Christ-Informed Servant Leadership in Religious Higher Education: A Theological-Conceptual Study of John 13:1–15
Keywords:
Christ-Informed Leadership, Servant Leadership, Religious Higher Education, Academic Leadership, John 13:1–15Abstract
This study examines how Jesus’ leadership in John 13:1–15 can inform academic leadership in religious higher education, particularly governance, faculty development, student formation, and organizational culture. It addresses a gap between biblical-theological discussions of John 13 and the institutional practice of religious higher education. The study employs a qualitative theological-conceptual design combining close exegetical reading with an integrative review of contemporary literature on servant leadership, higher education leadership, organizational culture, faculty development, student engagement, and religious higher education. The analysis identifies three interrelated principles: incarnational presence, relational participation, and hierarchical inversion, together with embodied and reproducible service as the narrative movement that connects them. These principles are translated into four institutional domains: participatory governance, faculty leadership and development, student formation, and a culture of service and empowerment. The study contributes a Christ-informed framework in which authority is retained but reoriented toward the growth, participation, and flourishing of others.
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