Relationship Between Christian Ethical Practices and Leadership Effectiveness in Religious Institutions in Kampala: A Case of Selected Churches in Kampala City

Abstract

In Uganda, specifically in Kampala, many religious leaders face challenges in consistently applying Christian ethical practices in their leadership roles and this has continued to undermine their effectiveness and has eroded congregational trust. This study focused on examining the relationship between Christian ethical practices and leadership effectiveness in religious institutions in Kampala. The study was guided by three specific objectives including; to measure the extent to which key Christian ethical practices are applied in leadership within religious institutions in Kampala, to evaluate leadership effectiveness in religious institutions based on specific indicators and to analyze the relationship between the application of Christian ethical practices and leadership effectiveness in religious institutions in Kampala. This study adopted a cross-sectional research design and data was primarily quantitative, collected through the use of structured and self-administered questionnaires. The study population for this study included low level church leaders and church members from selected Pentecostal churches in Kampala. A sample size of 169 was considered and determined using Krejcie and Morgan sample determination table. The selection of church leaders was through purposive sampling whereas the church members were chosen by stratified random sampling. The findings of the study revealed a moderate positive correlation (R = 0.438) between Christian ethical practices (Love, Integrity, Accountability, Compassion, Humility, Forgiveness, and Respect) and leadership effectiveness in religious institutions in Kampala. The model explained approximately 19.2% (R² = 0.192) of the variance in leadership effectiveness, suggesting that while ethical practices play a significant role, other factors also contribute. The ANOVA results confirmed the statistical significance of the model (F = 5.472, p = 0.000), reinforcing the impact of Christian ethics on leadership. Among the independent variables, Integrity (B = 0.308, p = 0.003), Humility (B = 0.245, p = 0.006), and Love (B = 0.113, p = 0.021) had significant positive effects on leadership effectiveness, highlighting their importance in enhancing leadership outcomes. Conversely, compassion (B = -0.022, p = 0.815), Forgiveness (B = -0.081, p = 0.413), and Respect (B = -0.103, p = 0.217) showed negative but statistically insignificant relationships, suggesting that these values alone may not necessarily improve leadership effectiveness in the study setting. Accountability (B = 0.140, p = 0.064) showed a marginal influence.