A Study of Current Leadership Styles in the North African Church

Indigenous church leadership is a new phenomenon in North Africa. Until recently, non-Muslim background believers were the only leaders of churches in this region. With the current growth of national churches there are more and more leaders from a Muslim background. While a few researchers have explored the Church in North Africa, no one has looked at the specific aspects of church leadership. This study is the first one to explore leadership styles of North African church leaders.

After developing a thirty-four-item questionnaire from the study of contingency theory, this study measures the leadership values, behaviors, and qualities of fifty-five church leaders in North Africa. The findings are then compared with historical, cultural, and religious leadership styles from previous studies.

Four leadership styles are identified: the Shepherd, the Sheikh, the Servant, and the Holy Man. After a detailed description of the specific elements that make up these four styles, there is a discussion on how they can impact congregations and the society for good.

There is strong evidence that these leadership styles of current North African leaders have contextual elements and are clearly shaped by biblical principles. The study concludes with a biblical discussion on the implications of these four styles for the current North African church. It is recommended that North African leaders incorporate teaching about these four leadership styles in their leadership development and further explore the interface between them and the biblical teaching on leadership.

The dissertation was also turned into a book, A Study of Current Leadership Styles in the North African Church by Farida Saidi (ISBN13: 9781907713804).