Reconciling Black and White? the Compatibility of Christianity and Feminism in Churches in Masvingo Urban, Zimbabwe

The study was undertaken to establish the relationship between two ideologies that have gained momentum in recent years which are Christianity and Feminism. The researchers were motivated to carry out this study by a number of factors inter-alia the rising number of people turning to Christianity in Zimbabwe and the corresponding increase in gender advocacy spearheaded by governmental and non-governmental organisations. The two ideologies seem to represent conflicting principles. It was against this backdrop that the researchers undertook this study to establish the compatibility of the two ideologies. The liberal reformist feminist perspective informed the study. A sample of 120 Christians was purposively drawn from a population of 1200 respondents. Data was collected from the participants through semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary analysis. The researchers established that the majority of the respondents embraced feminist ideology in the public sphere except in the church. The study also revealed that men dominated in leadership positions in the church. Based on the findings of the study, the researchers recommended that gender advocacy groups should target churches and that women should be accorded the opportunity to take up leadership positions in churches.