Date
3-2020
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (EdD)
Chair
Stephen Lowe
Keywords
Organizational Change Leadership, Transformational Leadership, Organizational Commitment, Organization’s Readiness
Disciplines
Christianity | Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Recommended Citation
Drummond, Jerusha Smith, "The Correlation between Pastors’ Leadership Style, Their Organizational Change Commitment, and Their Organization’s Readiness for Change" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 2370.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/2370
Abstract
The purpose of this non-experimental correlational study was to determine whether a relationship exists between pastors’ perceptions of transformational leadership, pastors’ organizational change commitment, and their organization’s readiness for change, controlling for gender, age, education, tenure, and geographical location of lead pastors in the South Carolina Baptist Convention (SCBC) churches. Leadership and change are intertwined; thus, pastors’ commitment to organizational change and their organization’s readiness for change highlights dynamic leadership in the management of church life. The pastor must possess a leadership style that moves the church toward organizational change while keeping parishioners in attendance. The study answers the following research questions: What relationship, if any, exists between pastors’ perceptions of transformational leadership and their organizational change commitment? What relationship, if any, exists between pastors’ perceptions of transformational leadership and their organization’s readiness for change? To what degree do pastors’ perceive that a relationship exists between transformational leadership, pastors’ organizational change commitment, and their organization’s readiness for change? The researcher randomly sampled SCBC lead pastors. The Pastor’s Perceptions Survey presented through the SurveyMonkey.com platform combined the transformational leadership, organizational change commitment, and the organization’s readiness for change questionnaires. There was a positive correlation between transformational leadership, organizational change commitment, and the organization’s readiness for change. Further research should consider organizational change commitment and the organization’s readiness for change that supports the diffusion of innovations in churches.
