Faculty Profile

Mark Rennaker

Mark Rennaker

Chair of the Department of Leadership and Followership Studies

Division of Leadership and Followership Studies

Ph.D.

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Dr. Mark A. Rennaker is Chair of the Division of Leadership and Followership Studies at Indiana Wesleyan University. He served 30 years in faith-based and non-profit leadership roles at local, regional, and national levels. He has also served a variety of leadership roles during more than 15 years of higher education experience. He teaches a variety of courses including research methods, ethics, followership, and organizational behavior.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Rennaker regularly presents on leadership, followership, and higher education topics at national and international academic and professional conferences, including the International Leadership Association’s Annual Global Conference. Certified with Ira Chaleff’s Followership Train the Trainer program, he has multiple research interests including servant-leadership, trust, followership, and human resource development. He consults with organizations and speaks at various events. He has authored/co-authored books on the economic context of pastoral ministry and followership. He has published articles on a variety of topics including servant leadership, employee resilience, spiritual formation in the higher ed. context, and organizational network analysis.

PHD
Organizational Leadership and Human Resource Development

Regent University , 2008

MDIV
Classical Generalist and Leadership Studies

Bethel University , 2003

MA
Ministerial Education

Indiana Wesleyan University , 1996

BA
Christian Ministry

Indiana Wesleyan University , 1990

Peer-reviewed journal articles:

  • Wilkinson, A. D., & Rennaker, M. A. (2022). The relationship between servant leadership and employee resilience. International Journal of Servant Leadership, 16(1), 309–338.
  • Rennaker, M. A. (2019). Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age (Book Review). Christian Higher Education, 18(4), 332–334.
  • Novak, D., Rennaker, M., & Turner, P. (2012). Using organizational analysis to improve integration across organizational boundaries. People & Strategy, 34(4), 32–37.
  • Rennaker, M. A., & Novak, D. A. (2007). Servant-leadership: A multi-case pilot study. International Journal of Servant Leadership, 3(1), 303–330.
  • Rennaker, M. A. (2006). Servant leadership: A model aligned with chaos theory. International Journal of Servant Leadership, 2(1), 427–454.

Books:

  • Linville, M. A., & Rennaker, M. A. (2022). The Essentials of Followership: Rethinking the Leadership Paradigm with Purpose. Kendall-Hunt.
  • Rennaker, M. A. (2017). Hope for Pastors: A Collaborative Approach to Clergy Financial Health. Wesley Press.

Book chapters:

  • Rennaker, M. A., & Novak, D. A. (2011). “Culture: Leadership Principles for Developing Healthy and Productive Distributed Teams.” In Distributed Team Collaboration in Organizations.
  • Rennaker, M. (2005). “Servant Leadership: A Chaotic Leadership Theory.” In Servant-Leadership: An Introduction.

765-677-2443

mark.rennaker@indwes.edu

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