ABSTRACT
The subject of leadership is of keen interest to mankind. Attention is therefore paid to the selection of leaders. However, the 21st century has been revolutionised with many global concerns. One such concern is the choice of a leader. This study therefore sought to investigate the process of selecting leaders in churches under the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC). The qualitative research approach was adopted to understand the uniqueness of leader selection in the church setting and the underlying meanings attached to it. Nine (9) churches made up of five (5) Pentecostals and four (4) Charismatics were purposively selected to get a true representation of the churches who have been in operation for at least ten years. Thirty (30) interviewees were selected from the churches which comprised of three (3) executives of the council (2 Pentecostals and 1 Charismatic), nine (9) fulltime ministers (5 Pentecostals and 4 Charismatics), nine (9) lay leaders (5 Pentecostals and 4 Charismatics) and nine (9) members (5 Pentecostals and 4 Charismatics). From the thematic data analysis, the study found that character, calling, past service record, competence, age, educational level and succession plan are the criteria for the selection of leaders in the church. These influenced a person’s selection for leadership since they have a blend of both spirituality and skills. Again, the process for the selection of leaders in the church was as follows: prayers and fasting, consultations, nominations, informing the person and receiving response, interviews, ordination and affirmation. Furthermore, it was discovered that effective leaders were those who met expectations of members and other leaders, have accomplished something for the church, have continued in their good works, have matured members, have raised other leaders and have rallied support from members. This study has therefore provided a comprehensive account of leader selection. The study therefore concluded that churches must select leaders based on defined criteria that exemplify one as truly born again and called by God; a committed member who has shown capabilities in different ways; an energetic believer who is knowledgeable and has been coached and mentored for leadership respectively. Again, the selection process must be well structured to choose the best member for leadership. This study recommended that leaders pay credence to the selection of leaders at all levels in the church. This will make it possible to select the right person for leadership. Also, churches must do well to develop or revise existing comprehensive document on leader selection. This will go a long way in the selecting of effective leaders who can move the church to the next level.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Leadership is a subject of great interest and captivation to mankind. This has resulted in different schools of thought on understanding what leadership is or what makes a successful leader (Thanh, & Anh, 2015). Different definitions have been given to leadership. Armstrong (2014) defined leadership as motivating individuals to bring out their best to achieve an expected outcome. In addition, a leader must formulate and talk about a vision for posterity, persuade people towards the vision and ensure their commitment. Again, Sharma and Jain (2013) defined leadership as a process by which an individual motivates people to achieve a goal by directing the business in a way which results in making it more unified and coherent. This implies that leadership is not just an art but a process.
Spiritual leadership on the other hand is the process by which a person who is guided by the Spirit of God is able to impact others positively (Patterson, 2013). This means that a spiritual leader acts based on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and not as a result of personal skills, traits and knowledge. A spiritual leader simply means a person who is led by the Holy Spirit who resides in him. Fry and Slocum (2008) defined spiritual leader as one who has a sense of calling from his work and he therefore motivates and inspires personnel through an unmatched vision and a corporate culture based on humane standards to produce a highly engaged and industrious workforce. In addition, Barna (1997) defined a Christian leader as a person who believes he has a calling from God to lead and must portray the character of Christ with his leadership and through his leadership. Again, a spiritual leader exhibits the functional competencies that allow effective leadership to happen (Barna, 1997 as cited in
Blackaby, & Blackaby, 2011). This definition focuses on three key elements: calling, character and competencies which are relevant for the selection of leaders. Simply, a spiritual leader is a person who is called, has character, demonstrates competence and is led by the Holy Spirit to bring out the best in people in order to achieve an organisational vision.
Background of the Study
The 21st century has been revolutionised with many global concerns. The choice of a leader is one of such concern. This is because a leader is confronted with a complex myriad of issues to resolve and make positive impact. It is not surprising that many across the globe are now critical about the selection of a leader to the extent that growing concerns have arisen with regards to the criteria used in the selection of presidents, managers and pastors since some appear not to be competent (Sorkin, November 2016). This accentuates that the criteria for a leader’s selection is crucial in order for such a person to perform. It is therefore not startling that the selection of effective leaders is a major concern in any type of organisation (Day, Fleenor, Atwater, Sturm, & McKee, 2014). This is because the ability of an institution to discover and select effective leaders will lead to its success (Carnes, Houghton, & Ellison, 2015).
Leadership is a globally recognised construct whose practice and understanding is formed by culture (Dartey-Baah, 2015a). This implies that different definitions and understandings underpin leadership based on the context and what is to be done. What will be regarded as leadership in the church will not necessarily be seen as leadership in a secular organisation. Again, there has been a gradual shift from the traditional concept of personnel administration to strategic human resource management where leadership is now seen as a strategic tool in managing employees and the whole institution (Iqbal, Anwar, & Haider, 2015). This is
because the knowledge, talent and competencies a leader possesses determines his effectiveness. Thus, making a leader selection process very crucial. There is therefore no doubt that leadership is a topic of increasing interest in the world since it is indispensable in any organisation. Possibly, the most striking reason for this interest is the widespread belief that leadership affects the performance of organisations (Rowe, Cannella Jr., Rankin, & Gorman, 2005).
