So, personality types and ministry. I will be a bit "churchy" here, so apologies for those who do not share such an outlook, I hope you still find these thoughts stimulating.
Readers of the Journal "Rural Theology" will have been following the published studies of Leslie Francis and collaborators on this topic right back into the 1990's. Working primarily with surveys of Anglican clergy from the UK and "pioneering" countries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand results have been distilled using modified Myers-Briggs matrices to see if there is any matching between personality type and facets of rural ministry. In Vol 12:1 (2014) Keith Littler et al. published a paper "Are Rural Clergy Different?", based on a study of Church of Wales clergy that summarised much of this research. The results are as always surprising on one hand and reinforce ones preconceptions on the other. So here is my distilled distillation.... concentrated stuff, but not 100% proof you might say.
Firstly, clergy working in a rural setting are not any different in personality type from clergy in general (including suburban and urban). This is an important fact to grasp as it means that the present cohort of clergy are broadly similar in their profile.
Following this, you are aching to know what that profile is! Well here it is; Anglican clergy twice as likely to be introverts, twice as likely to be sensing types and four times more likely to be judging types than the population as a whole. Conversely this means that they are far less likely to be extrovert, inuitive, perceiving types. Regarding thinking/feeling traits, the balance is more even, just tipped towards the feeling approach to life.
So to sum up a caricature "collar" who sums up the dominant character traits would be an ISFJ. Such characters exist no doubt, but it would be easy to be simplistic about all this. What it does indicate however is the general character of the "workforce" and their strengths; in essence the the leadership the Holy Spirit has equipped the churches with at this moment in time. The skills and abilities of this gift, distinctive from the population as a whole is to my mind possibly a clue to the way the institutional churches in the "West" are to develop at this time. Work with what you have, start where you are, be thankful for God's resourcing.
So what are the indicators? Well it seems that as a body the clergy of our day are very good at small group work and one to one ministry. They are very reliable, a body who value continuity and tradition, appreciate and work for good relationships and are particularly good at organisation and scheduling tasks. In musical terms we might call this the "major" chord of leadership profile.
The flip side to this, the "minor" chord, strongly present but not dominant, is with those who have a pioneering spirit, who grasp the bigger picture, formulating, implementing and promoting change, who are prepared to challenge and resolve structural issues that stand in the way of development and are flexible and nimble in day to day response.
Reflecting on this I can see that it has bearing in a time of great sociological and demographic change when the churches are struggling to adapt to a new social order in which their traditional role a main hubs of community life and identity are sliding away in a societal movement which is effecting all local facilities including corner shops and pubs ("bars" to my transatlantic viewers and the Polish one!).
Across my national church, the Church of England, initiatives such as "Fresh Expressions" and "Pioneer Ministries" have been greatly celebrated and supported as the way to go. Without a doubt they are making a great impact for good; however if the research is right and my hunch is that it is not far off, most of the "workforce" are not of that pioneering world, equipped as they are for a different style of ministry. This can lead to feeling of being outmoded and somehow lacking something in the face of enthusiasm and encouragement to initiate projects that would be draining to their energies, rather than boosting them.
The question I am pondering, is how can we nurture the different gifts of those in leadership, allowing the pioneers to break into new territory, the "overseers" to encourage and enable mission across a district of faith communities and those inclined to use their gifts in pastoral growth and mission to all flourish. After all, people of faith would hold that God gives what is needed, perhaps we don't always look hard enough at what has been given to see how we can foster people appropriate growth and encouragement?
A strategy and structure that is based on fostering personal growth through a one to one and small group dynamic seems to suggest itself as an alternative route to pioneer initiatives. Such work is well documented as providing fertile ground for enquiry and growth in faith community life. Many of those in leadership at the moment are more than well equipped for this, although their gifting is, as we have suggested, under pressure in multi-centre/community settings facing resource shortages, energy being expended in administration and "fire-fighting, or "time related over extension" (a L J Francis & C E Brewster phrase, {R.T. Vol 10:2 2010}) rather than active development.
I'll leave you in this posting with a picture from the ancient Cistercian powerhouse of Fontanay, St Bernard's favourite. Sensitively restored, including the first industrial scale industrial forge in Europe! Work being important to the order they were not afraid of new technology, developing agriculture, mining, water management and metalurgy and putting them into the service of God, establishing centres all over Europe and beyond..
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| Delightful 14thC Bergundian madonna and child from Fontanay Abbey: just look at the faces. |
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