Synopsis
The Self-Differentiated Church
Identifying its Personality Honoring its Spirituality

Most congregations know what they do — their vocation; often identified in general terms as worship, education, youth and, for some, a specific social ministry. Few know who they are collectively — their personality. The foundational questions and judgments are never explored; why worship and programs have a particular emphasis, or certain hymns are preferred, or why some things are always done here, and other things, well, we never do that here. In terms of leadership the reality of a personality has been ignored because delineation of corporate personality types has been elusive. A self-differentiated church is conscious of both its personality and its vocation.
Not identifying the congregation’s corporate personality can lead to conflict or inertia when clergy or member leaders project their own interests and personalities onto the congregation without consideration of the corporate personality. Consequently many congregations remain dependent on the energy of their leaders for spirituality and vocational actions. The congregation may remain in survival mode for years while less than enthusiastically responding to leaders who do not understand its personality, nor honor its spirituality.

This book, based on principles of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI©), the most widely used instrument for personality identification, offers a systematized approach to identifying a congregation’s personality. The Profiler for Congregational Personality Preferences allows the reader to identify a congregation’s personality type. Portraits, values, and communication patterns for each type are displayed in charts and tables. The heart of this work lies in the informative elements of the congregation’s Spiritual Posture with its unique spiritual language. Leading with the congregation’s Spiritual Posture will foster trust and confidence. Identifying the congregation’s personality and honoring its spirituality will lead it into greater levels of being a Self-Differentiated Church.

This book is interactive with the print version being an easy to use 42 page, 8 1/2 x 11 format. Fifteen web-links in the book guide the reader to expanded content augmented with numerous true examples of the power of type in congregations.

Volume pricing is applied.