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GHADA BARSOUM — EMAN SHENOUDA of how religious institutions can navigate crises and highlights the importance of leadership development tailored to the unique needs of faith-based communities. Regarding leadership, this paper highlights the role of “quiet” leadership” during the pandemic. The Coptic Church, though a hierarchical Church, gave its dioceses space to make decisions on opening and closing churches as the situation in each diocese allowed. Additionally, each local church responded to the needs of its congregants in a way that reflected the nature of the local community and its unique capacities. The structure of the paper is as follows. The following section discusses the conceptual framework of church leadership and how COVID-19 was a true test of leadership. This is followed by a discussion of methodology. The findings of the study are divided into four subsections and are followed by the conclusion. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: CHURCH LEADERSHIP AND THE PANDEMIC The development of leaders in government, business, and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) has been the subject of extensive research, resulting in a robust body of knowledge that explores leadership theories, strategies, and practices. However, this depth and breadth of analysis have not been equally applied to the development of pastoral leaders, creating a significant gap in the literature. McKenna, Yost, and Boyd” argue that while other sectors benefit from wellestablished frameworks and empirical studies on leadership development, pastoral leadership remains underexplored, despite its critical role in guiding faith communities, fostering spiritual growth, and influencing social and cultural dynamics. This imbalance suggests the need for greater academic attention to the unique challenges and contexts of pastoral leadership, which differ significantly from those in other fields. Addressing this gap could enrich the understanding of leadership development in religious settings and provide more tailored approaches to support pastoral leaders in their multifaceted roles. This context-specific nature of leadership”? makes it challenging to directly borrow theories or models from fields like business, government, or nonprofit 1 Rock: Quiet leadership. 1 R.B. McKenna — P.R. Yost — T.N. Boyd: Leadership development and clergy: Understanding the events and lessons that shape pastoral leaders. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 35(3), 2007, 179-189. 2 E.g. D. Belchetz — K. Leithwood: Successful leadership: does context matter and if so, how?. In Successful principal leadership in times of change: An international perspective, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2007, 117-138. + 14°
