Spiritual Gifts Workshop
As part of our adult formation, we are currently learning about spiritual gifts. Our purposes are to:
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Help participants discern the gifts that they possess from the Holy Spirit;
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Connect the identified gifts with ministry; and
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Present the participants’ gifts as critical to the visioning work being undertaken at any church.
If you missed sessions or wish to engage with the class, please find resources below.
Session 1 (2/4/24)
What are Spiritual Gifts?
As a group, we reflected together on Romans 12:1-8, Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16, and I Corinthians 12. As we read through these Scriptures, we discussed the gifts of the Holy Spirit that were listed in these passages. We then attempted to discern the purpose of those gifts.
Together, we came up with an understanding that the Holy Spirit empowers all Christians for their ministry in the world and has given the entire body of Christ every gift it needs to fulfill God's mission. We also recognized that discernment is a process that is necessarily done in community and relationship, not alone.
Homework: Take a Spiritual Gifts assessment, such as the one at https://bit.ly/ELCA_SGA. Once you have results, reflect on some or all of the following questions:
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What are the top five and bottom five gifts from the survey(s)?
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What kinds of activities energize you the most?
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If Jesus were in town doing what he did in Israel in the first century, where are you most drawn to join him -- with the children, in the synagogue, healing, ministering to the poor, leading a small group, turning over the tables of the moneychangers, some other activity?
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To put that question another way, what kinds of support or change for life in your congregation or community do you care enough about to get up off the couch and do something about?
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What skills do you use well on a regular basis on your job or at school?
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In what ministries or groups are you currently participating actively as part of this or another church? In your community? online?
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Reflecting on what you've written above, in what kinds of ministries could you participate or lead?
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Reflect on your lowest five gifts. What are you currently engaged in that draws primarily on these gifts? When and how will you stop doing things you are not well-gifted to do or change your roles so that you are acting out of your strongest gifts?
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Reflect on your highest five gifts. What kinds of ministries seem most compatible with this collection of gifts?
Session 2 (2/11/24)
Sharing our Spiritual Gifts
As we discussed the results of individual surveys, it was clear that the places where participants identified gifts were just as important as those places where there were not any gifts identified. This supports the idea that the body of Christ functions best if each member uses his or her “best” gifts; it does not function as well when people try to do things for which they have few, if any, gifts.
As we had already discussed that discernment happens best in community and in relationship with one another, participants had the opportunity to share with one another their own identified gifts and things that may have surprised them as they looked at their survey results. As groups, we worked to help one another understand how the results we got could be used in their lives to better the whole.
Homework:
Take the Jung Personality Type inventory at https://www.humanmetrics.com/personality. (This is free. It is NOT the Myers-Briggs or Kiersey indicator, both of which are clinically tested and validated. But it is similar). Make a note of the results of your test.
The test and a description of the overall type are free. Click the top box on the left under your score that is titled “Self-Awareness and Personal Growth.”
Optional Further Exploration
An optional resource you may also choose to use if you wish to find out more about your strengths is on the web at https://high5test.com/. This test is quite long (120 questions) but measures your strength potential on 34 different talents. Once you have completed the assessment, click “Your Full Profile” on the results page. The complete report is premium and costs money ($30) to unlock, but the top five strengths feedback is free.
Session 3 (3/3/24)
Personality Survey Reflection
The Meyers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) is intended to help you assess your strengths and weaknesses as well as those of others. It helps facilitate an understanding of differences among humans. No one type of personality is better than another.
The MBTI does not measure ability, traits, or character. Meyers and Briggs believed that preferences are inborn, but traits, ability, and character are not. We can improve upon our traits or abilities, but generally cannot change our preferences. It also doesn't dictate who you are as a person.
The MBTI measures preferences on a continuum on four different dichotomies:
Extraversion vs Introversion (E or I) - how do you get your energy?
Sensing vs Intuition (S or N) - how do you get your information?
Thinking vs Feeling (T or F) - how do you make your decisions?
Judging vs Perceiving (J or P) - how do you live your life?
The combination of the 4 different dichotomies results in 16 different personality types. A suggested resource for review is Please Understand Me II, by David Keirsey (ISBN 1-885705-02-6).
Session 4 (3/17/24)
Putting it all Together
More to come!