Pastoral Leadership: A Church Merger and Its Emotional Processing

Abstract

AbstractMy thesis examines a church merger by exploring the emotional processing of pastors and congregants in a newly forming faith community. Its methodology analyzes the principles of FST in connection to a church merger by addressing relational behaviors. The initial section of the study briefly outlines the theory’s origins and summarizes Bowen’s eight core principles derived from his research on family dynamics. The study focuses on the FST concepts of Differentiation of Self (DoS), church homeostasis, triangulation, and anxiety within a system. It examines how pastoral leadership and decision-making influence the system by considering concepts and case studies of pastoral and personal experiences. As a way forward, the study reflects on John Wesley’s “Means of Grace” to emphasize faith formation practices that can more effectively shape a sacred community to experience God’s presence. It examines the importance of leadership in the contexts of pastoral influence, agility, and resilience during a church merger. The findings indicate that a church merger is one of several ways that the relational aspect of church life can nurture a culture that encourages God’s followers to mature in faith. The principles of FST reinforce the thesis’s call for pastors and church members to become more differentiated through the Spirit, fostering healthy connections in their relationships with God and one another.