Poor leadership performance among school administrators remains a significant issue. This study explored the lived experiences of religious administrators as instructional leaders. Employing a phenomenological approach, I conducted in-depth interviews with six school leaders I selected through purposive sampling. I found three key themes that shape religious leadership characteristics: centralized, dialectical, and distributed leadership. An emergent theme of sustained leadership encapsulated and transcended these modes, highlighting the adaptive and enduring qualities necessary for effective school leadership. Correlation and mediation study utilizing the themes an emerging sub-themes of this study as variables and indicators respectively may be pursued.