Combining pastoral and behavioral science expertise, the authors spell out ways type and temperament theory illuminate the clergy role. Learn how to use the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types to recognize and affirm your gifts, work with your liabilities, and understand and accept those with whom you minister. "Being a parish pastor is a very complex role. Our mission in this book is to make that task a little less complex and a little more fun by looking at our congregations through the lens of the MBTI." -- The authors

In Personality, Religion, and Leadership, Christopher F. J. Ross and Leslie J. Francis illustrate how Jungian archetypes can help religious leaders understand and deal with their personal spiritual journeys in times of stress and success and build strong religious communities that contain a diverse array of psychological types.

Over a period of years, Donald Smith probed, analyzed, interpreted, and reinterpreted data pertaining to what makes for effective ministry. Through all his research, one fact kept emerging: Pastors who focus on empowering others are recognized as the most effective in their ministry. Empowering Ministry distills the best information about cultivating an effective ministry stance from the voices of several hundred highly effective congregational leaders, offering readers the benefit of many lifetimes of pastoral experience. Smith deals extensively with how pastors empower others, as well as with how they have been and continue to be empowered themselves. He also discusses the requisite skills needed for motivating and energizing others. The book offers a realistic look at life in the ministerial pressure cooker and confronts the issues of stress and burnout. Specific steps the reader can take to grow and nurture an effective ministry are included. Empowering Ministry is for pastors who are enriching their work, for the seminary student preparing for ministry, and for anyone working closely with their pastors in a quest for maximum pastoral effectiveness.

The purpose of this book is to enable Christian leaders to understand their psychological type, using the MBTI (Myers-Briggs) personality indicator, and to use this information to generate new insights into their own experience and performance. It will enable leaders to develop better strategies to maximise their strengths and to work with their recognised weaknesses. A significant amount of stress is experienced by Christian leaders. This book will help them to focus on those aspects of their work that are energising and life-giving. Part One of the book introduces the theories of psychological type and how these apply to Christian leaders. Part Two include detailed profile descriptions of each of the 16 MBTI personality types and explores the 'comfort zone' for that type and difficulties experienced by that type 'outside of the comfort zone.' Each type description is written with the role of the Christian leader in mind and covers aspects of their role, eg their experiences of worship, prayer, pastoral responsibilities, administration and working with others.

Pastor & author, Lynne Baab "offers readers a useful tool to understand both their own spiritual journeys and their role in the life of their chosen spiritual community". The book "...provides a basic understanding of the concepts of psychological type and then builds upon them with applications to real-life issues...".

In Knowing Me, Knowing God, Malcolm Goldsmith provides an easy-to-follow introduction to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as it pertains to the spiritual life. The heart of this book is a spirituality questionnaire and its interpretation in connection to spirituality. The intent of the book is to explore ways in which persons might best open their hearts and minds to God. Knowing Me, Knowing God is a valuable resource for retreat leaders, worship committee members, spiritual directors, prayer group members, and others who are looking for material that help them focus on the needs of their community. The spirituality questionnaire is designed for personal completion as an integral part of the total book. It can, however, be used in small groups to stimulate discussion.

Why do people disagree about scripture? Why, when two people are asked what they find of importance in a bible passage, are they likely to come up with different answer?Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator to analyse possible responses to St Mark's Gospel, Leslie Francis shows how, in finding our own preferred pattern of spirituality, not only how to broaden and deepen our understanding of the gospels, but also increase our sensitivity to others. Offering insights into the responses of different personality types, this disciplined approach is an invaluable contribution to the methodologies both of bible study and of preaching.

Volume 33 of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion brings together an open section and two special sections that illuminate new vistas in the study of religious and non-religious belief. Special section 1 examines the historical roots of religious practice emerging from Greater Khurāsān – a historical ‘cross-road’ for many world religions. Special section 2 initiates a paradigm shift in study of religious and non-religious belief in relation to children, insisting upon foregrounding children’s narratives. Both special sections explore under-researched areas, underlining the significance of historical and contextual approaches. At an intrinsic level the volume interrogates the power dynamics that determine why particular voices and approaches are prioritised in the study of religious and non-religious belief, and why others remain under- or mis-heard.

Comprising a selection of contemporary state of the art research that focuses on psychological type, religion, and culture, this book can be divided into two particular areas of research. The first section focuses on the religion and psychological type of Church leaders, while the second section reports on Church members, their religion, and their psychological type. The book attests to the importance of Jungian Psychological Type theory in understanding individual differences in religiosity within a variety of samples. Authored by a wide range of international scholars, employing a wide range of measures, among diverse samples and in a variety of different cultures, this research provides an important contribution to current and future research. It facilitates future research work in the area outside of the white, Anglo-Saxon, Anglophone, Christian context on which it has traditionally been focused. This book was originally published as a double special issue of the Mental Health, Religion & Culture journal.

"In The Developing Christian, Peter Feldmeier wrestles with the interconnections between normal human development and spiritual growth. Beginning with the basic principles of Christian spirituality, he goes on to investigate human maturing through the stages of life, with each stage's typical challenges and opportunities. Particular attention is given to moral and ego development. In this context of human maturation, he investigates spiritual progress, particularly as it relates to prayer, work, and primary relationships. Touchstone voices from the theological tradition including St. John of the Cross, Teilhard de Chardin, and James Fowler. These are augmented with an array of wisdom figures from contemplative, prophetic, and pastoral expressions of holiness."--BOOK JACKET.