Assessing Religious Leadership: A Scoping Review of Leadership Effectiveness Criteria and Current Trends in the Academic Literature

A clear understanding of what constitutes effective religious leadership in the context of faith communities is essential for religious practitioners, religious communities, and educational institutes. Twenty-five years after the latest review study by Nauss, an updated overview is needed to account for new insights, especially regarding the latest developments in leadership research and the changing religious landscape. A scoping review was conducted in four databases from 1997 to 2022 to examine the academic literature. The search identified 64 unique references that researched effective religious leadership using 27 different effectiveness criteria. These criteria were categorized based on their target of evaluation: (1) the religious leader, (2) followers/members, and (3) the congregation. Although most references assessed leadership effectiveness by evaluating the religious leader, the most used effectiveness criterion was ‘attendance or numerical growth.’ Over the last 25 years, the criteria for religious leadership effectiveness have become more diverse, and a growing number of references combine criteria from multiple targets to evaluate effectiveness. However, the focus on Christian leadership remains prevalent in the academic literature. The present overview is intended as a starting point for future research as it identifies the current trends and existing knowledge gaps. The study’s findings also invite religious practitioners and congregations to reflect on their methods of assessing leadership effectiveness.