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Pandemic Pastoring: The Impact of Pastoral Leadership Style on Member

 Retention and Engagement During COVID-19

 

Tasha S. Baston

School of Doctor of Education Christian Leadership/Ministry Leadership, Liberty University

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Note

Tasha S. Baston

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to

Tasha S. Baston

E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

 

 Proposed Title

Pandemic Pastoring: The Impact of Pastoral Leadership Style on Member

Retention and Engagement During COVID-19

 

Research Problem and Gap

 According to a recent Gallup poll (2020), US church membership fell below the majority for the first time. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belong to a church, synagogue, or mosque. This trend may have been intensified by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has required church leaders to develop skills-sets and modify church life in ways that have not previously been experienced. Given the financial implications of engaged membership for the economic survival of many local congregations, understanding if members have been retained and engaged in active giving patterns will shed light on the economic sustainability of these essential institutions. Moreover, the challenge for senior pastors to encourage and sustain formal engaged church membership requires the strategic and tactical insight of pastoral leadership.

This study seeks to address a gap in the literature posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers have considered the implications of pastoral leadership styles on member retention and engagement (Wollschleger, 2018; Royster, 2016; Carter, 2009). Research has also been particularized to Baptist Churches (Preister, 2018). Those studies, however, did not consider this set of variables during a pandemic. The pandemic poses a significantly different set of circumstances to be considered given the ways ministerial operations and member engagement were affected. Should a future unforeseen event like a pandemic occur, this study hopes to provide insight to retain and engage members to promote the viability of the ministry in these extreme circumstances.

Research Purpose Statement

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of senior pastors that have attracted, engaged, and retained church membership during the COVID-19 pandemic and those that lost members in Baptist church congregations in the Eastern Baptist Association (EBA) in New York in order to determine what similarities and differences that exist between the groups. At this stage in the research, engaged membership will be generally defined as established formal membership behaviors, including church attendance, financial support, and participation in church-sponsored events and activities. The theory guiding this study is Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership theory (1969), which suggests that effective leaders adapt their style to the situation, enabling them to get the job done, in this case, member retention and engagement.

 

Research Questions

 

             RQ1. How do participating senior pastors describe their lived experience as a pastor serving through a pandemic, particularly with regards to any personal and emotional toll that the pandemic may have had on them and their families?

            RQ2. How do participating senior pastors describe how, in a pandemic, they could discern whether a person being engaged was ready to engage in formal membership behaviors?

            RQ3. How do participating senior pastors describe how, in a pandemic, they could discern and address members' psychological readiness or commitment to engage in formal membership behaviors?

            RQ4. How do participating senior pastors describe how, in a pandemic, they knew when to direct, coach, support, or delegate to the member to increase the likelihood that formal membership behaviors would happen?

            RQ5. How do participating senior pastors describe the reasons why they may have gained or lost their membership during the pandemic?

 

Delimitations of the Research

Delimitation is defined as the boundaries of the study that are controlled principally by the researcher (Mauch & Birch, 1993, p.103). One of the critical delimitations for this study is the duration in which the research is focused, the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior research considering the connection between pastoral leadership styles and member retention and engagement did so in pre-pandemic conditions, even in the Baptist context. This study will look at the matter under pandemic conditions.

Another delimitation is the population size of the study. For example, the Council of Churches of the City of New York notes over 5,500 congregations in the five boroughs of the City of New York, a large universe. The population selected for this study, a subset of Christian churches in the City of New York is available to the researcher and will enable the study to be more manageable and relevant to churches with similar characteristics. A further delimitation of this study is the church organization being reviewed, the Baptist churches that are members of the Eastern Baptist Association, Inc. Again, the denomination selected is available to the researcher and will enable the study to be more manageable.

 

Research Population

The population for this study is senior pastors within the Baptist churches in the City of New York. Specifically, churches within the Eastern Baptist Association of New York, Inc. (EBA) serve as the population for the study. The EBA is primarily located in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York.

The EBA represents 100 churches. This population was selected for several reasons. First, the researcher is familiar with the organization and the churches represented within the EBA. Second, the churches represent a variety of ministries that have both large and small congregations. Finally, senior pastors that attracted, engaged, and retained church membership during the COVID-19 pandemic and those who lost members in Baptist church congregations in the Eastern Baptist Association in New York have diverse lived experiences that would add to the body of knowledge for those interested in this subject.

 

Research Sample(s) and Sampling Technique(s)

The research participants, senior pastors within EBA churches, will be selected using criterion sampling. In criterion sampling, participants meet predefined criteria chosen due to the unique characteristics of the participants relative to the phenomenon under study. In this study, the participants will be senior pastors drawn from among the 100 churches represented by the EBA because of their specific experiences and specialized knowledge of ministry operations during the pandemic.

 

Methodological Design

This qualitative phenomenological study will be conducted using a focus group interview as the research method for collecting data from research participants. The design aims to gain information and insights to explore the lived experiences of senior pastors that have attracted, engaged, and retained church membership during the COVID-19 pandemic and those that lost members in Baptist church congregations in the Eastern Baptist Association in New York in order to determine what similarities and differences that exist between the groups. In addition, in using criterion sampling, given that participants are chosen due to their unique characteristics relative to the phenomenon under study, the researcher may have a greater likelihood to garner participation for the study as the results would be of interest to the participants.

 

Proposed Instrumentation

The intended data collection tool for this study is a focus group interview. During the focus group interview, the researcher will collect information from senior pastors within EBA churches, about their actions, during the pandemic, emphasizing how their pastoral leadership styles impacted member retention and engagement. It has not yet been determined if the focus group interview will be conducted in the same room or virtually via web-based or e-mail platforms at this research stage.

 

Limitations of Generalization

The study is being conducted using criterion sampling. The study will have limited generalization to the at-large population but will be helpful for those in ministry. Participant's experiences and perceptions, based on their lived experience from their perspectives, will be elicited.

 

Research Competencies to Conduct Study

In Evaluating the Research Competencies of Doctoral Students, Ismail and Meerah (2012) outline five critical competencies: research capacity, reflection skills, problem-solving skills, communication skills, and research methodology skills. For the researcher to be effective, growing research capacity by understanding and examining the analysis for relevant data is necessary. Having reflection skills is essential for the researcher to reflect on the research study's outcome and give future researchers a course of action for an alternate course. Problem-solving skills and communication skills are vital to defining, creating, analyzing, and presenting the research and findings. Finally, the research methodology skill is a competency that will help the researcher understand the limitations of the research study.  

 

Precedent Literature

Carter, J. (2009). Transformational leadership and pastoral leader effectiveness. Pastoral Psychology, 58(3), 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-008-0182-6 (Links to an external site.)

Gallup & Inc. (2021, March 29). U.S. church membership falls below majority for first time. Gallup.com. https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx (Links to an external site.)

Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. H. (1969). Life cycle theory of leadership. Training and Development Journal, 23(5).

Ismail, R., & Meerah, T. (2012). Evaluating the research competencies of doctoral students. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 59, 244–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.271 (Links to an external site.)

Mauch, J. E., & Birch, J. (1998). Guide to the successful thesis and dissertation: A handbook for students and faculty, fourth edition (books in library and information science, 58) (4th ed.). Marcel Dekker.

Priester, N. (2018). An explanatory study of the influence of pastoral leadership styles on the organizational effectiveness of baptist churches (10752433) [Doctoral dissertation, Capella University]. ProQuest. https://www.proquest.com/openview/770f2b9d727765a7a7ae7a2ff3de28ff/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y (Links to an external site.)

Royster Sr., M. E. (2016). Pastoral leadership behavior, church growth and membership longevity: A multiple case study (10100021) [Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University]. ProQuest.

Wollschleger, J. (2018). Pastor leadership and congregational vitality. Review of Religious Research, (60), 575–585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-018-0352-7