LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS

At Bright City, there’s a place for everyone to serve—no matter where you are on your faith journey. However, some roles involve deeper discipleship and what we call spiritual authority. These roles don’t require perfection, but they do call for spiritual maturity. Read on to learn more about what that means.

What We Mean by “Spiritual Authority”

At Bright City, we believe that some serving roles carry deeper influence in shaping the spiritual lives of our church family — things like teaching, leading worship, and facilitating small groups. We refer to these as roles with spiritual authority.

We want everyone at Bright City to feel empowered to serve no matter where they are in their faith journey. But we also care deeply about the health and wholeness of our leaders. For those in positions of spiritual authority, we ask for a commitment to what we call integrated leadership.


What is Integrated Leadership?

We ask spiritual leaders to work toward what we call “integrated leadership,” meaning their public face is “integrated” with their private life, and their private life is integrated with Scripture. This goal is not about perfection, but personal health. If there is a significant gap between these aspects of our lives, we will end up serving in a state of spiritual dis-integration, which is costly to us and also can impact those under our leadership. Ultimately, integrated leadership is about being whole. 

If you'd like a deeper dive into this idea, we recommend listening to this sermon by Pastor Sharon from November 2023: “Integrated Leadership: Qualifications for Leaders."


What We Expect from Spiritual Leaders

We’ve created the following expectations not to be restrictive, but to support your growth, credibility, and health as a leader. These apply to roles such as:

  • Worship Team
  • Liturgical Team
  • Small Group Leaders
  • Teaching & Preaching Roles

We ask that spiritual leaders commit to the following:

Faith in Jesus Christ
Commitment to Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Church Involvement  
Participating in the life of the church: Sunday services (not just when serving), events, and giving. 

Spiritual Formation
  • Regular time in God’s Word and prayer.
  • Loving and serving fellow believers.
  • Sharing the gospel through words and actions.
Character Formation
  • Living with honesty and integrity.
  • Avoiding gossip, slander, or divisiveness.
Substance Behavior
  • No illegal substances.
  • No abuse of legal drugs or alcohol.
  • No alcohol use if under 21; no excessive use if over 21.

Criminal Behavior
No engagement in illegal or criminal activity.

Social Media Use
  • Using social media wisely.
  • Avoiding divisive, explicit, or inappropriate content.

Sexual Behavior
Honoring Scripture’s vision for sex and marriage: that sex is designed for marriage between one man and one woman.