Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Project Portfolio

Degree Name

Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives (DLd)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Holley Clough

Second Advisor

Aaron Friesen

Third Advisor

Jason Swan Clark

Abstract

NPO: Presbyteries promote connectionalism, yet pastors and ministry leaders experience isolation and burnout, lacking healthy communication, trustworthy relationships, and healthy life-rhythms which affect their well-being. I serve as the executive director of church planting for a regional presbytery in the Presbyterian Church in America denomination. Additionally, for many years I have served as a coach and consultant to pastors, church planters, and executives primarily in the nonprofit space. Prior to this project, I was aware of various resources available to pastors and ministry leaders who are stressed out, lonely, or discouraged. At the same time, there was a gap in scholarship around the connection between the leader’s relational ties and his or her flourishing. By exploring the intersection of the imago Dei and social network theory, insights emerged about the way different relationships affect individuals and their groups. Research demonstrates that a healthier mix of strong and weak social ties provides many benefits. These include a greater sense of belonging, healthier group dynamics, and new information needed for change. Social network analysis, combined with an examination of the structural and functional aspects of image bearers, provides a fresh set of metaphorical bifocals through which to see and understand the overall health and well-being of pastors and ministry leaders. To address the complexities of the NPO, I have written several chapters of a potential book. Additionally, I have provided a diagnostic tool that a pastor, ministry leader, or service provider can use to assess the health of the leader’s strong and weak social ties. Together, the content and the tool provide an additional way to address the flourishing of a leader and his/her ecclesial association. By assessing network ties, the pastor or ministry leader can make adjustments that could improve both individual flourishing and group dynamics at the same time.

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