The development of leaders within a church network in Austria 'Life church Osterreich'

Abstract

The development of leaders within church networks, in comparison to mainstream denominations, can appear ad hoc, lacking consistency, theological aptitude and structure. Nevertheless, some of these leaders are seeing remarkable church growth and are maintaining a relevancy in an increasingly pluralistic and fast changing Western society. ‘Life Church Österreich’ is a church network in Austria whose leaders, in contrast to its contemporaries, are almost one hundred percent indigenous. There is evidence that it has effectively developed leaders and pioneered churches in this Central European nation, but has the development been sufficient and can it be sustained? While revealing the significant hindrances of the unique cultural climate of Austria, this paper assesses the means of the network’s advancement to date. The thorough literature review of leadership distinctives and the optimal means of developing leaders led to qualitative empirical research of the entire network’s leadership. Coupled with the author’s exclusive insider-outsider status, this has ensured a thorough analysis and evaluation of Life Church Österreich’s development of leaders. The findings reveal that the development of a leader is a holistic life process and that Life Church Österreich will need to revive its focus on relational input, and training in the context of ministry, if indeed it is to produce the required leaders for the future growth of the network.

Date of Award	Jan 2012
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Bangor University
Supervisor	Carol Alexander (Supervisor)