TITLE:
Leadership Strategies to Enhance the Sustainability of Virginia United Methodist Churches
AUTHORS:
Randolph R. Shelton, Robert E. Levasseur
KEYWORDS:
Strategic Leadership, Church Sustainability, Church Attendance, Church Membership, Phenomenology
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Leadership,
Vol.14 No.4,
December
2,
2025
ABSTRACT: Many United Methodist church leaders face challenges to achieve church sustainability. There is limited research that examines the leadership strategies that have been successful in ensuring sustainability. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Virginia United Methodist church leaders concerning leadership strategies to enhance church sustainability. The study’s conceptual framework consisted of Bass and Avolio’s full range leadership model and Lewin’s three-stage change model, which were used to interpret leaders’ experiences with implementing change by adopting effective leadership styles. The study population comprised United Methodist church leaders who held positions as Virginia Conference bishop, district superintendents, and pastors. Face-to-face, semistructured interviews with 10 participants and subsequent member checking was the data collection method. Thematic analysis of the data enabled the identification of findings that addressed the research questions, which relate to leadership strategies implemented to enhance church sustainability, and their effectiveness. The three themes that emerged from data analysis showed that church leaders used the following strategies to enhance church sustainability: 1) change the leadership culture, 2) encourage youth participation, and 3) develop strong stewardship and capital campaigns. The implication of this study for positive social change is church leaders’ greater understanding of effective strategies to enhance church sustainability and how to implement them. Church leaders could contribute to social change by implementing strategies to increase and sustain church membership and attendance, thus improving quality of life and the economy through church sustainability.