Orthocardic leadership – pastoral leadership inspired by desert spirituality

Abstract

The leadership problem in the United Methodist Church is often treated with adding more to support clergy. This project argues such treatment only adds to the leadership problem and a new treatment must be applied. The treatment argued for in this project is a rediscovery of a leadership model inspired by the desert mothers and fathers of late antiquity. This project calls this leadership model Orthocardic Leadership. Orthocardic leadership is put in contrast with three other clergy leadership models: evangelist, servant leader, and CEO. By using structured focus group settings, this project begins the process of pruning away unhelpful leadership models while also outlining what Orthocardic leadership might look like today.