Exploring Spiritual Leadership in DR Congo: A Breakthrough Study

This study reveals how spiritual leadership in DR Congo shapes church growth within the Christian Church Union. By analyzing the qualities of effective leaders, it uncovers essential strategies for enhancing leadership effectiveness—are you ready to transform your understanding of spiritual guidance?

IV.6 Data Analysis and Research Findings

IV.6.1 Detailed results of interviews and data collected.

The leaders of these congregations are people known for their visionary leadership, consistence and servant leadership attitude by the majority of the people surveyed. The laity also, according to the researcher’s observation, stated that the communication and organization skills of the present leadership are good resulting in the congregation’s viability.

The next major step in collecting data was interviews, participation and observation among key leaders. The main question was how the leadership in growing churches is weak or even wrong and how this has brought about a negative effect on such growing churches. The charts below show the responses for the total samples, the statistical data and the variance of the research to church leaders who responded.

Research Question 1

1. How would you describe your leadership in your ministry?

Figure 1: Description of leadership in ministry

The 30% of leaders who are very sure and are convinced about their calling are the ones doing the work of God in building up the local church. These are leaders who are advocating for a democratic movement in the church today. 26% of leadership agreed that their leaders have lost the vision of doing things.

21% are mainly those are semi-skilled, The problem with this group when talking and interviewing them, they said, ‘we are like people who depend so much on others to lead, to lead and to guide them in the ministry’. The ministry requires manpower with relevant skills, but these leaders lost opportunities to be trained for ministry.

23% are leaders who are short tempered and who feel that some of their leaders torment them with stress.

About 30% of respondents are leaders who are democratic in nature. The Protestants think differently because they feel leadership is democratic, each and every body should exercise his or her right to lead and support the leadership and the ministry.

Research Question 2

1. What do you think are the strengths of your leadership in your ministry/church?

Figure 2: Strengths of individual leadership

In this part of the research many leaders as reflected by this chart showed that the strength of leadership is in one being capacitated to do great things by standing for your conviction. Some 11% suggested that theological education do help one to be a good and effective church leader. it is important to note that some of these leaders need to be equipped, encouraged to be trained.

Leaders need to be strategic thinkers, planners and influencers of ideas that help build the local church. 32% of leaders agreed that the strengths of leadership is based on the vision of the leader, It is true that if the leader has no foresight the congregation suffers the most. 18% said, ‘it is good to be recognized and respected, if this is done the leader will increase in value and confidence’.

Doctrinal issues have divided the body of Christ especially in the Quakers, Apostolic sects and Pentecostals. This group constitutes about 15%, it showed that every denomination has a trend or set of rules they follow which are formulated from the Bible by the leaders for the followers to take and use.

It is something taught.24% of people interviewed postulated that, ‘sound teaching is a cornerstone for building up a local church’. They said, they enjoy the set up and the structure of services which Includes their participation and involvement. Some leaders said they agreed that one gains power by empowering others. This is a fact in that every leader should be able to raise a leader in making who resembles him.

Leaders who know their strengths are servants, but those who do not know are masters of their own. The gifts and qualities of leadership are not for display but for the operations which are vital for building up the local church. The empirical research found that most of the leadership qualities which are mentioned in the research are a sign that the capacity is there in the leadership to lead the organizations.

The only problem is that these leaders have fewer qualities and qualifications to lead and guide the growth of the local church they administer.

Research Question 3

1. What do you think are the weaknesses of the leadership in your ministry?

Figure 3: Weaknesses of leadership

This question was requiring a reflection on the weaknesses leadership that has negatively affected the building of the local church. This shows a sign of lack of ability in leadership, if the weaknesses are to overtake the strengths, then the local church is weakened. As things that are affecting the local church. The autocratic way of leadership has great authority over his followers.

Some leaders argued that these weaknesses have kept some leaders in office because they do not listen to anyone even to God the owner of the Church.

The reason why they are in leadership is because they do not want to share authority with anyone and they are not comfortable to be asked or questioned on any credible issues. They are not accountable to anyone. Through these they are left with no choice but to be unproductive, rude, rough, autocratic, rigid, and arrogant.

That is the reason why there is the 23% of respondents who feel that the leaders have no qualities at all and the local church is weak more than before and in order for it to recover it needs a radical change. 26% viewed the leadership as autocratic, selfish, repressive, dictatorial, oppressive, domineering and self-centered in nature.

They argued that these leaders cannot share with other leaders their visions and the life-hood of the church, the leader is limited, not secure and has no guiding values. The empirical research has shown that these leaders are a danger to the congregation and these dangers and temptations will render the congregation weak, incompetent, unskilled, ineffectual, and hopeless and the spirit of self-deception will take over Since these are weaknesses in the life of a leader they can develop a pattern, practice, behavior and performance that tend always to become habitual This was confirmed by the leaders.

Good leaders welcome new ideas, realizing that most everything can be improved. They respond to concerns and questions. They collaborate more than control. Leaders who close themselves off from those they lead will limit the places where others will follow. Dishonesty, they said, is an injured element in character of leaders; a good leader must be above reproach.

About 21% of the respondents allude to the fact that leaders lack vision. This is very important; the dream of the leader should be interpreted in order to vitalize the life of the church. These are his ideas, the imaginations and the revelations of the leader that persuades the followers to come.

20% pointed to the lack of leadership training as a weakness. They said in an area, some of the leaders have totally ignored the influence of other religious doctrines and religious fraternal in the community. They devalue education and if one is educated, the Spirit cannot fully operate or manifest in its fullness because you are using reason and tradition more than the Spirit.

This is very dangerous for the church because many of the newly formed churches have these beliefs that one needs to listen to the Spirit and nothing else. 10 % argued that the lack of coordination of church activities by the leader is a weakness. The probability would be that the more the congregation grows, the more the leader fails to institute control measures to coordinate the local church well. A leader may struggle with one or more of these, but the goal should be to lead .The source of all these is not God and these are negative effects to the building of the local church

Research Question 4

Looking at the strengths of leadership in your ministry/church, what could be contributing to these strengths?

Figure 4: Strengths of leadership in church

32% agreed that the key to success in leadership is training, administration, management, good leadership and positive attitude. These have been seen as key to the strength in leadership of the local church. 24% leaders said that influence is also a very important strength. If leaders cannot influence and empower others, then, they are ignorant and failures.

This chart shows that leaders can do more considering the high percentages shown on the strength that are contributing to the growth of the local church. It is amazing that most leaders who are in a position of influence have something positive about their leadership.

Leaders were agreeing that these are the major five qualities a leader should desire to have. These are other areas of practical leadership training. They talked about training as the center to the functions of the one who leads the building up of the local church. Members who are trained, who grow in knowledge, insight and experience will become aware of the gifts of grace that God grants them for the sake of service in and by the congregation.

Training is the art of cultivating awareness and understanding all these leadership disciplines are important, not one above the other it all depend on the approach and strategy one is using. More Protestant churches have mature leaders than Pentecostal, Apostles and Charismatics who have young, immature leaders due to lack of formal training, development and building structured leaders.

Leaders assert that the qualities and characteristics of leadership mentioned above are important for the building of the local church.

14% of leaders responded by saying self-discipline of a leader is very important. Leaders who are mature know the importance of self-discipline and self-control while one is in office. Others talked about integrity, 18 % of the interviewees agreed to this area. Integrity is steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.

Integrity is the state of being unimpaired; soundness, uprightness, truthfulness and liableness while in office. It is the quality or condition of being whole or undivided; of completeness. In building up the local church, this is a very important quality to have, the leaders said.

The other characteristic mentioned in the research is accountability; self-discipline and transparency as noted by 12 % of the respondents, are major and significant problems in the African leadership. This is because most leaders are caught on the wrong side and people in leadership were not trained in administering and managing organizational funds.

Both Protestants and Pentecostals have weaknesses in this area. But the interviews showed that they were having problems in churches to address this problem because their leaders are the ones whom they are accusing of being weak or even wrong. The researcher tried to develop with them in reasoning why this is happening in our leaders, most of them agreed that the spirit of poverty could be a contributing factor.

Thus lack of means of providing or having material needs or comforts. So, one uses the office to enrich him/herself quickly before he/she leaves office

Research Question 5

What important role do leaderships play in building up a local church?

Figure 5: Leadership role in church growing the local

On the issue of the building up of the local church by the leadership, respondents argued that this has nothing to do with structures even though it is important to see how the growth is experienced against the membership received. The researcher wanted to see what the leadership was doing to build up the local church.

From the interviews, it showed that the leadership have the leadership should be able to build up teamwork, said one of the leaders. About 33 % of leaders said they need to equip, develop, transform, be held accountable, discipline, develop teamwork, and integrate integrity in leadership and delegation.

All these suggest that there is need for working together within the leadership of churches in order to accomplish greater things for the Kingdom of God.

The interpretation of doctrine was just about 20% which is not a significant percentage, but to the Protestants it is more meaningful because doctrine is what makes them who they are.. As said by one of the leaders: « teamwork gives opportunity for participation, provides the environment for people’s talents and gifts to be released and gives value to each part and member ».

Some leaders suggested that teamwork empowers individuals and helps one another in building the local church.

The building of the local church needs leaders who are initiators; aggressive and ambitious in starting things. During the interviews the leaders mentioned some of the areas they feel are important for a leader who is serious in the work of building the local church and these are: productivity, equipping the saints, developing integrity, building character, identifying talents and skills, being initiative, setting goals, accountability, discipline, teamwork, delegation, transformation, consultation, empowerment and creating an enabling learning environment.

The 33 % asserted that equipping, developing, character and transforming talents are very important roles for leaders in building up a local church.

20% of leaders agreed that accountability, discipline, teamwork and delegation are some of the important roles that leaders can focus on to build the local church.

The 21% said that innovative, productivity and the setting goals for the organization is important roles to be fulfilled by leaders. They said each church needs leaders who can guide, lead and control using ethical standards.

The 26% said in the interview that interpretation of their doctrine to members and others is a very important role for leaders for leadership application in the local church.