A comparative analysis of senior pastor perceptions and practices of servant leadership

Abstract

This dissertation examined the relationship between senior pastors' perceptions and practice of servant leadership. There is a great need for servant leadership in the pastoral ministry. Many pastors know about servant leadership, but this research analyzed the relationship between their perception and practice of servant leadership.

Biblical and secular literature were researched to define servant leadership and to identify twelve characteristics of servant leadership. Then a survey instrument was created to measure senior pastors' perception and practice of servant leadership. This instrument was distributed to senior pastors' to compare their perceptions and practice of servant leadership.

Chapter 1 introduces the research problem and the biblical basis for servant leadership. This chapter gives brief examples of some of the people of the Bible who were servant leaders. Chapter 1 also gives some of the modern ay definitions of leadership. The terminology and research questions that drive the study are outlined in chapter 1.

Chapter 2 is more detailed and provides many references on the basis of servant leadership in the Bible. Secular ideas about servant leadership are also provided. The characteristics discussed in chapter 2 are what define servant leadership and a servant leader. On the secular side Robert Greenleaf is referenced and on the Christian side there are numerous Christian authors referenced to derive the 12 characteristics that are identified in the research instrument in Appendix 2.

Chapter 3 deals with the methodological design of the research. This chapter identifies the population and sample group of the research. There is also a breakdown of the different demographics that were researched and compared in the study. Chapter three gives the details of how the research was carried out.

Chapter 4 is the analysis of the findings of the research. In this chapter one can find the charts and tables that were found from the sample of the research. The demographics of the participants are broken down into several categories and compared to see what the research could discover. The perception and practice of servant leadership was the main concern of the researcher and this is given in detail in chapter 4.

Chapter 5 is the concluding chapter and gives the research implications and applications. The findings from the research is discussed and given detail to how each of the 12 characteristics findings can be applicable to senior pastors. There are also suggestions given for future research on the subject of servant leadership.

This research may be helpful in preparing senior pastors' to be better servant leaders and in helping senior pastors' train others to become servant leaders.