Back in June I attended a Prayer and Spirituality seminar based on the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator (we all fall into one of 16 categories). Anyone who has ever done a basic introduction to this incredible system will know that much can be gleaned from it. The seminar was interactive and we split into groups for tasks such as how we would go about arranging a day out for a church group to cover different personality types. Straight away in our group there were arguments over where we would go, how, the cost where most of us (me included) said ‘that wasn’t part of the question’ and wanted to move to what would be on offer on the day! When I say arguments, that isn’t really what I’d call them because we laughed so much at how we all viewed this task and that what was important for some was not for others. A seminar like this is useful to ponder over at a later date. I thought I had some things sussed in my personality only to find I was wrong but I am beginning to understand at last the way I work and approach things. I am right about my logical streak!
I think anyone who is on a committee, is in government or work as part of a team should attend these courses! It certainly would help in those meetings where nothing gets solved because no one can agree. If people understood how others work they would get much more done and appreciate each others skills and use them.
When I have time I want to read a few more books about Myers Briggs (this is the second seminar I have attended – the first was a basic introduction). If you search there is a lot of stuff out there about it. If you want to understand yourself and others better then this is the thing to look at.
I am not sure that it answered my questions on the way I worship but that might be because some ‘preferences’ fall nearer to the middle of the line and are not so pronounced and I always say that I am an introvert with an extrovert waiting to escape!
One thing that was mentioned on the day was that those who are leaders in the church tend to have categories different from those who don’t attend church. It could be said (a has) that the decline in church attendance is because it does not appeal to certain groups of people. From the tasks we performed it is obvious that not everyone wants things the same way we do and the church needs to think about this seriously.
thepathseeker 