Published Paper Details:

Spiritual care has always been central to pastoral ministry, yet pastoral leadership today also includes increasing organisational and administrative responsibilities. This study examines whether Spiritual Care and Growth functions as a marker of effective pastoral leadership by exploring the perceptions of pastors and congregants regarding ministry effectiveness. A convergent mixed-method design was used, involving 28 pastors and 336 congregants through structured questionnaires, together with semi-structured interviews with retired senior pastors. The analysis indicates that Spiritual Care and Growth emerged as the strongest indicator of ministry effectiveness. It also received the highest rating from the congregants and was the only leadership dimension in which congregants rated pastors higher than pastors rated themselves. Taken together, the findings suggest that congregants understand pastoral leadership primarily through spiritual care, guidance, pastoral presence and relational involvement rather than through organisational responsibilities alone. The findings further suggest that spiritual care remains central to effective pastoral leadership, while organisational and administrative responsibilities fulfil their purpose when they support the church's pastoral ministry of nurturing, guiding and caring for God's people.