Religious Priests/Pastors
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to describe pastoral leadership development in Presbyterian U.S.A. (PCUSA) churches by identifying the degree to which relationships existed between perceived pastoral effectiveness, church membership (congregational size), and leadership development (continued education).
METHODOLOGY The population was Presbyterian ministers, and the sample included permanently installed pastors in congregations with 350 or more members based on 2011 demographics (1202 congregations and pastors eligible, of which 93 were randomly selected, and 75 participated). Each pastor completed the Leadership Practices Inventory and 25 of them invited a staff member to also complete the LPI-Observer. Sixty-seven percent of the congregations had between 350 and 650 members, with a range of 352 to 4,206 members. Thirty-seven percent of the pastors were between 50 and 59 years of age. In addition, each pastor indicated their involvement in continued education in six different content areas.
KEY FINDINGS There were no significant correlations identified between continued education and scores on any of the five leadership practices. Neither the overall LPI score, nor scores on any of the five leadership practices, were significantly related to the size of the congregation.