Assessment of factors influencing the relevance and applicability of John Maxwell’s principles of leadership to CPBC pastors in Cadiz City

Abstract

It has been more than 10 years after I graduated from my Bachelor’s degree in Theology that I worked as a full-time pastor. In the two barrio churches that I served during this period, I never had an opportunity to work with as associate or week-end pastor, I did all things alone, leading and managing the church. I acted like a neophyte, unmindful of what was the ideal and effective principles of leadership. Thus, I struggled hard in order to enhance my leadership skills. Simply put, “I had insufficient knowledge about leadership.” John Maxwell, in his book, “Developing the Leader Within You” aptly says, “making sure the work is done by others is the accomplishment of the manager. Inspiring others to do better work is the accomplishment of a leader.”

It is no secret that the crying need of our churches nowadays is good and effective leadership. I can never forget a church member who commented, “Our pastor is very poor in leadership." I do not know what he meant. Whatever that maybe, one thing I am sure that church members expect their pastors to demonstrate good leadership. Many pastors today are criticized for lack of leadership skills.

Knowledge on leadership and administration learned from seminaries and Bible Schools is a great help to a pastor. But it is not enough, not a guarantee either to make a man of God a good and effective leader. Maxwell believes that “a leader is a learner and the learning process is ongoing." For him, learning is a continuous process.

A research paper entitled “Tracer Study for the CPU College of Theology Graduates from 1995 to 2005” by Landero, Reyes and Villeza (2005) attempted to know their graduates’ perception as to which area of their curriculum in the College of Theology is weak. The survey revealed that administrative leadership was the weakest in the curriculum having a 50% rating over other areas. This means that administrative leadership must be given emphasis compared with other areas such as: field work, preaching, pastoral counseling, Christian Education, worship and family ministry. Needless to say, the implication of what the survey revealed is too important for a pastor: by all means a pastor must develop his leadership skills.

Pastors occupy significant tasks or roles in the church, and one these roles is being a good leader. Whether they like it or not, they are accountable to lead God’s people. Perhaps most of them are still striving to become good leaders. Likewise, my personal struggles and difficulties encountered as a pastor for the past years has challenged me to come up with this paper. Thus, this paper attempts to assess the different factors influencing the relevance and applicability of John Maxwell’s Principles of Leadership to CPBC Pastors in Cadiz City.

The study was conducted to assess the different factors influencing the relevance and applicability of John Maxwell’s Principles of Leadership to CPBC Pastors in Cadiz City. Specifically, the study aims:

1. To assess the degree of relevance of John Maxwell’s principles of leadership to CPBC Pastors in Cadiz City.

2. To assess the degree of applicability of John Maxwell’s principles of leadership to CPBC Pastors in Cadiz City.

3. To assess the relationship of relevance and applicability of John Maxwell’s Principles of Leadership as affected by several factors namely on gender, age, school and year graduated, length of pastoral service, church location and size of church members.