<p> This study researched the impact of leadership style on leading organizational change in the local church. The main question studied was whether there was a relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and change-oriented leadership. A second question was whether pastoral leaders rate as more effective in leading change when they follow the transformational, transactional, or change-oriented leadership model. The third question was whether pastors rate as more effective in leading change depending on years of experience or location (district). This quantitative study researched a sample population of 42 pastors serving Protestant churches in the Mid-West region of the United States. Data were gathered from pastors, district superintendents, and pastors' direct reports. District superintendents and pastors completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5x Short (MLQ) and the Change, Production, Employee (CPE) Index. Direct reports were assigned to complete either the MLQ 5x Short or the CPE Index to control for rater bias. The significance of the data was determined using regression analysis. Weak significant regression equations were found between inspirational motivation and change-oriented leadership, and between effectiveness and change-oriented leadership. A moderate significant relationship was found among transformational, transactional and change-oriented leadership taken together on effectiveness. No significant relationship was found between leader effectiveness and years of experience or location (district). The implication of the findings is that pastors would be well-served to understand and use formal leadership theories, especially transformational and change-oriented leadership. Further, colleges and seminaries that train individuals for position of pastoral leadership would also be well-served to equip students in these leadership styles.</p>

<p> Organizations seek legitimacy by copying the structure and operational models of similar organizations accepted as legitimate by society. This phenomenon is <i>institutional isomorphism.</i> Institutional isomorphism exists in Protestant congregations in the United States as evidenced by congregations holding to practices and structures identified by denominational bodies and society as legitimate. Leaders of some Protestant denominational congregations in the United States have decided to change their ministry model to the ministry model of another denomination's congregation. Congregations change to these ministry models and self-identify with the congregation with which the model originated. The practice of denominational congregations changing to the ministry model of another denomination is contrary to the theories of institutional isomorphism, which would expect congregations to hold to historically legitimizing denominational practices and structures. This study explored the case of a Protestant congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), located in the United States, which changed to the Purpose Driven ministry model. The case explored the question: "Why did the leaders of Trinity Presbyterian Church decide to change to the Purpose Driven ministry model?"</p>

<p> This mixed quantitative/qualitative study explored the role that Emotional Intelligence (EI) plays in the leadership of church planters in Restoration Movement Churches in the U.S. (specifically Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ) and the relationship between the EI profiles of lead church planters and healthy church growth patterns, according to attendance and financial data 3 years after being planted. This study found that EI plays both a causal role and correlates strongly with healthy church growth within the first 3 years of a new church plant's life. As the first study of its kind among a Restoration Movement sample of church planters, this study assists church planting organizations in identifying and training new church leaders, as well as ongoing leadership development and coaching of individuals who have been called to be church planters.</p>

<p> According to a review of the literature, Christian churches are divided because of constant rejection of change. In spite of the 70% failure rate of all organizational change efforts, successful change initiatives are achievable. Senior pastors assume the primary role of leadership within the church, and were tasked with the responsibility of leading God&rsquo;s people through change and guiding the evolution of the church. Parishioners rely on senior pastors to provide the vision, as many parishioners continue to hinder the change efforts of the senior pastor. The hermeneutical phenomenological research design was used in the qualitative study to investigate the phenomenon of change through the challenges experienced by senior pastors of Missionary Baptist Churches of Greater Minneapolis during change. Seventeen senior pastors of Missionary Baptist Churches of Greater Minneapolis participated in audio taped face-to-face interviews. During the analysis five themes emerged: (a) mixed emotions; (b) servant of the Lord; (c) relationships; (d) organizational culture; and (e) communication is the key. Recommendations for senior pastors, organizational leaders, and Seminary and Bible Colleges were developed from the results of the qualitative hermeneutical phenomenological study.</p>

<p>Organized religion plays a significant, even defining role for millions of people worldwide. Recently however, churchgoers, pastors, and denominational hierarchies are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with clergy leadership effectiveness and pastors are experiencing higher than expected levels of burnout and emotional exhaustion. Leadership effectiveness is often reported as one of the least satisfying aspects of working in faith-based settings and religious congregations. Clergy and congregational leaders need a leadership paradigm that provides a framework for leading in highly relational contexts such as religious organizations that also addresses the leaders need to maintain emotional health and psychological well-being. The present study utilized a mixed-methods approach to examine the relationship between self-differentiation and leadership effectiveness among 97 pastors in leadership positions from a variety of Christian religious denominations. Participants completed the Differentiation of Self and Role for Clergy and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Results of this study suggest that pastors performing in leadership roles have higher levels of self-differentiation than pastors performing in non-leadership roles and that self-differentiation was moderately and positively correlated with the transformational leadership components of intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. For the qualitative portion of the study, fourteen pastors participated in telephone interviews about their experiences of self-differentiation in leadership roles. Utilizing thematic analysis, nine distinct themes emerged and identified as precipitating event, &ldquo;aha&rdquo; moment, self-regulating, systemic awareness, self-in-role, take a stand, use of self-in-system, lead through connection and inclusion, and followers first. Qualitative results suggest that higher self-differentiation is related to pastors&rsquo; use of self-regulation of emotion, experiential learning, awareness of social context, and willingness to accept risk in exchange for progress. Higher levels of self-differentiation may contribute to the leaders ability to develop and maintain emotional connections with followers during times of conflict or disagreement. </p>

Yes / We examine the relationships among religious governance, especially Islamic governance quality (IGQ), national governance quality (NGQ), and risk management and disclosure practices (RDPs), and consequently ascertain whether NGQ has a moderating influence on the IGQ–RDPs nexus. Using one of the largest data sets relating to Islamic banks from 10 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries from 2006 to 2013, our findings are threefold. First, we find that RDPs are higher in banks with higher IGQ. Second, we find that RDPs are higher in banks from countries with higher NGQ. Finally, we find that NGQ has a moderating effect on the IGQ–RDPs nexus. Our findings are robust to alternative RDP measures and estimation techniques. These results imply that the quality of disclosure depends on the nature of the macro-social-level factors, such as religion that have remained largely unexplored in business and society research, and, therefore, have important implications for policy makers.