Leadership practices among senior pastors in The Church of the Nazarene that result in church growth (a qualitative study)
For the past three years, while pursuing a doctorate in organizational leadership, I have been researching church growth, specifically in the Church of the Nazarene in the United States. My research is now complete and I’m eager to share the findings.
My research consisted of 12 real world case studies in which I specifically examined the leadership of 12 senior pastors from some of our fastest growing churches in the USA. My goal was to uncover the common leadership style and leadership practices from these twelve pastors, that have a direct impact on church growth.
The purpose of this research is to address the state of decline that many churches are experiencing. I believe the findings of my research, if properly understood and replicated, can help pastors be better leaders whose churches experience health and growth.
Below is a quick snapshot of the findings.
The common leadership style
My research found that all twelve pastors use Collaborative Leadership in leading their church.
The common leadership practices
My research uncovered eleven common practices among the senior pastors that all have a direct impact on the growth of their church. In other words, all 12 senior pastors do these things, and the result is that their churches have grown.
Visionary Leadership
Culture Development
Systems and Processes
Four Specific Lead Metrics and one Lag Metric
Thinking, Writing, Reflection, and Prayer
A Specific Definition of Innovation
A Visitor Flywheel
An Understanding of Transfer Growth
Leadership Development
Relationships
A Disdain for Decline
Additional Findings
The metrics that quantify church growth
7 internal reasons for church decline
10 external reasons for church decline
17 markers that makeup the profile of a healthy and growing church culture
A crucible moment as a commonality
A commonality of Enneagram 8’s and High-D ‘s
And much much more
What’s next
The dissertation will be posted soon for all to read. I’m looking for opportunities to share in depth, and train others in the findings of my research. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to learn more about having me share with you and your team. pd@wsnaz.org
