What makes faith leaders unique and what do they need to be successful?

Last year, I shared my major takeaway from PACE’s Faith In/And Democracy program thus far: “Nothing can do what faith does in the way faith does it.” As our work in this program continues, we will assess in greater detail what makes faith such a powerful force in so many communities and in our civic life, generally. In a recent convening of the program’s Learning Community, we explored together what makes faith leaders unique and what faith leaders need to be successful.

Our discussion was informed by the findings of a survey regarding faith leadership which was taken anonymously by our second cohort of grantees, funding partners, and PACE advisors. We were eager to see what we could learn by tapping into this group’s experiences and wisdom. We explored questions like:

• What do you admire about faith leaders you know? What makes them successful? Responses pointed to qualities of who the leaders are (passionate, brave, full of integrity, rooted in faith) and what they do (stand for larger principles, speak truth to power, take the time for their community).
• Are those things different from things that make leaders in other sectors successful? Approximately 40% said yes, it’s different; 10% said no, it’s not different; 50% said it’s hard to say.
• Are the primary drivers of faith leaders’ success intrinsic, extrinsic, or something else? Approximately 20% reported it was intrinsic factors (courage, ability to connect, deep humility), 0% reported it was extrinsic factors, and the vast majority said it was a little of both.
• If you had a magic wand and could give faith leaders three things that you think would equip them for success, what would those things be? Responses coalesced around five themes: networks/support, space/time, faith leadership skills, growth in their calling, and internal supports like empathy, internal fortitude, self-confidence.

Through our discussion of these shared findings, we identified a number of qualities related to, though certainly not exclusive to, faith communities and leadership that resonated with the cohort’s work and experience: transcendent purpose, institutional/community grounding and moral/ethical commitments.

Many participants identified the transcendent nature of faith leadership that they admired. As opposed to acting out of self-interest or cold calculation, faith calls people to serve a purpose that is greater than one’s own flourishing. The best of faith draws our attention to a deeper reality. While this can look different in different faith traditions, several participants shared a sense that faith provides a way of seeing beyond oneself and one’s immediate circumstances. This can lead to an approach to life — one’s personal life as well as our public life — that is less reactionary, and this transcendence offers a break from the crassly transactional.

Transcendence does not mean detached or removed, however. Participants also noted that faith leaders are often grounded locally, and connected to the community in which they serve. This combination of a transcendent purpose that is lived out among real people in a local context was attractive to many participants in our convening. There was an appreciation for how many faith leaders’ ideas are shaped and refined by experience. This is connected to faith leaders’ care for the human person, for individuals, and how faith leaders provide spiritual, social and material care for people.

Finally, participants identified the importance of an integrity of conviction and values that the best faith leaders hold. Their transcendent purpose and the circumstances of their immediate surroundings do not lead them to take shortcuts, but instead they are trustworthy and dependable because their leadership is constrained and supported by a moral code or a set of ethical commitments.

What strikes me about what our participants most valued about faith leaders in their lives is how much I perceive these qualities to be lacking in our politics right now. Indeed, if I can be allowed to make a suggestion here that was not made by the participants themselves, it seems to me that the reason these qualities were identified was because, in part, it is so refreshing to experience leadership and communities like this as distinct from so much else that can be found in the public square.

Surely, it is not as if these qualities must come from faith, but it is also true that we often associate these qualities with faith — for good reason! I am convinced then, in this time of testing for our democracy, that faith has something invaluable to contribute: A transcendent purpose, rooted and oriented toward the flourishing of local communities, guided by moral and ethical commitments that can be trusted.

I expect that we will be able to further explore these themes and others throughout the duration of this program, and I am grateful our grantees are providing examples of bringing faith to bear on the problems we face for the good of the country.