By Joshua Speight
Churches have personalities, much like individuals.
According to Enneagram wisdom, and most psychological work on personality, humans have three centers of functioning: thinking, feeling, doing. Congregations and our communities have similar functions. And, both at the individual level and community level, we function in ways that give preference to one of these centers. We might not describe our congregations in quite the same language, but can we understand some of them as being more feeling-oriented? Thinking-oriented? Doing-oriented?
What are the pros and cons of being this way? What is gained and lost? And, how do we achieve balance in our congregations as we seek to balance these centers?
ChurchWorks—the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s annual event for Christian educators—invites participants to consider these questions in San Antonio, Texas, February 26-28, at Trinity Baptist Church. Centered on Congregational Wellbeing, ChurchWorks 2018 is building upon a three-year arc of wellbeing for the minister, the congregation, and the community.
Dr. Jon Singletary, Dean of the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University, will help us discover the signs of wellbeing for congregations and explore the idea of nurturing the soul of our congregations. This 3-day event for all practitioners of Christian education and spiritual formation in the congregational setting. To teach the people of God, educators need a place to be equipped, to be inspired and to be renewed. ChurchWorks creates space for renewal in ministry through practices of creativity, community and worship.
Registration ($75, hotel registration separate) is open until February 12 at www.cbf.net/ChurchWorks.
— Joshua Speight serves as the Manager of Leadership Development for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the coordinator for the annual ChurchWorks conference.
