Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

Volume 10 | Number 2 Article 17

9-2016 The Distinctive Characteristics of Religious Leadership: A Case Study of the International of the Foursquare Gospel in the Stephen Bialowas Regent University

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Recommended Citation Bialowas, Stephen (2016) "The Distinctive Characteristics of Religious Leadership: A Case Study of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in the United States," Journal of Applied Christian Leadership: Vol. 10: No. 2, 103-103. Available at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/jacl/vol10/iss2/17

This Leadership Resource is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Applied Christian Leadership by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bialowas: Religious Leadership of the Foursquare Gospel Church

DISSERTATION NOTICES lected data on the distinctive charac- Bang, S. (2016). Developing leaders teristics of Foursquare leadership by for effective cross-cultural examining four core documents of the Christian leadership in East church and the church’s website and Asian context. D.Min., Biola through semi-structured one-on-one University. interviews with eight prominent national leaders of the organization. this study is about developing the researcher then analyzed the data leaders for effective cross-cultural through a systematic coding process leadership practice in the East Asian to identify key themes related to cultural context toward the fulfill- Foursquare leader characteristics and ment of the . this then categorized those themes. the dissertation asks the question, Will study also compared the characteris- the increased understanding of effec- tics of Foursquare leadership to the tive christian leadership practices in characteristics of leadership as the East Asian context increase the described by Weber’s (1963) theory of confidence of leaders who intend to religious leadership and with five lead within that culture? in order to contemporary leadership theories to discover the answer, leaders of Los discover similarities and differences. Angeles United church were invited the results indicated that there were to participate in a training seminar several similarities and differences which focused on strengthening theo- between Foursquare leadership and logical understanding of christian leadership described by Weber’s theo- leadership and raising anthropologi- ry and the five contemporary leader- cal awareness of culture in a leader- ship theories, showing that ship situation. the participants com- Foursquare leadership has much in pleted a pre-seminar and a post-semi- common with leadership described by nar questionnaire in order to measure the five contemporary theories, but their progress. the analysis of the that only Weber’s theory accounted instrument confirmed the hypothesis for the distinctly religious characteris- to be true. Acquiring greater under- tics of Foursquare leaders. the study standing of biblical leadership and concluded that religious leadership as cross-cultural dynamics in a leader- practiced in is ship situation increased their motiva- best described by a combination of tion and confidence level necessary the five contemporary theories and for effective cross-cultural leadership. Weber’s theory. implications and lim- itations of the study as well as recom- Bialowas, S. (2016). The distinc- mendations for future research tive characteristics of religious regarding religious leadership are dis- leadership: A case study of cussed. the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in the United Choi, G. (2016). A theology of States. Ph.D., Regent University. missional leadership in the book this dissertation is a qualitative of Revelation. Ph.D., Andrews case study of religious leadership University. in the international church of the Foursquare gospel, commonly Leadership styles and the atten- known as the Foursquare church, a dant behavior of mission practitioners Pentecostal and church administrators too often with a network of over 1,600 churches demonstrate leadership attitudes and in the United States. the study col- practices that reflect cultural norms

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