Revelatory experience, divine guidance, and supernatural empowerment is very important to pentecostal leadership and practice. Spirit-empowered leadership (SEL) is a relatively new field of academic research and few in the Spirit-empowered movement (SEM) have investigated the distinctive characteristics reflective of a pentecostal spirituality as they relate to spiritual leadership. In years gone by, supernatural empowerment (defined in this proposal as the “anointing” of the Holy Spirit) was one of the defining features of genuine pentecostal ministry, leadership, and decision-making. The anointing is one of many evidences of divine-human interaction. Several scholars have developed models that categorise some of these distinctive pentecostal characteristics, however, each of these investigations and models have not clearly and specifically engaged with the possible role of the anointing in divine guidance in strategic decision making. The focus of this research project is to investigate the ways revelatory experience, specifically defined as divine guidance, contribute positively to the effectiveness of decisions made by experienced leaders operating in large Pentecostal churches or movements. This could also enhance leadership practice and development in times of challenge, help fill the gap in the literature, and be part of a quest for a deeper scholarly exploration of this important area of SEL. The multi-disciplinary project will adopt a descriptive phenomenological approach that includes “thick description,” semi-structured interviews. Those being interviewed will be senior, experienced or retired Australian pentecostal leaders who have experience in making strategic decisions, often at a denominational level. A model or taxonomy of divine guidance in decision-making processes by pentecostal leaders will then be developed.

Keywords: Spirit-empowered leadership, Pentecostal, divine guidance, strategic decision making, concursus, human agency, anointing.