This study examines leadership transitions in the Zimbabwean Seventh-day Adventist Church, focusing on the experiences of pastors, their families, and church communities, and how removal or reassignment is interpreted through psychological, moral, and institutional frameworks. Using digital ethnography and discourse analysis of approximately 1,200 Facebook posts, alongside in-depth conversations with 10 participants, the study explores how leadership transitions are narrated and emotionally negotiated across online and offline contexts. Findings show that transitions generate grief, identity disruption, and family-level lifestyle changes. Emotional responses are shaped by theological interpretations that often frame grief as spiritual weakness, while digital platforms intensify scrutiny, moral judgement, and mockery. Structural inequalities and internal politics further shape these experiences. Integrating Role Theory and Social Identity Theory, the study demonstrates that leadership transitions are emotionally, morally, digitally, and structurally mediated, contributing African empirical insight to scholarship on religious leadership and lived religion.