Prior Pastoral Leadership Experience and Post-Seminary Effectiveness: A Mixed Method Study

Abstract

This research was a descriptive mixed method study of pastoral leadership effectiveness of Southern Baptist pastors in the first ten years after graduating with the Master of Divinity degree from accredited seminaries. The research was limited to lead pastors of Southern Baptist churches and sought to identify any relationship in pastoral leadership effectiveness during the first ten years after seminary training between pastors with pastoral experience prior to or concurrent with seminary training and pastors with no prior or concurrent pastoral leadership experience during seminary training. Only Southern Baptist pastors graduating with a Master of Divinity from Association of Theological Schools accrediting seminaries with less than ten years post graduation pastoral experience were included in the sample population. The Lewis Pastoral Leadership Instrument assessment was utilized to ascertain pastoral leadership effectiveness. The inventory evaluated a pastor’s leadership effectiveness in three key areas: character, competency, and contribution. The inventory was developed by the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Seminary, Washington, DC.