The influence of leaders’ spirituality on congregational spirituality through leadership behavior in local Seventh-day Adventist churches of Botswana Union Conference

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of church leaders’ spirituality on congregational spirituality through leadership behavior among local Seventh-day Adventist churches within the Botswana Union Conference. Anchored in Fry’s Spiritual Leadership Theory, the study recontextualized the “inner life” construct as “spiritual experience” to better reflect a theistic worldview and Christian praxis. The study aimed to (a) determine the relationship between leaders’ spirituality and congregational spirituality, (b) examine the mediating role of leadership behavior, and (c) assess whether contextual variables, conference affiliation, church size, and church location, moderate this relationship. The study employed a quantitative correlational design using a cross-sectional survey methodology. Data were collected from 49 churches and 309 church leaders and members across two conferences using standardized instruments: the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES), validated leadership behavior questionnaire and Congregational Spirituality questionnaire. Statistical analyses included Pearson correlation, multiple regression, mediation analysis using the Baron and Kenny (1986) approach, and moderation analysis. Findings revealed a significant positive correlation between leaders’ spirituality and congregational spirituality (r = .40, p = .004). Leadership behavior fully mediated this relationship, as evidenced by the reduction in significance of leaders’ spirituality when leadership behavior was included in the model (β = .167, p = .138), and the significant indirect effect confirmed by the Sobel test (t = 2.446). The combined model explained 48.9% of the variance in congregational spirituality (R² = .489). Moderation analyses showed that contextual variables, conference, church size, and church location, did not significantly alter the relationship between leaders’ spirituality and congregational spirituality. This study advances new knowledge by offering empirical evidence that spiritual leadership influences congregational spirituality primarily through behavioral enactment rather than direct influence. It also introduces a culturally and theologically contextualized adaptation of Spiritual Leadership Theory for faith-based organizations. The findings underscore the importance of intentional leadership development programs that integrate spiritual experience with modeled behavior, irrespective of organizational or geographical setting.