Abstract
This study examines the critical role pastors play in the growth of local congregations and evaluates the effectiveness of Adventist pastors in German speaking Europe in view of church growth. The evaluation process involves the creation of an ideal value based model of pastoral leadership (Part II) integrating insights from the review of the following disciplines: (1) Leadership and organizational theory (Chapter II); (2) Biblical theology (Chapter III); (3) Church growth theory (Chapter IV); (4) Communications strategy (Chapter V); (5) Adventist history (Chapter VI); (6) Contextual and institutional factors in German speaking Europe (Chapter V).
This model views the senior pastor as an initiating leader who functions as a transformational spiritual leader to influence a congregation towards structuring its ministry and worship in a receptor-oriented, context-sensitive, evangelistically productive way to impact a community effectively. His role is to influence the internal, the communal and infrastructural growth of the congregation in such a way that membership growth will result.
The model is applied to the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church in German speaking Europe. Church growth data were collected and analyzed in field research by correspondence, by questionnaires sent to 90 Adventist churches in Austria and West Germany, and through interviews with pastors and leaders in Europe (Part III: Chapters VIII to X). When the actual findings were compared with the ideal values of effective church growth leadership (discrepancy analysis in Chapter XI) a number of strengths and weaknesses of SDA pastors in Europe became visible. These are addressed in chapter (XII) as conclusions and recommendations for decision makers in the church.
The results of the study show that church growth in Europe is extremely complex, calling for an informed strategy for congregational growth in which the pastor plays a key role. While the field research focuses on the Adventist church in German speaking Europe, the leadership model used is broad enough to be useful in other denominational contexts.
This model views the senior pastor as an initiating leader who functions as a transformational spiritual leader to influence a congregation towards structuring its ministry and worship in a receptor-oriented, context-sensitive, evangelistically productive way to impact a community effectively. His role is to influence the internal, the communal and infrastructural growth of the congregation in such a way that membership growth will result.
The model is applied to the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church in German speaking Europe. Church growth data were collected and analyzed in field research by correspondence, by questionnaires sent to 90 Adventist churches in Austria and West Germany, and through interviews with pastors and leaders in Europe (Part III: Chapters VIII to X). When the actual findings were compared with the ideal values of effective church growth leadership (discrepancy analysis in Chapter XI) a number of strengths and weaknesses of SDA pastors in Europe became visible. These are addressed in chapter (XII) as conclusions and recommendations for decision makers in the church.
The results of the study show that church growth in Europe is extremely complex, calling for an informed strategy for congregational growth in which the pastor plays a key role. While the field research focuses on the Adventist church in German speaking Europe, the leadership model used is broad enough to be useful in other denominational contexts.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Qualification | Ph.D. |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Date of Award | Jan 1 1990 |
| State | Published - 1990 |
Keywords
- Christian leadership
- pastoring
- church growth
- German speaking Europe
Disciplines
- Practical Theology