The purpose of this study was to compare the avowed beliefs and reported practices of Southern Baptist pastors based upon their level of attainment in higher education and their choice of theological seminary.

In this research, we aimed to outline the profile of the members of the community of practice of the Baptist Convention Alagoana from hypercorrection of events in order to evaluate whether social meaning when the emergence of these instances. For the development of this research, we use assumptions of Sociolinguistics variationist (LABOV, 2008[1972]) whose main objective is to demonstrate that the apparent linguistic chaos can be systematized and described, and that the variable uses found in speech may be occurring through influence of linguistic and social factors; whereas adopted theoretical and methodological aspects related to the third wave of sociolinguistic studies proposed by Eckert (2005; 2012) regarding the demarcation of community of practice and the search for social significance associated with linguistic forms. The population chosen to have his speech collected and their modus operandi observed was the community of practice formed by Baptists Pastors of the Baptist Convention Alagoana, stratify the sample according to the extralinguistic factor Time in pastorate into two groups, namely: Pastors with up to 10 years exercising the ministry (T1) and Pastors with more than 10 years (T2) exercising the function in the Baptist Church. Data collection was performed using three different instruments: structured interview (C1), Bible text reading (C2) and explanation of the biblical text (C3). These three collections were selected in order to observe whether the upward formality, motivated by the attention paid to speech (LABOV, 2008[1972]), influences the occurrence of hypercorrection. Simultaneously collected, we used participant observation whose notes have helped us to understand the modus operandi of the chosen community of practice, as well as the concerns and positions of members of the institution, in enabling a global view about the experience of employees and linking these observations to analysis of the phenomenon studied here. After transcribing the data, we analyze occurrences found qualitatively used for this excerpts taken from the structured interview, in order to outline the linguistic correction of imagery that hovers within this community of practice. Next, we describe the cases of hypercorrection more found in our data, in order to highlight the events that can be classified as such in our linguistic variety, as well as present, briefly, an overview of current uses in this community of practice with order to demonstrate the recurring features in the speech of employees with regard to the adoption of a differentiated linguistic variety/prestigious. Finally, we analyze the performance of the two extralinguistic factors, namely: the time the pastorate and the data collection context. Thus, through the results, we showed that the hypercorrection occurrences found in our corpus reflect the imagination of linguistic correctness and use of the prestigious variety required mainly formality of times is more frequent in the speech of Pastors who are starting their ministry and they need to build within this community of practice your persona and/or personal style. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Nesta pesquisa, objetivamos delinear o perfil dos membros da comunidade de prática da Convenção Batista Alagoana a partir das ocorrências de hipercorreção com o intuito de avaliar se há significado social quando da emergência dessas instâncias. Para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa, utilizamos pressupostos da Sociolinguística Variacionista (LABOV, 2008[1972]) cujo principal objetivo é demonstrar que o aparente caos linguístico pode ser sistematizado e descrito, bem como que os usos variáveis encontrados na fala podem estar ocorrendo por meio da influência de fatores linguísticos e sociais; ao passo que adotamos aspectos teórico-metodológicos relacionados à terceira onda dos estudos sociolinguísticos proposta por Eckert (2005; 2012) no que tange à delimitação de comunidade de prática e à busca por significado social associado às formas linguísticas. A população escolhida para ter sua fala coletada e seu modus operandi observado foi a comunidade de prática formada pelos Pastores Batistas da Convenção Batista Alagoana, estratificamos a amostra de acordo com o fator extralinguístico Tempo no pastorado em dois grupos, a saber: Pastores com até 10 anos exercendo o ministério (T1) e Pastores com mais de 10 anos (T2) exercendo a função na Igreja Batista. A coleta de dados foi realizada utilizando três instrumentos distintos: entrevista estruturada (C1), leitura de texto bíblico (C2) e explicação do texto bíblico (C3). Esses três momentos de coleta foram selecionados com vistas a observar se a formalidade ascendente, motivada pela atenção prestada à fala (LABOV, 2008[1972]), influencia a ocorrência de hipercorreção. Simultaneamente à coleta, fizemos uso da observação participante cujas anotações nos ajudaram a entender o modus operandi da comunidade de prática escolhida, assim como as inquietações e funções dos membros dessa Instituição, nos possibilitando um olhar global acerca da vivência dos colaboradores e associando essas observações à análise do fenômeno aqui estudado. Após a transcrição dos dados, analisamos as ocorrências encontradas qualitativamente, usamos para isso excertos retirados da entrevista estruturada, com o intuito de delinear o imaginário de correção linguística que paira no seio dessa comunidade de prática. Em seguida, descrevemos os casos de hipercorreção mais encontrados em nossos dados, com o objetivo de evidenciar as ocorrências que podem ser classificadas como tal em nossa variedade linguística, bem como apresentamos, de forma breve, um panorama dos usos correntes nessa comunidade de prática com vistas a demonstrar os traços recorrentes na fala dos colaboradores no que tange à adoção de uma variedade linguística diferenciada/prestigiosa. Por fim, analisamos a atuação dos dois fatores extralinguísticos, a saber: o Tempo no pastorado e o Contexto de coleta de dados. Dessa forma, por meio dos resultados obtidos, evidenciamos que as ocorrências de hipercorreção encontradas em nosso corpus refletem o imaginário de correção linguística e uso da variedade prestigiosa requerida principalmente em momentos de formalidade sendo mais frequente na fala de Pastores que estão iniciando seu ministério e que precisam construir dentro dessa comunidade de prática a sua persona e/ou estilo pessoal.

This research into Baptist leadership examines the processes of Christian leadership in terms of human relationships in churches under the microscope of a leadership theory known as leader member exchange theory (LMX), and discovers the correlation between a high level of LMX in a local church and the positive outcomes of leader legitimation in a society where pastoral tenure and pastoral termination project disheartening statistics. LMX theory is particularly suited for the study of the Baptist congregational leadership paradigm with emphasis on heightened follower participation in dyadic relationships between the pastor and church members. In the light of current convoluted leadership praxis, provides an appropriate theoretical tool for relational analysis. The background to this thesis is the perceived growing inclination among Baptist pastors to adopt a leadership paradigm, which exalts the person and role of the pastor to the exclusion of the church members. This “great man theory” is being modeled from sources that focus on church growth rather than church health, and represents a departure from servant leadership, which has long been the model for Baptists in general. This “new” trend of charismatic leadership may be one of the reasons for the inclination toward shorter tenures and pastoral termination, among Baptists, particularly in the USA. Understanding the peculiarities of congregational government is of particular importance to the research, with emphasis on the perceptions and expectations of church members regarding current leadership in their local church, and how the perception of personal value correlation translates into member satisfaction. The Literature on leadership offers a multiplicity of innovative ideas, mostly focused on the leader, and after literature research into the subjects of transactional transformational, complexity theory, and servant leadership no single theory of leadership offers completeness, hence the term quantum or complexity will assist in moving Baptist pastors from average leadership. <p.Critical elements of LMX were identified in the literature and processed into the questionnaire, which was distributed to among Baptist churches in South Africa and the United States. The results of the research are then analysed in the light of LMX theory, and the conclusion that in the congregational structure of Baptists, LMX theory offers valuable insights into member satisfaction. The characteristic of practical theology is the critical correlation of theological insight and empirical observation that will result in a new theory of praxis, and the final purpose is to focus attention on the positive outcome of healthy leader member exchange in local churches and the extended zone of influence through enhanced legitimation of pastoral leadership. / Thesis (PhD (Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Practical Theology / PhD / unrestricted