The Leadership Style of Permanent Deacons: Servant

The Leadership Style of Permanent Deacons: Servant and Transformational Middle-aged Ministers Joseph R. Ferrari and Danielle Vaclavik DePaul University Although active in their local community and congregation mobilizing faith formation events, liturgical services, and community social action programs, little is known on the leadership style of permanent deacons (frequently married and middle age), ministers in the Roman Catholic Church. In the present study, 1,997 men (M age = 57.52 years old; SD = 4.44) from three generations of formation cohorts residing across seven U.S. geographic regions completed social desirability and multidimensional measures on servant and transformational leadership attributes. There were no significant differences (controlling for social desirability) by generation cohort and/or geographic region among selfreported servant and transformational leadership styles by deacons. Results suggest that U.S. Catholic deacons, regardless of their age or residence, self-identified as compassionate, engaged leaders who transform members of their parish to achieve the best they may become.

For the first 1000 years of the Christian faith, the deacon was a vital and active member of the clergy (see Ormonde, 2004, for more details on the history and role of deacons). These ordained clergy serve roles similar to, yet different than, priests and pastors (Barnett, 1995; Collins, 2003; Keating, 2006). Within the Roman Catholic denomination, the permanent deacon does not continue formation toward becoming a Catholic priest (Ditewig, 2007), but is a cleric in his own right. Catholic deacons traditionally serve in ministries of “word, sacrament, and charity” (Ditewig & Tkacik, 2010). On the surface, the ministry of word generally means reading the Gospels (Holy Scripture) at the Catholic Mass and affirming the role of teaching and engaging in the study of Holy Scripture. Sacramental ministry may include baptizing members into the Church, prep and presiding over weddings, wake services and funerals, blessings of people, objects, and places, and distribution of Holy Eucharist. Above all, the vital role of the deacon is as ministry of charity, compassion, and social justice. A deacon is not a “mini-priest or pastor,” or a “partial pastor or priest,” or a “substitute pastor or priest,” __________________________________

Author info: Correspondence should be sent to: Joseph R. Ferrari, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 2219 North Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60614; [email protected] North American Journal of Psychology, 2016, Vol. 18, No. 1, 1-16.  NAJP

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NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY

nor is the deacon a “super lay-person, member of the congregation.” A deacon is a sacred minister in his own right - an unpaid cleric who focuses on social justice, charity, and the communal needs of others. In short, the deacon today is deeply embedded in the world, but not of the world – a bridge between the liturgical Church and the concerns of the world, a voice that calls attention to the Church community to the needs and hopes of the world. In 1971, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB:USCCB) authorized creating the “new, revised” modern cohort of deacons, after nearly a 1000 year absence of the ministry. By 1984, new guidelines began a second cohort (Shugrue, 1988). Admission required a period of discernment, recommendations by the candidate’s pastor, support of the applicant’s wife (if married), letters of reference, multiple personal interviews, and psychological adjustment testing. The most recent diaconate guidelines, established in 2005, increased the length for pre-ordination education classes adding FBI background evaluation and certification to screen against sexual abuse toward children and followed then Canon Law (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate: CARA, 2013), including most often completing the MMPI or MMPI-2 for admission. In 2010, CARA reported that 46% of the total global number of permanent deacons was found in the U.S. and Canada, and as 2012 there were an estimated 17,325 U.S. Catholic Deacons (CARA, 2013). Given the three waves of reformulated and restructured formation training since 1971, we may say that U.S. permanent deacons represent three different but related cohorts. In the present study, these cohorts were designated from self-reported year of ordination by participants and labeled Cohort #1 (1971 to 1983), Cohort # 2 (1984 to 2004), and Cohort # 3 (2005 to the present). Research on Permanent Catholic Deacons Only a few studies have examined the characteristics of Catholic deacons. Kobal (2005), in an unpublished dissertation interviewed five Pennsylvania Catholic deacons on their ministry experiences, reporting that these men felt understood by the laity in their role as clergy. Gamino, Sewell, Mason, and Crostley (2007) examined archival records on psychiatric adjustment screening measures for 139 men in Texas either selected or not as ‘aspirants’ (men entering their first year of diaconal studies). Results found selected candidates compared to non-selected men were more mature, successful in careers and marriage, free of disabling neurosis, addictions, anger, interpersonal problems, and they possessed solid ego strength. Ashworth and Dilks (2012), in a conference presentation of 17 men residing in Oklahoma entering the diaconate, reported different outcomes. Using standardized diagnostic measure

Ferrari & Vaclavic DEACONS LEADERSHIP STYLE

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scores, they reported that deacons were generally rigid and moralistic wanting to appear perfectionistic. They also suggested that diaconate candidates may be defensive in their responses, and there is some evidence that Catholic clergy may be overly boastful (e.g., Burns, Francis, Village, & Robbins, 2013). Therefore, a measure of social desirability was included in the present study simply as a statistical “control,” to determine the extent to which deacons, when reflecting on their leadership styles, were providing socially appropriate responding. Taken together, the present survey study included deacons across generational cohorts and geographic U.S. regions assessed on their parish leadership styles, controlling for social desirability tendencies. Given that deacons are religious community change agents and engaged in local services, it seems important to understand their leadership styles across these generations and U.S. geography. The Leadership Styles of the Parish Permanent Deacon CARA (2013) reported that deacons in parishes are increasingly becoming paid parish coordinators. About 22% of deacons work at some paid role full-time in a parish, another 25% of deacons work part-time in a parish, and 8% of parishes have deacons paid as a full-time parish coordinator (an administrative role that traditionally was performed by the pastor). As more become parish coordinators, understanding the leadership style of deacons has practical and important implications. Unfortunately, some clerics seem to treat the parish members as “cattle” wishing to count the number present, and wanting them to “pray, obey, and stay” (Nauss, 1995). Reflective of clericalism (Doyle, 2003; 2006), these ministers lack a pastoral sense of compassionate, caring, and meeting the needs of the people through leadership. In short, some pastors view themselves as entitled to their power, prestige, and payments. What remains unanswered is the attributes of leadership among deacons in parishes. It was expected that, overall, deacons would reflect less clericism, as reflective by higher servant leadership scores on measures used in the present study. One style of leadership that seems most logical for deacons to live, express, and report is called servant leadership (coined by Greenleaf, 1970). Greenleaf claimed that the greatest leader is a servant first, and the chance to serve makes the person want to lead. The ultimate goal of a servant leader is to fulfill other’s needs. Servant leaders focus primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership shares power, puts the needs of others first, and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.

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Keith (2008) stated that servant leaders were ethical, practical persons who effectively use self-awareness, foresight, and listening skills, as they enhance and “coach” (instead of controlling) others unleashing the follower’s energy and intelligence. Sipe and Frick (2009) claimed that servant-leaders were systematic thinkers with character, put other people first, and are skilled communicators and compassionate collaborators who exercise moral integrity. Unlike leadership approaches with a topdown hierarchical style, servant leadership emphasizes collaboration, trust, empathy, and the ethical use of power. At heart, these individuals are servants first, making the conscious decision to lead in order to better serve others, and not to increase their own power. For the servant leader, the objective is to enhance the growth of individuals in the organization and increase teamwork and personal involvement. Given the nature of the servant leader, it was expected that Catholic permanent deacons would report high scores on attributes of this leadership style compared to previous literature. It was expected that deacons would self-report (controlling for any potential social desirability tendencies) to being servant leaders regardless of their cohort year of training and the geographic region where they reside. In addition to a servant leader style, permanent deacons may reflect leaders who "transform" groups or organizations by focusing on followers, motivating them to high levels of performance, and in the process, helping followers develop their own leadership potential (Carter, 2009). Through the strength of their vision and personality, such transformational leaders inspire followers to change expectations, perceptions, and motivations to work towards common pro-social goals (Bass & Avolio, 1994). Transformational leaders may be defined based on their impact on followers, who view them with trust, respect, and admiration (Bass & Riggio, 2006; Zhu, 2014). Unlike traditional leadership approaches (where the emphasis may be a top-down, power and control relationship), the transformational leader has the ability to inspire and motivate followers (Rowold, 2008; Sun, 2014). Together, they inspire change in the organization through example, articulation of an energizing vision and challenging goals. Transforming leaders may be idealized by the followers, in the sense that they are moral exemplars of working towards the benefit of the team, organization and/or community. This leader “walks the talk” and is admired for such a style; this leader connects with the people he works for (Bass & Bass, 2008). Posig (2005) argued that a transformational style leader reflects the values, vision, and mission of Vincentianism, a term based on practices that center on the spiritual and clerical teachings of St. Vincent dePaul (Murphy, 1991; Sullivan, 1997), whose writings focused on ministries of social justice and charity toward others and were a model for presbyter


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seminary instruction (Dodin, 1993). Religious leaders, especially clergy (e.g., deacons), who reflect a Vincentian model of service, social justice, and charity are inclusive, respective of diversity and the needs of others, as well as pragmatic and innovative to current situational demands (McKee, Driscoll, Kelloway, & Kelley, 2011; McKenna, 2005). Transformational leaders with a Vincentian “heart” may be most effective for the community because they engage the community of followers by empowering them, giving them a shared vision, yet maintaining a commitment to standards and quality performance. Carter (2009) reported that transformational leaders among Protestant pastors promote effective parish operations, and Rowold (2008) found that congregations are more satisfied with such pastor styles, willing to give additional effort for a successful congregation. Given that the present sample of participants are active Catholic clergy, deacons (whose faith is woven into their style as ministers of social justice and community engagement, reflective of a Vincentian style) were evaluated for their transformational leadership attributes. The present study explored the level of self-reported servant transformational leadership styles among Catholic deacons, across three cohort groups and varied geographical locations. It was expected that self-report scores of both servant and (Vincentian) transformational leadership would be higher than previous reported literature, given their clerical ministerial training and lifestyle of charity and service for others. Furthermore, it was expected that deacons would report both strong leader styles, regardless of their cohort year of ordination since they are called to be both servant and transformative leaders in their community throughout their ministry. Also, we had no a priori reason to expect significant differences based on North American geographic location of residence. To the extent that deacons are both servant leaders and (Vincentian) transformational leaders of a local parish, it was expected that Catholic permanent deacons would report expressing a charism (a term meaning sense of answering God’s call for faithfulness) service and compassion to their parish members. METHOD Participants Cohort # 1 (n = 187) reported a mean age of 62.33 (SD = 2.43), Cohort # 2 (n = 907) a mean age of 48.10 (SD = 5.57), and Cohort # 3 (n = 903) a mean age of 42.14 (SD = 7.11). Most participants (87%) selfidentified as European-American, with at least a bachelor’s degree (73.2%). Nearly all participants (93%) reported they were married. In terms of paid employment outside of a parish, many deacons (43%) were working either full or part-time. Across cohorts, deacons reported they

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lived an average of 17.12 years in their current parish (SD = 9.90). On average, deacons reported that they preached Sunday homilies twice a month, and most deacons engaged in sacraments such as baptism (84.5%), marriage prep (58.5%), and bereavement ministries (54.2%). Psychometric Scales Servant leadership questionnaire. Participants completed Barbuto and Wheeler’s (2006) Servant Leadership scale, a 23-item measure, with each item rated on a 4-point scale ( 1 = strongly disagree; 4 = strongly agree) that assessed 11 characteristics of servant leaders across five dimensions. Respondents answered each item from their own point of view reflective of their parish experiences. One dimension style was labeled altruistic calling (4 items: alpha = .71; M = 9.69, SD = 1.34), believing one does all he can to serve others and may sacrifice personal goals for others (sample items: “I put the best interests of others ahead of myself” and “I go above and beyond the call of duty to meet other’s needs”). The second style dimension is called emotional healing (4 items: alpha = .79; M = 12.47, SD = 1.82), claiming one is a person others may turn to if there is a personal trauma and is good at helping others with emotional issues (sample items: “I have talent at helping others to heal emotionally” and “I am someone who can help others mend hard feelings”). The third style dimension is called wisdom (5 items: alpha = .82; M = 15.57, SD = 2.27), believing one has great awareness of what is happening around the community and is good at anticipating the consequences of decisions (sample items: “I seem alert to what’s happening” and “I am in touch with what is happening”). The fourth style dimension is labeled persuasive sampling (5 items: alpha = .80; M = 14.73, SD = 2.34), believing one offers compelling reasons to get others to act and is persuasive at getting others to “dream big” (sample items: “I am very persuasive” and “I am good at convincing others to do things”). The fifth style dimension is called organizational stewardship (5 items: alpha = .74; M = 17.50, SD = 1.89), believing one plays a moral role in the local parish and in society, and displaying a community spirit to others (sample items: “I see the parish for its potential to contribute to society” and “I prepare the parish to make a positive difference in the future”). Vincentian Leadership Assessment – Self (VL) scale. In addition, participants completed the revised VL scale, originally created by Tavanti (2007). Tavanti created this instrument based on logical categories to assess 12 leadership competency skills across four styles of valuefocused leadership from a transformational perspective. Each competency was measured by 10 items, each rated on a 10-point scale (1 = almost never; 10 – almost always), yielding a total of 40 items. Maier


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(2014) found that scores on the VL Scale were predictive of varied employment perceptions among 276 young hospitality industry leaders. Moreover, Fernandes (2009), using over 1700 participants from varied settings, conducted a factor analysis of the original instrument and reduced the total number of items to 36, across five reliable leadership competency styles. The present study used the revised 36-item VL scale to assess transformational leadership among deacons, clerical ministers of social justice and charity reflective of Vincentianism. One style is called promoting positive values (9 items: alpha = .85; M = 78.22, SD = 7.76), striving for excellence motivated by values of honesty and integrity that include all members regardless of their individual differences. Individuals who score high on this leadership style also encourage independence and teamwork in others and are open to criticism and challenges from others (sample item: “I am driven by values of honesty and integrity” and “I serve others regardless of their race, gender, religion or position”). A second style is called building a sustainable organization (7 items: alpha = .79: M = 61.16, SD = 5.99), possessing organizational skills to base judgments and decisions on facts, and staying focused on a task until completion (sample items: “I base my judgments on facts” and “I stay involved with a task until it is finished.”).The third style is called empowering and developing people (7 items: alpha = .89: M = 58.98, SD = 7.48), setting clear and realistic goals, directing people to achieve objectives, and communicating expectancies and delegating responsibilities. This leadership style also creates environments for others to learn to become better leaders themselves (sample items: “I set clear and realistic goals” and “I rely on communication to motivate people”). The fourth style is called leadership as service (4 items: alpha = .83; M = 33.07, SD = 5.36), servicing others by working for social justice and challenging situations of injustice (sample items: “I practice leadership more as a responsibility to serve than a position of power” and “work for social justice”). The fifth style is called developing and implementing mission (9 items: alpha = .86; M = 69.72, SD = 9.56), offering new perspectives and innovative ideas, welcomes change and ideas from others, and looks outside the current organizational boundaries (sample items: “I view conflict as an opportunity to grow” and “I articulate directions for the future”). Social desirability. Participants completed the 13-item true/false version of the Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability scale, created by Reynolds (1982). This brief measure provides an estimate of socially approved responding on survey instruments, and has a long history of validity, internal consistency, and temporal stability across a number of samples (alpha = .70; M = 3.89, SD = 2.66).

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Demographic information. In addition, all participants were asked their age, marital status and number of children, employment status, ethnic identity, and educational level. Also, participants were asked their ordination year, diocese location, ministry duties, and length of time living in their current parish. Procedure CARA (2013) reported 177 U.S. dioceses with permanent deacon formation programs. These Catholic dioceses were clustered into 13 different geographic regions designated across North America. For the sake of the present study, Canada and the U.S. will not be differentiated since they are grouped together by the bishop conference as U.S. regions). Six regions were targeted for participation in the current study. Response rates for these six regions ranged from 9.7% to 21% (Median = 13.8%). However, even though eight other regions were not directly surveyed, these groups were included and responses collapsed together to form a composite geographic breakdown, yielding seven regions assessed in this study (median number of participating deacons = 231 per region; range = 106 – 271). The final comparison groups used in this study, therefore, were 3 generation cohorts by 7 geographic regions. Primarily a top-down approach (emails and a reminder phone call directly to each diocese diaconate program director provided by the national diaconate association) was used to recruit a large national sample representative of varied regions. Directors passed along to their deacons an email statement about the study’s purpose instructing them to log onto a secure website to complete the survey. An ad and story about the study also appeared for two continuous months in the Deacon Digest, a national magazine available to deacons, and in the National Catholic Reporter, a high circulation, faith-based U.S. newspaper. Recruitment spanned between four and five months. Prior to agreeing to complete the online questionnaire, respondents were informed on the website that their participation was voluntary and completely anonymous with consent provided by completing the questionnaire (on average, about 30 minutes). To encourage participation, a drawing for 100 $5 coffee gift cards was used. Upon completion of the study, participants were prompted to link to a different website (accessible only after reach the end of the survey) where they voluntarily entered their email address for the gift card drawing.


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RESULTS Preliminary Analysis: Demographic Information and Social Desirability Responding Using chi square, preliminary analysis revealed no significant difference in the frequency of the three generational cohort members across the geographic regions. However, using one-way ANOVAs the three generational deacon cohorts (as one might expect) were significantly different in age, F (2, 1995) = 330.68, p< .001. There also was a significant difference across generational cohorts on the number of children reported, F (2, 1985) = 52.06, p < .001, with the older Cohort # 1 an average of 4.11 children (SD = 2.09), Cohort #2 an average of 3.06 children (SD = 1.66), and the younger Cohort # 3 an average of 2.75 children (SD = 1.55). Furthermore, there was a significant cohort difference in the number of years living in their current parish, F (2, 1987) = 14.20, p< .001, with older Cohort # 1 on average 19.52 years (SD = 10.73), Cohort # 2 on average 16.68 years (SD = 9.90), and the younger Cohort # 3 on average 15.26 years (SD = 10.61). Taken together, these results support that the present study in fact had three separate generational cohorts of deacons. In terms of servant leadership scores, across cohorts deacons scored extremely high (i.e., in the upper range of potential scores) on each of the five style attributes (Ms reflected > 70% of possible score range), with organizational stewardship (Ms > 17 out of 20: 87.5%), and wisdom (Ms > 15.5 out of 20: 78%) attributes the strongest ratings across cohorts. Self-reflecting on their transformational leadership, deacons in the present study also scored extremely high (i.e., upper range of scores) on those five attributes (Ms reflected > 60% of possible score range), with building a sustainable parish organization (Ms >60 out of 70: 87%) and promoting positive values in others (Ms > 77 out of 90: 86.7%) the highest scoring attributes. Consequently, bi-variate correlation coefficients with social desirability tendencies were computed and all self-reported scales were significantly negatively related (but, the coefficient magnitude was small) to social desirability scores (range = .109 to -.303, median = -.199). In fact, a 3 (cohort generation) by 7 (geographic region) one-way ANOVA on social desirability scores yielded no significant main effect for generational cohort (p = .551), or geographic region (p = .402), nor interaction effect (p = .216). All further analysis controlled for social desirability responding across all participants. Primary Analysis: Self-reported Leadership Styles of Deacons Next, a 3 (cohort generations) by 7 (geographic regions) MANCOVA (controlling for social desirability) was performed on the 10 leadership

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variables. There was no significant multivariate main effect for generational cohort (p = .213) or geographic region (p = .161), nor for cohort by region (p = .685) on any leadership attribute. That is, deacons reported no significant difference on any of the leadership styles (servant or transformational), depending on which generation of cohort they were ordained, or in which geographic region in the US they resided. No further comparison was warranted. Table 1 presents the mean sum scores per cohort on each leadership attribute. TABLE 1: Mean Sum Scores on Social Desirability & Leadership Styles among Cohort Generations of Deacons _________________________________________________________________ Cohort # 1 Cohort # 2 Cohort # 3 1971-1983 1984-2004 2005-2013 (n = 187) (n = 907) (n = 903) _________________________________________________________________ Social Desirability: 3.54 (2.52) 3.89 (2.66) 3.94 (2.69) Servant Leadership Styles: altruistic calling 9.69 (1.32) 9.71 (1.39) 9.68 (1.35) emotional healing 12.44 (1.79) 12.58 (1.78) 12.38 (1.86) wisdom 15.63 (2.17) 15.61 (2.28) 15.51 (2.28) persuasive mapping 14.76 (2.32) 14.94 (2.34) 14.65 (2.33) organizational steward 17.45 (1.84) 17.43 (1.92) 17.59 (1.87) Vincentian-Transformational Leadership Styles: promoting positive values 77.42 (7.99) 78.45 (8.07) building organizations 60.63 (6.07) 61.15 (6.27) empowering people 58.61 (7.49) 59.40 (7.51) leadership as service 33.94 (5.27) 33.26 (5.45) implementing mission 70.08 (9.65) 69.96 (9.89)

78.15 (7.42) 61.27 (5.68) 58.62 (7.73) 32.67 (5.26) 69.38 (9.41)

Collapsing across all participants (regardless of generational cohort or geographic region) partial correlates, controlling for social desirability tendencies, then were performed among the 10 leadership attributional styles. Table 2 presents the partial correlation coefficients: all 10 leadership attributes were significantly positively related. In fact, the magnitude of the coefficients between the five servant leadership and the five Vincentian leadership styles were moderate in size, ranging from .27 to .54 (Median = .38). In addition, partial correlations (controlling for social desirability) were performed between the number of years these men reported they were deacons since ordination and each of the 10 leadership attributes, to ascertain regardless of generational cohort if time spent as a deacon might promote certain leadership styles. We found no


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significant relationship between duration as a deacon and nine leadership attributes assessed in the present study (p> .10). Only the VLtransformational style of “leader as servant” was significantly related to time spent as a deacon, r = .09, p< .001. TABLE 2:

Partial Correlates (controlling for social desirability) among Leadership Styles across Cohorts & Regions __________________________________________________________________ 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Servant Leadership Styles: 1 altruistic calling

---

2 emotional healing

.49

---

3 wisdom

.39

.39

---

4 persuasive mapping

.39

.56

.54

---

5 organizational steward .41

.39

.39

.49

---

Vincentian-Transformational Leadership Styles: 6 promote positive values .38 7 building organizations .35

.42

.43

.44

.40 .38

---

.35

.38

.33

.83

---

8 empowering people

.34 .41

.45

.48 .34 .85

.72

---

9 leadership as service

.31 .33

.31

.27

.51

.56

.36

.54

---

10 implement mission .35 .43 .44 .54 .46 .71 .60 .71 .55 Note. n = 1,997 All correlation coefficients significant at the .001 level.

---

Because there were significant relationships between the servant and Vincentian-transformational leadership styles, a factor analysis with all 10 leadership attributes and social desirability responding then was performed, using a maximum likelihood extraction and oblimin rotation. Oblimin was chosen to ascertain if attributes of these two leadership styles were independent or overlapping with this sample of clergy when orthogonal relationships were permitted statistically. A factor analysis was performed to explore whether permanent deacons might express these two related but different leadership styles as sharing some commonality. Table 3 presents the structure matrix, with loading criteria of > 0.50. A two factor solution emerged, with eigen values greater than

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1.00 explaining 58.9% of the common variance. Vincentian transformational and servant leadership styles remained independent, even using oblimin rotation. Social desirability did not load on either factor (loading < .30). TABLE 3: Rotated Factor Structures (Oblimin) of Leadership Variables across All Permanent Deacons _________________________________________________________________ FACTOR 1 FACTOR 2 _________________________________________________________________ Vincentian-Transformational Leadership Styles: -

promoting positive values empowering people building organizations implementing mission leadership as service

.968 .899 .862 .765 .623

Servant Leadership Styles: -

persuasive mapping emotional healing wisdom organizational steward altruistic calling

EIGEN VALUE % OF VARIANCE EXPLAINED

.791 .717 .684 .620 .592 5.43 47.93

1.23 10.92

Note. n = 1997 Only loadings > .50 are posted. Social desirability did not load on either factor (