The Headmaster as Pastor: Examining the Pastoral Leadership of Evangelical Christian Heads of School

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to understand the ways that heads of evangelical Christian schools exercise pastoral leadership in order to enrich the culture and community of their schools, promote student outcomes, and enhance the Christian ethos of their institutions. The current study filled the gap in previous literature through a qualitative multiple case study method examining and describing the means and modes by which three heads of evangelical Christian schools led their school communities, as perceived by the heads, board members, senior leaders, faculty members, students, and parents within the school. What emerged from the research is that the heads provided pastoral leadership for their schools through: (a) proclaiming God’s word–communicating the mission, vision, and values of the school’s distinctively-Christian character to the community, living those values incarnationally, and connecting Scripture to the daily context of the school; (b) demonstrating genuine pastoral soul care and concern for staff, students, and parents, care that connected school family members with the school and allowed them to internalize and reflect school values themselves; and, (c) equipping senior leaders, faculty, students, and parents to serve the school community and each other, stewarding the resources of the school. The heads’ pastoral leadership created cultures of authentic Christian care and community, flourishing climates in which faculty felt free to collaborate, work as a team, and share craft knowledge. Students felt cared for and safe to take academic risks, ask questions, and try harder, all of which provided healthy media for learning. Keywords: pastoral leadership, head of school, evangelical Christian school, Christian educational leadership, pastoral care.