A Concept Study Toward the Adumbrations of a Meta-Model of a Theology of Leadership: Gërhart’s Taxonomy of the Imbrications of Secular and Theological Leadership

• Main Author: Gërhart, Kenneth P
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2024
• Subjects: Philosophy of religion; Religion; Rhetoric; Rhetoric and Composition; Theology
• ISBN: 9798384493198

In researching the concept of a comprehensive, wholistic, meta-model of a theology of leadership, most of the relevant literature focused on the four converging approaches to a nascent theology of leadership—mimetic, power, followership, and Christological leadership—found in the literature (Bekker, 2009). But more is needed to develop a fully functioning meta-model of a theology of leadership. This conceptual study addresses the literature, and the praxis gap found in researching the concept of a meta-model of a theology of leadership. Bekker (2009) identified the scholarly literature gap: “Little work has been done to synthesize all these [four converging] approaches and to provide a ‘mega-theory’ of the concept [of a theology of leadership]” (p. 148) beyond the four extant approaches of mimetic, power, followership, and Christological leadership found in the literature. The practitioner literature gap identified by M. Ayers (2015) addressed the dearth of leadership courses offered in the evangelical seminaries at the master’s level, finding that only 12% of those classes addressed the subject of leadership. The methodology used to conduct such comprehensive research is sociorhetorical interpretation (Robbins, 1996). Given the conceptual nature of this study, the method was limited to content analysis of scripture through inner-texture interpretation—one of five in the comprehensive sociorhetorical paradigm. This conceptual study found that the proposed meta-model contributes to the scholarly and practitioner literature, addresses concerns with the limitations of a conceptual paper, and identifies corridors for future research. Each of these findings confirm the validity of the conceptual study and point to a prodigious path for future research. Finally, the significance of this conceptual study is that it lays the foundation upon which can be built the proposed meta-model of a theology of leadership.