Communication Factors and Associates' Longevity Among Assemblies of God Ministers
The fastest growing church in America today, the Assemblies of God, has a multiple staff system of senior pastors and associate pastors. One-fifth of all Assemblies of God churches employ at least one full-time credentialed associate. The conventional wisdom within the church held that the average duration of an associate lasts between six to eighteen months. The intent of this benchmark study is to identify, from a communicaton perspective, the factors which appear to contribute to the associate pastor's longevity. The study tests for an hypothesized relationship between the nature of interpersonal communication between the senior pastor and associate pastor and the longevity of the associate. Two different instruments were constructed, one for senior pastors, the other for associate pastors. A pilot version of each was distributed to five senior pastors and ten associate pastors. Based on the results, the research instruments were further refined and distributed to 676 Assemblies of God churches. To ensure a stratified random sample, churches were selected by computer at the Assemblies of God headquarters. A total of 307 senior pastors and 259 associate pastors responded. The results of this study reveal: (1) the longevity of associate pastors is greater than believed, and (2) support the hypothesis that there is a relationship between the nature of interpersonal communication between the senior pastor and associate pastor and the longevity of the associate.
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