Date
6-19-2024
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (EdD)
Chair
Timothy R. Cochrell
Keywords
Bible reading or Bible engagement, formative reading, spiritual formation or spiritual maturity, interpretation, Christian leadership
Disciplines
Christianity | Leadership Studies
Recommended Citation
Buku, Mark Kwablah, "A Correlational Study Between Spiritual Bible Reading and Spiritual Formation of Leaders of Pentecostal Churches" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5727.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5727
Abstract
This study aimed to understand the nuances of spiritual Bible reading and how it connects to the spiritual maturity of Christian leaders. The lack of spiritual formation in Christian spiritual leaders motivated this research. Literature abounds with spiritual reading, biblical engagement, interpretation methodologies, and the spiritual formation of Christian leaders. However, only a few studies exist on how people engage with the Bible. There is no empirical data on how biblical interactions impact spiritual development. The theory that guided this study was Jack Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory. With a quantitative survey methodology and non-probability sampling, data was collected from 91 participants from a population frame of spiritual leaders who assist the head pastor in spiritual oversight of the Assemblies of God churches in New England. Two existing instruments, the Faith Maturity Scale and Christian Life Survey, which have proven validity and reliability, carried the data. The quantitative correlational study protocol analyzed the data using the Pearson Product-moment Correlation Coefficient (Pearson’s r). The study results showed no statistically significant relationship between Bible reading and spiritual formation in leaders of the Pentecostal churches. Other factors might have been necessary for the spiritual maturity of Christian leaders.
