Date
10-20-2022
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Ministry (DMin)
Chair
Kenneth W. Bush
Keywords
Machen, Change, Leadership, Fundamentals, Modernist, Presbyterian, Military, Clergy
Disciplines
Leadership Studies
Recommended Citation
Sniffin, Peter Raymond, "Grant Us Wisdom, Grant Us Courage for the Facing of Change Leadership: A Case Study of the Change Leadership of J. Gresham Machen" (2022). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 3923.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/3923
Abstract
Ministry leaders are ill-prepared to execute the inevitable requirement of change leadership. As a result of this leadership shortcoming, necessary change efforts are either avoided or fail. During the Fundamentalist and Modernist Controversy of the early 20th Century, J. Gresham Machen provided change leadership in response to doctrinal error in the church that transformed his ministry context and Presbyterianism in the United States as it was then structured. In Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, Paul also exercised leadership to drive change away from doctrinal error in the church. A case study examining Machen’s change leadership in light of Paul’s example and in light of the eight-stage model for leading change developed by John P. Kotter of Harvard Business School provides current ministry leaders with leadership lessons learned for their change leadership efforts.
