I marvel at how low the expectations are for leaders in The Episcopal Church in their commitment to a life of faith. I also marvel at how many hoops we ask of those moved by their faith.

To stand for vestry (our congregational boards), you have to show up for church a few times a year, pledge and give money, meet the age requirement, and be confirmed. The canons don’t expect our leaders to believe anything or that they have opened their hearts or minds since they were 12 years old. It doesn’t expect that we read scripture or pray regularly. As faith standards, we have set the bar incredibly low.

Last summer, a proposal was shot down that would have added an expectation that leaders attend formation: that they would be exposed to something that might make them grow each year. Too onerous, apparently. Too much to ask of our stressed-out volunteers.

For the young, the poor, the new, or those not raised in an institution, the existing expectations aren’t so simple. They are institutional expectations, not spiritual ones. Coming to learn, attend evening worship, or pub theology is a simple act of devotion. Navigating institutional bureaucracy for the expressed purpose of jumping through hoops makes no sense spiritually.

I’m finding that it therefore makes no sense institutionally.

And all for what? So that we cannot impose another hoop on the spiritually immature, but we’re willing to maintain inconsistent expectations for every seeker: the ones actually moving up and embracing a life of faith?

What might leadership look like at ________ if we expected more of our leaders spiritually than institutionally?