Leadership Styles of Effective Ministry

Abstract

Societal changes in the last half century have raised expectations for today's pastoral ministry. However, ministerial studies to date have revealed no clear picture of effective ministry. Following Malony's (1976) suggestion, this study attempts to identify leadership style as a primary theme. Selected parish office holders were asked first to rate the performance of 310 parish pastors in three districts of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on the Ministerial Function Scale (MFS). Scores were obtained for the original six factors of the MFS (Preacher-Priest, Administrator, Community and Social Involvement, Personal and Spiritual Model, Visitor-Counselor and Teacher) and also for a seventh factor of Evangelist added for this research project. Multiple regression analyses of the parishioners’ ratings of the pastors on the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire yielded squared coefficients of correlation ranging from .39 to .74 in developing predictive formulae for effectiveness in the seven functions and an overall effectiveness rating. Different styles of effective ministry including primarily sets of leader behaviors were projected for each of the functions. Implications are suggested for seminary and in-service ministerial training.