ABSTRACT LEADERSHIP STYLE AND TENURE OF YOUTH MINISTERS: A MIXED METHODS STUDY John Ellis Steen, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015 Chair: Dr. Brian C. Richardson This research study is an examination of the relationship between leadership styles and the longevity of youth ministers. Leadership styles are measured according to the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Interviews with veteran youth ministers provide in-depth personal advice and guidance into an extended career as a youth minister. The literature review includes a biblical and theological foundation for Christian leadership, an overview of leadership studies, and an examination of the importance of youth ministry. The research endeavors to prove a connection between leadership styles and youth ministers with extended careers. Key Words: Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth Minister, Student Ministry, Student Minister, Leadership, Leadership Styles, Longevity, Christian Leadership, Church Leadership, Teenager, Tenure, Extended Tenure, Youth Pastor

The biblical purpose of the church is the Great Commission as stated in Matthew 28:19-20. The mission of the church, or the way the purpose is carried out, is identified in Acts 2:42-47 as evangelism, discipleship, worship, ministry, prayer, and fellowship. Since the 1920s, southern Baptists have primarily utilized a program-driven model to accomplish the purpose and mission of the church. In recent years, however, the purpose-driven model, popularized by Rick Warren, has also become widely accepted. The purpose of this study was to categorize the church by program-driven or purpose-driven model and to analyze the self-reported mission effectiveness of each model in selected Southern Baptist churches. Data for this study, which assessed and compared mission effectiveness in relation to the program-driven and purpose-driven organizational structures. The study found that the purpose-driven churches were more effective in each of the six functions than were the program-driven churches. KEYWORDS: purpose-driven, program-driven, church health, ministry effectiveness, purposes of the church, church structure, church strategy, ecclesiology / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

Background . Sense of humor has been shown to affect the personal dynamics of leadership in many ways: it opens channels of communication, improves social relations, enhances performance, and provides a coping mechanism for stress. In leadership research, humor has been linked with improving morale, enhancing group cohesiveness, increasing creativity and motivation, and stimulating higher levels of productivity. Though humor contains the potential to greatly enhance personal and leadership dynamics in the realm of pastoral leadership, very little research has been conducted with this goal in mind. Method . This study examined the relationship between the pastor's predominant sense of humor style using the Humor Styles Questionnaire, predominant configuration of Leader-Follower Distance, and the pastor's tenure characteristics. The instrument was offered to 2,500 Southern Baptist pastors and was completed on-line by 530 pastoral leaders. Over half of the survey participants also responded affirmatively as being willing to participate in an extensive follow-up telephone interview. These qualitative interviews were conducted with a representative subsample of 13 of these pastors. Sense of humor was studied from the perspective of its ability to equip the leader to cope effectively with the stressful realities of pastoral ministry, its ability to gain a balanced perspective on reality, and its capacity to create and manage effective leader-follower relationships. Results . The adaptive humor styles (affiliative humor and self-enhancing humor) were predominant among pastors as was the proximal Leader-Follower Distance configuration. The self-enhancing humor style was shown to be significantly related to career ministry tenure (at p=.05) and also to Leader Follower Distance configuration (also at p=.05). Likewise, Leader Follower Distance configuration was shown to be significantly correlated to career ministry tenure (at p=.001). Additional significant relationships were also found between HSQ styles and certain church demographics. These data were further explored in the qualitative telephone interviews. Conclusion . The study is intended to aid pastors in dealing with the unique stressors of pastoral leadership, to help churches assess their own expectations of pastoral leadership, and to understand better how certain humor styles and LFD configurations will match with those expectations. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1987. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 508-514).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2008. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 284-312).

Thesis (D.Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2008. / Includes abstract. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-217).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 195-199).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 235-240).

Project Thesis (D. Min.)--Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-230).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-136).