Dr. Rev. Allen Nauss

Author Bio

I seem to have become interested in reporting research early on ever since my 9th grade in Franklin Junior High School when I delivered a speech on Samuel Gompers during a school assembly (Gompers was the first president of the American Federation of Labor during the period of 1886 to 1924.)

My formal research efforts that resulted in publications occurred in four stages of my life.

The first stage was focused on historical research and began when I completed the requirements for an M.Ed. degree from the University of Oregon. I prepared a history of one of our church schools, Concordia Academy in Portland, Oregon. Below is a selected group of publications for this (1947-1963) and the succeeding stages.

The second stage, which began in 1960 when I served on the faculty of Concordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, Ill. focused on seminary students and pastor pastors in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I was attempting to find their unique characteristics. The stage extended until 1988. My publications were stimulated by skills I had developed in statistical research, primarily correlational analysis.

The third stage from 1988 to 2010 focused on parish pastors, seminary vicars, and characteristics of ministerial effectiveness. During this period I developed two inventories, one to evaluate the pastor, and the other to the vicar on his service during the internship year. The research employed advanced statistics, primarily factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis.

Neuroscientific research of the brain was the primary area of concern in the fourth stage from 2005 to the present. I did not conduct this research but rather consulted hundreds of books and reports that described and explained how the brain operated.

Additional Publications from Dr. Rev. Allen Nauss

  • "Concordia Academy, Portland, Oregon, Part I." Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, January, 1953, XXV, 4 (pp.175-188) Articles in six issues from 1953 to 1954. 1953-1954, XXV-XXVII.

    "Semantics, General." Lutheran Cyclopedia. St. Louis: Concordia, 1954 (pp.968-969)

    "Selective Recruitment and Selective Retention." Missouri Synod Professors' Conference, River Forest, IL, August 17, 1955

    “Scholastic Ability, Self-Concept and Occupational Plans,” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Missouri, August, 1960

    "Freud's Superego and the Biblical Syneidesis." Concordia Theological Monthly, May, 1962, XXXIII (pp.273-282)

    "Transfer of Learning - Three Theories.” Lutheran Education, May, 1955, 90.

    "Transfer of Learning - A Renewed Attack." Lutheran Education, June, 1955, 90)

  • 63 reports of Concordia Seminary Studies 1962-1967

    "The Ministerial Personality: On Avoiding a Stereotype Trap." Journal of Counseling Psychology, 15 (581-583) 1968

    "Assignment to Xanadu, USA: Bane or Blessing?" Springfielder, June, 1970, 34 (pp.56-64) (Co-author with Harry Coiner)

    "Problems in Measuring Ministerial Effectiveness." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, June, 1972, 11,2 (pp.141-151)

    "The Ministerial Personality: Myth or Reality?" Journal of Religion and Health, January, 1973. 12, 1 (pp.77-96)

    "Seven Profiles of Effective Ministers." Review of Religious Research, 1983, 24, (pp.334-346).

    26 Reports of 1985 research project (clergy in West Iowa, California-Nevada and South California districts)

  • "Leadership Styles of Effective Ministry." Journal of Psychology and Psychology, 17, 1, 1989 (pp.59-67)

    "Clergy, Empirical Studies of." In Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Rodney Hunter, H. Newton Malony, Liston Mills, and John Patton (Eds.), (pp.171-175), 1990 Nashville: Abingdon

    Clergy Evaluation Inventory. (With David Schmiel and Wilbert Sohns). St. Louis: Council of Presidents of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, 1992

    "Explanation of the Clergy Evaluation Instrument.”Meeting of Council of Presidents, St. Louis, MO, February, 1992.

    "Ministerial Effectiveness in Ten Functions.” Review of Religious Research. 36, 1, September, 1994 pp. 58-69.

    “The Pastor As Leader: Shepherd, Rancher, Or...?” Journal of Psychology and Theology 23, 2, 115-128, 1995.

    "Assessing Ministerial Effectiveness: A Review of the Measures and Their Use." Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 7, Publication in Summer, 1995, 221-251.

    “Development of an Inventory for the Evaluation of Vicars (17pp) July 1997

    40+ papers on the VEI (1998-2010) such as “The VEI: Validity, Reliability and Norms” (14pp) November 1999, and “A Case for Using the VEI As a Measure of Ministerial Performance” ( 8pp) January, 2001

  • “Preaching Sermons That Will Be Remembered: Unleashing the Spirit’s

    Power in the Brain” Concordia Journal, October, 2008, 264-291.

    20+ papers on the use of the brain

    2 books

    Implications of Brain Research for the Church: What It Means for Theology and Ministry, 2013 (Kirk House Publishers).

    The Pastor’s Brain Manual: A Fascinating Work in Progress, (Editor), 2015 (Lutheran University Press)