Developing Transformational Leadership Principles for Latino Church Leaders in the Rio Grande Valley

This project addresses the need for transformational and biblical leadership practices among Latino leaders, specifically in the Rio Grande Valley with a potential, as well, to impact the Latin American Church. The project explores the lack of transformational leadership principles, a deficiency that could contribute to the development of misinformed leadership practices among Latino church leaders. The study explains the background of the problem; identifies the common cultural influences among Latino leaders; explores the common and limiting factors of these leaders; develops a theology of transformational leadership as applied to Latino leaders; conducts a literary analysis of resources available in Spanish on the matter of transformational leadership; observes the most common leadership approaches adopted by Latino churches and its effect upon leadership; identifies normative practices of Latino leaders based upon cultural traits; explains the process of discovering spiritual gifts and calling in conjunction with leadership practices; evaluates how the deficiency in leadership undermines the effectiveness of the local church; and develops transformational leadership values which could be applied to address each one of these issues.
The study employed qualitative methods to gather data. Instruments such as surveys to pastors and lay leaders of the RGV, observations of Latino churches in the RGV and Latin America, surveys to RGBC students, and interviews with prominent Latino leaders, all of which provided invaluable information in the research process. Additionally, six sessions on the subject of transformational leadership designed for Latino leaders were conducted with students in an ecclesiology class at RGBC to test the curriculum. Evaluation methods were used to probe the validity and the findings of this project. Additionally, personal observations and a literature review were other sources of research data for this project.
The data was analyzed thematically by explaining the results of each instrument used for data gathering. The analysis shows a direct correlation between the lack of leadership/biblical training and the implementation of misinformed and normative practices amongst these leaders. The study also shows a direct correlation between the lack of the leader’s understanding regarding calling and giftedness and the lack of a clear vision in relation to the application of leadership approaches, such as an authoritarian leadership style that inhibits church growth and leadership development. The results showed that the transformational leadership concept is not commonly applied in Latino church leaders, and little is known of its effectiveness within these churches. Thematic labels are used to explain the misinformed leadership practices found in the study as well as the transformational leadership practices that could be applied in response to them.
The findings of this research consists of ten transformational leadership values for Latino church leaders: a contextualization of the transformational leadership components for Latino leaders; a description of the power of Latino leadership based on heritage and cultural identity; an outline of a book/curriculum on the subject of transformational Leadership for Latino leaders; recommendation actions to RGVBA, RGV, and Latin American churches; recommendations to RGBC faculty, including the proposal of a mentorship program and a syllabus for a transformational leadership class focused on Latino leaders; the implications of this study for church leaders, denominations, and conventions; and concludes with future recommendations and a challenge to Latino leaders with simple steps to become more transformational in their practices.