Although space will not allow me to name every person and tell every story, this project is the culmination of the influence of many who have deeply affected my life, people for whom I am grateful to the Lord. I am also grateful to my father, Harold, who traveled to every speaking engagement in the early years and is still my hero. I am eternally grateful to the learned men who allowed me to join them on this journey.
Shawn Buice, who encouraged me and offered himself as one of the readers of this project from the beginning. I am thankful for many of the pastors I have served with: Nathan Brown, Tim Coleman, Jim Locke, Joshua Wallnofer, and Lonnie Wesley III. I am deeply grateful for the investment in my life and ministry by my advisor, Dr.
He taught me how to "dig deep" into academic pursuits, challenged me to work harder, and encouraged me to persevere when the goal seemed elusive. Finally, I am so thankful to the Lord, who blessed me by calling me to Himself and placing me in service.
RESEARCH CONCERN
If the church age is over, how can the health displayed by these beacons of hope be explained. First, the study sought to determine the church's leadership structure and ascertain how it has changed, if at all, to allow for more effective decision-making and process implementation within the church. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine church revival to determine the impact of leadership structure, leadership culture, and leader competencies on successful church revival.
Second, it is not possible to describe and examine every potential leadership competency in the study of the field. Further research related to specific personality traits may be useful in identifying specific relationship skills or personal experiences of the leader as they relate to the leader's success in leading the revival. The Delphi portion of the study led to the creation of an initial model that assessed 129 competencies for their importance to successful pastoral leadership for church revival.
What impact did those factors that contributed to the culture of church leadership have on revitalizing the church? As Creswell and Clark explain, the purpose of this mixed methods study is to seek through qualitative research to create understanding of the impact of leadership in the role of church revitalization.
Document Request and Examination
Quantitative Survey
Qualitative Interviews
Lyle Spencer and Signe Spencer define competence as “an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a job or situation.”31. Daniel Goleman defines emotional intelligence (also EI or EQ) as "abilities such as being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustration; to control impulses and delay gratification; to regulate one's mood and keep distress from overwhelming the ability to think; to to empathize and to hope.”32 Joseph Rost writes, “Leadership is a relationship of influence between leaders and followers who intend real change that reflects their mutual purpose.”33.
Leadership structure refers to the formal and informal lines of influence, responsibility and communication where leadership communicates and implements direction and the organization carries out assigned tasks.34. Steve Hudson explains, “Revitalization is a deliberate change of culture and practice by members of a church community, after a period of plateau or decline, that leads to greater church health and numerical growth.”36. It is necessary to equip those who are beginning the work of the harvest, as well as those who are currently at work, so that they can more effectively serve the Lord in leading churches to health and growth.
As seminaries seek to train pastors and churches seek answers that lead to revival, it is essential to discover the role and context of leadership that best facilitates. The purpose of this research was to identify leadership structures, cultures, and leadership competencies shared by pastors of successful revitalizations.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The first and most significant is "a renewed faith in Jesus Christ and the mission of the church."32 This belief reflects a positive outlook on the power of God and His work in the world. One of the most certain factors of revival is that although leadership is essential, the leader's primary role is to lead the congregation to engage in the mission of. In the 18 years since the publication of the third edition, the study, application and practice of leadership has expanded.
We believe that these two issues—leadership and change—are at the heart of the crisis in the American Church. Because of the decline of the North American church, revitalization of the church has been identified as a great need. Nevertheless, the limited focus on revitalization pastors in the SBC may limit the applicability of the study.
These actions resulted in the identification of 716 churches, representing 5.21 percent of the previously declining population. 4. Pastors of the churches in the sample were emailed an invitation to participate in a survey on church revitalization, along with a link to the survey instrument (see appendix 1). The former pastor had accepted a call to a position in religious ministry; therefore he continued as a positive influence in the ongoing revitalizing work of the church.
In question 2 of the survey, respondents were asked about their role before the revitalization. Of those surveyed, 86.67 percent rated leadership as important or very important to revitalization efforts. Based on the functional leadership role of the pastor in the primary worship meeting, the survey showed that the leadership and.
Thirty-two responses indicated that there had been no change in leadership structure or that the responses were not descriptive of the specific changes. The pastors were asked to describe the leadership structure in place prior to the revitalization turnaround. The first phase of the study examined data from the SBC Annual Church Profile, resulting in the identification of 716 revitalized churches.
Research Question 3: What factors contributed to the transformation of the church's leadership culture. Research Question 4: What impact did the factors contributing to church leadership culture have on church revitalization? These discoveries represent one of the largest investigations of church revitalization in the last decade.
Implications of the research and recommendations for further research are discussed in the next chapter.
CONCLUSIONS
The study does not imply that the deacon-led structure caused the decline; however, it does indicate that shifting the structure was essential in the revitalization of the church. Leadership culture must then be formed as part of the overall culture of the church to produce sound leadership in the church. This pastor noted that he also required this type of discipleship “in the field” from his staff, expecting them to spend 30 percent of their time in the field and outside the church.
Most of the pastors indicated similar approaches in the way they simply discipled people and looked for leaders and servants to emerge. What emerged in the study was that the leaders operate pragmatically rather than philosophically. As such, this thesis failed to identify philosophies or strategies that supported the formation of the leadership culture in the church.
Each of these events required decisive action on the part of the predecessor and the events served as pivotal moments in the leader's journey. Although the specific transgressions occurred within a family structure, the matter was widely known in the church and community. This pastor explained that it was foolish to expect God to bless the church when there was sin in the camp.
Each leader spoke of the difficult advantage facilitated by a significant crisis in the process of regeneration. I said, 'Now we have a new church for a new building.' I really believe we brought a whole new church to the new place, because all of a sudden people were so involved in the mission and in the strategies of the church. For example, several pastors talked about the need to implement changes in the church and found that the structure was intransigent.
This is another strong example of the typical interpersonal awareness shown in the phase 3 interviews. As already discussed, each leader could make changes in the leadership structure to influence the church's revival. The pastor must envision and establish a culture of leadership that thrives to fulfill the King's mission and intentionally develops other leaders in the church and beyond.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE AND INFORMED CONSENT
If you have been made aware that participation is voluntary and that identification of either the church or you as a leader is not required, you will be willing to allow inclusion of your name and the church's name as part of the research project documentation. His area of focus is specifically in the area of pastoral leadership and its role in influencing the church's revival. Michael Wilder, of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with the aim of identifying principles and practices used by pastoral leaders to influence the revival of the church.
Briefly describe the main changes in the disciple's church ministry that you believe contributed significantly to the revival process. Please select your level of agreement with the following statements regarding the disciple's church ministry during the revival process. Briefly describe the main changes in the church's evangelistic ministry that you believe contributed significantly to the revival process.
The active members of the church regularly participate in gospel talks with the aim of evangelizing. Briefly describe the primary changes in the church's mission service that you feel have contributed significantly to the revitalization process. Select your level of agreement with the following statements about the mission ministry of the church prior to the revitalization process.
Choose your level of agreement with the following statements regarding the church's current mission ministry. Briefly describe the primary changes to the church's leadership structures that you see have contributed significantly to the revival process. Briefly describe the primary changes to the church's leadership development processes that you see have contributed significantly to the revival process.
Briefly describe the primary changes in the church's prayer service that you feel have contributed significantly to the revitalization process. Briefly describe the primary changes in the church's primary worship gathering that you feel have contributed significantly to the revitalization process. The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors That Will Destroy the American Church - and How to Prepare.
