|
|
        |
 |
|
HOW DO PASTORS PRACTICE LEADERSHIP? By Jackson W. Carroll When we speak of pastoral leadership, we mean the work that pastors do in giving direction, equipping, and motivating members of a congregation to participate in the congregation’s mission in its local community and beyond. By this definition, almost everything that a pastor does, whether preaching a sermon, teaching, or engaging in what some call "vision casting," contributes to his or her exercise of leadership. But some tasks are ones in which pastors more directly exercise leadership—for example, administering the congregation’s affairs, including attending congregational meetings. Also, important is equipping members for their ministries. As we showed in the last report from our national survey of clergy, 15 percent of the average pastor’s week is spent in administering the congregation’s affairs and attending congregational meetings. Another 13 percent is spent in training or equipping people for ministry. Pastors differ, however, in the way they lead. In this installment of findings from our survey, we look at pastors’ responses to several questions about leadership style and practice.
We begin with a look at the pastors’ preferred leadership style.
Overall, It is clear that clergy describe themselves as leading by encouraging and inspiring others to make decisions. Although all groups favor this response, there are several important differences in the way subgroups rated the other leadership styles. Pastors from historic Black churches are more likely than the others to say that they make most of the decisions. They are less likely to leave it to lay leaders to take the initiative. Clergy in small congregations (ones with less than 100 attendees) are significantly more likely than others to leave most decision-making to laity (either of the latter two leadership styles). Clergywomen are especially more likely than men to chose the fourth style of leading, emphasizing lay initiative while seeing their role as that of empowering laity to implement their decisions (30 percent favor this style in contrast to 8 percent of male clergy). The differences are especially pronounced for women who serve as pastors of small congregations. Whether it is the size of congregation that makes the difference or women’s preference for empowerment is difficult to say. How do clergy and lay leaders go about deciding about new programs or ministries? What are the bases for making such decisions? Do they discuss the theological rationale for what they are considering, or do they think in terms of the desires and needs of current or prospective members? The probably do some of both, but which takes priority? Overall, clergy told us that consideration of the needs and desires of members takes priority by a significant margin. Again, subgroups differ. More Catholics (36 percent) and Conservative Protestants (30 percent) report that they consider the theological rationale for new programs or ministries than is true for clergy who are mainline Protestants or in historic Black denominations (23 percent each). Younger clergy (under age 45) are much more likely to report considering the theological rationale for new ministries (38 percent) than are those who are age 61 or older (14 percent). In leading, clergy have different preferred styles for introducing changes. Some prefer to keep things stirred up; others like to introduce changes gradually.
Although the majority of clergy prefer to introduce changes gradually, mainline Protestants are significantly more likely than all others to say that they enjoy keeping things stirred up and challenging lay leaders with new ideas and programs (41 percent choosing this response). Catholic clergy (15 percent) and clergy in historic Black denominations (12 percent), prefer gradual introduction of changes. Younger clergy (under age 45) also prefer keeping things stirred up (43 percent) in sharp contrast with those who are 61 or older, 80 percent of whom prefer gradual change. Congregations where clergy keep things stirred up tend, not surprisingly, to report a higher degree of conflict. We also asked whether clergy and lay leaders regularly take time to discuss and define future needs and directions of the congregation, or whether they largely focus on keeping things going. Although a majority of clergy in all sizes of congregations say that they regularly take time to think about future directions, leaders of large congregations, those with 350 or more regular attendees, are more likely to do so (66 percent) than those in small or mid size congregations (52 and 59 percent respectively). Conservative Protestant clergy are most likely of all denominational traditions to say they mostly focus on keeping things functioning smoothly (50 percent). The same is true for clergy ages 61 or older (54 percent) and African-American clergy, regardless of denomination (56 percent).
We were also interested in how clergy leaders view the challenges of rapid change and the implications of change for congregational decision-making. Does rapid change make it necessary for congregations to be innovative—for example in such things as worship and music styles? Or should leaders make an effort to keep their congregation focused on the inherited traditions and practices of the church? As the next table shows, the majority of clergy choose innovation as their preferred response. Nonetheless, there are important differences among subgroups. Catholics, for example, give strong emphasis to church traditions and practices (62 percent choosing this response). In contrast, mainline Protestants (67 percent) and clergy from historic Black denominations (66 percent), favor innovation over tradition. Conservative Protestant pastors also favor innovation, but by a slightly smaller majority (59 percent). Though clergy in small congregations also favor innovation (55 percent), they are less likely to do so than those in larger congregations. Young clergy (under age 45) are the most likely to favor innovation (69 percent) over tradition (31 percent).
This question was part of a list of items about satisfaction. The following table shows the responses. Although few report that they are dissatisfied with their effectiveness as leaders, almost 60 percent report being only somewhat rather than very satisfied. This distinction may seem trivial; however, we don’t take it to be so. When asked about most other aspects of their ministry situation, clergy overwhelmingly indicated that they were very satisfied—but not about their effectiveness as leaders.
There are significant subgroup differences: Only 18 percent of the pastors in historic Black denominations and 29 percent of the conservative Protestants say they are very satisfied. This contrasts with 31 percent of Catholic priests and 41 percent of mainline Protestants. Similarly, only 31 percent of the pastors in small congregations are very satisfied with their leadership effectiveness. This contrasts with those in large and mega congregations (more than 350 average attendees), approximately half of whom say that they are very satisfied. These findings suggest several questions for pastors to consider:
|
|
|
