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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Spirituality for Extroverts
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Evensong
Shipmate
# 14696
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Posted
For the first time ever today I heard from a visiting New Testament scholar Paula Gooder that spirituality in the Christian tradition is mostly directed at introverts - not extroverts.
As an extrovert, she found it very difficult to pray and for a long time assumed she was incapable.
As something of an extrovert myself I was very struck by this so when I got home I googled "Spirituality for extroverts".
I came up with a book with precisely that title written by a clinical psych and spiritual director.
Here is a wee review of it.
It says:
quote:
If you struggle with praying quietly in the morning but find it easy to connect with God as you go for a walk; if you find singing the best part of a service and struggle in the quieter moments, then you might be an extrovert and this book is for you and people who may not get you.
Spirituality For Extroverts is eye-opening in the way it explores how spiritual extroverts often have different spiritual needs to introverts.
Nancy Reeves, who is a clinical psychologist, spiritual director and poet, uses the idea of extrovert and introvert in the manner of Myers-Briggs, where extrovert is not necessarily just outgoing but one whose energy is often directed to the outer world and who draws energy from engaging with things outside themselves.
Introverted spirituality is about directing and drawing energy more from the inner world.
I do and can pray in silence and in traditional Christian ways, but for me loud music, jogging, playing sport, having significant conversations, and laughing with others are all forms of "prayer" too.
Is there any merit to this idea?
Is traditional Christianity skewed toward introverts?
If so, how can we change this?
(p.s. Please let us not devolve into the merits or demerits of Myers-Brigs. The notion can stand alone without any such system)
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
The paradox is that most spiritual directors and people involved in that field tend to be introverts. Even most clergy. Yet church services (and increasingly so) seem to be aimed at extraverts. There are frequent threads in Ecclesiantics dominated by introverts who lament sharing the Peace, happy-clappy choruses, sermons replaced by discussions, etc etc.
I don't know how anyone who is a regular attender at worship in most traditions (unless they attend Quaker meetings or mass in contemplative communities) can claim that extravert spirituality is not catered for. Maybe the proliferation of spiritual books and courses aimed at introverts is a way of redressing the balance.
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Evensong
Shipmate
# 14696
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Posted
Two excellent points you raise:
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
The paradox is that most spiritual directors and people involved in that field tend to be introverts. Even most clergy.
This exact point was raised today in the discussion at college.
I'm in an ordination training program where about half the people I might identify as extroverts and half as introverts. But a lady that was with us that went through the training program about five years ago said most of them were introverts.
Then my boss spoke up and said that while he was examining chaplain, he tried to explain to the other selectors that some people pray differently. Extroverts do not pray in traditional ways but the church doesn't know how to deal with this or what to make of it so does not select these people for ministry because they are not "spiritual" enough.
See the problem? Do we only select clergy that are introverts because we deem them more "spiritual"?
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
I don't know how anyone who is a regular attender at worship in most traditions (unless they attend Quaker meetings or mass in contemplative communities) can claim that extravert spirituality is not catered for.
I think that's fair.
I guess I'm thinking more about daily prayer and spirituality tho more than structured church that happens once a week or so.
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a theological scrapbook
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
The paradox is that most spiritual directors and people involved in that field tend to be introverts. Even most clergy. Yet church services (and increasingly so) seem to be aimed at extraverts. There are frequent threads in Ecclesiantics dominated by introverts who lament sharing the Peace, happy-clappy choruses, sermons replaced by discussions, etc etc.
It strikes me that having discussions instead of sermons and sharing the Peace with hugs as some churches do now are fairly recent innovations. Until recently, this kind of interaction was presumably quite rare in a mainstream church? In any case, the monologue sermon is the dominant model of communication in a church service, and it normalises a degree of passivity in churchgoers, which would benefit introverts. On the other hand, I read that the mediaeval English church was quite a noisy place - but that was because people turned up and then messed about, not because church leaders had arranged interactive worship for them!
Some studies suggest that a higher proportion of women than men are extroverts. In some ways this helps women in church - they may be more willing to read the Bible during a church service or meeting, more willing to organise and host social events and more likely to make close friends at church. However, strictly speaking, this might not be classed as extroversion.
I think it's more complicated than simply creating a group of introverts and extroverts. We ought to talk about a range of personality types, such as the Myers-Briggs indicator, instead. Churchgoers certainly seem to be biased towards certain personality types on the Myers-Briggs spectrum. Those who don't fit into the dominant types probably do feel a bit awkward in church.
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SusanDoris
Incurable Optimist
# 12618
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Posted
Love the topic! Being very much an extrovert, I used to love to sing, and think it's a shame the Humanists haven't got a rousing song! I don't think the 'give the peace' bit is for extroverts, it's one of the things that finally made me stop going to church, even with a remnant of God belief. It seemed so cringe-makingly hypocritical.
I'll keep quiet here, though, as I don't think I'll have anything to add.
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HCH
Shipmate
# 14313
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Posted
Are there Biblical figures one can definitely classify as introvert or extrovert?
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
In any case, the monologue sermon is the dominant model of communication in a church service, and it normalises a degree of passivity in churchgoers, which would benefit introverts. On the other hand, I read that the mediaeval English church was quite a noisy place - but that was because people turned up and then messed about, not because church leaders had arranged interactive worship for them!
I suppose the Reformation emphasis on sitting still and being taught, and private reading of the scripture, is more suited to introverts. ISTM that mediaeval worship was much more like that in Orthodox countries, where people move around, light candles, go outside to gossip (and/or smoke), without feeling the need to concentrate on every detail of the service.
Is that more extravert, or am I thinking of Attention Deficit Disorder? I'm on the introvert end of the spectrum, but think I've got a bit of ADD too.
[PS I was going to add a pedant alert that it should be 'extravert', but the dictionary tells me both spellings are OK]
[ 17. October 2012, 15:11: Message edited by: Angloid ]
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
Am I the only person who reads the heading for the thread as 'Spirituality for people who won't stop talking'?
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
In any case, the monologue sermon is the dominant model of communication in a church service, and it normalises a degree of passivity in churchgoers, which would benefit introverts. On the other hand, I read that the mediaeval English church was quite a noisy place - but that was because people turned up and then messed about, not because church leaders had arranged interactive worship for them!
I suppose the Reformation emphasis on sitting still and being taught, and private reading of the scripture, is more suited to introverts.
How typical, blame it on that part of the church you do not like, I guess we all do but lets look at reality rather than prejudice.
What happened at the Reformation. The Reformers changed worshippers from observers of worship to participants in. It was no longer enough to observe a priest celebrate the mass, the worshipper should partake of the elements. It was not that choirs should sing God's praise all people should. Churches locked so that individuals are forced to find God in the business of life. Psalms translated into the vernacular so people can sing them as private devotions as well as in public worship. Reformed spirituality puts far more value on feeding the hungry than sitting quietly in church.
This has implications for the Reformed tradition. We struggle hugely to give voice to anything close to a contemplative tradition. We do not do sitting and doing nothing well. We are activists in the extreme. We are active do-ey in the extreme. Have you tried having five minutes of silence in a Reformed Cworship? Really, my minister after eight years has got it up to 3.5 minutes and then people start to fidget.
That is in part why Evangelical worship appeals more to extroverts. It is part of their inheritance from the Reformed tradition. They sing a lot, dance a lot have open prayer. Yes you sit for a while during the sermon, or at least if the preacher does not invite you to talk about some aspect with your neighbour.
If you do not believe me read the only two over views of Reformed Spirituality in existence "Reformed Spirituality" by Howard L Rice and "Letting God be God" by David Cornick. One is American and one is English but they both tackle this exact issue. Those who struggle with it try to coin words "Worldly", "Practical" or "Active" and even whether we can talk of a "Spirituality" or would "Piety" with its increase emphasis on other areas apart from prayer be a better model.
Jengie
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
I suppose the Reformation emphasis on sitting still and being taught, and private reading of the scripture, is more suited to introverts.
How typical, blame it on that part of the church you do not like, I guess we all do but lets look at reality rather than prejudice.
Sorry, Jengie, if that came across as 'blaming' anyone. As an introvert I don't regard being quiet and passive as a bad thing. It was a shorthand comment to describe what has happened to all Christian traditions (at least, Western ones) since the Reformation. Catholic and protestant alike, the emphasis swung that way. Perhaps the chaotic 'market-place' feel of the worship was more to be found in Protestant places like St Paul's cathedral if some accounts are to be trusted.
I agree that there is a paradoxical tendency towards extroversion in Protestant life and worship. In counter-Reformation Catholicism (I hope knowledgeable shipmates will correct me if necessary) it seemed to be accepted that most laypeople, extroverts or not, needed a simple and practical spirituality and only an elite minority were called to contemplative prayer.
It's only in recent years that there has been a rediscovery of spiritual direction as something valuable for all Christians, and this has happened across all traditions. Maybe this is a necessary and welcome redressing of the balance against extroverts and towards introverts. I suppose we just need to be aware not to swing too far and neglect the needs of the extroverts.
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
Evensong, I love the fact that you included 'laughing with others'. I have a deep need for this and seek out people I can have a good laugh with. This doesn't often happen in Church services 'tho, sadly.
My Mum and I never went through a day without crying with laughter together over something. I miss her deeply (She is still alive but in the final stages of dementia)
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
The studies I've seen suggest that clergy and religious are about 50/50 introvert / extrovert as compared with 25 / 75 in the general US population. I think we all need a (different) balance of introverted and extroverted spiritual activities. As an introvert, for instance, I need to be in a regularly scheduled faith sharing group as it would be easy for me to never bother talking to anyone but myself about my spiritual life. A good friend who's a strong extrovert has told me he never really learnt how to pray until he was forced to spend long periods of time in silence during our novitiate.
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
Important observation that Hart.
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
It says:
quote:
If you struggle with praying quietly in the morning but find it easy to connect with God as you go for a walk; if you find singing the best part of a service and struggle in the quieter moments, then you might be an extrovert...
Or you might be one of the other types listed in
Sacred Pathways.
For me, and even moreso for my Bible study leader, this book was life-changing.
There are some detailed reviews on Amazon. Basically, he lists nine approaches to worship, and says we each have a strongest one, a few semi-strong ones, and some that we don't identify with at all.
For example, the person who is most aware of God in nature, the way they get the kind of refreshment renewal reconnection recommitment some find in formal church is by going for a walk in the woods or along the seashore. But the traditionalist finds God more fully inside the formal church, not in the woods. The sensualist needs to be using the senses -- the smells and bells, the stained glass windows and music, connect the sensualist to God. To the aesthetic, these are distractions. And so on. His system is not introvert vs extrovert, but other things some of which may be more common of introverts or extroverts, some of which may be unrelated to that concept.
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
The sensualist needs to be using the senses -- the smells and bells, the stained glass windows and music, connect the sensualist to God. To the aesthetic, these are distractions.
I hope some windows and music are of good enough quality to not be a distraction to an aesthetic! Did you mean "to the ascetic"?
Sounds like an interesting book; I'll look for it.
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Truth
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
Why should people have worship services specially tailored for their personal preferences? Maybe it does the extroverts good to be sat down in the pews for an hour? And vice versa. In any case its better to be all worshipping togehter than to sort ourselves into little congregtions of like-minded folk.
The situation described in the OP sounds plausible to me. Church services tend to be quiet and introspective. And nearly every thing that comes undert the rag-bag catch-alll category of "spirituality" is at the quiet end of the scale. For some reason when people write books about religion, contemplative prayer and meditation, and staring at pictures or whatver count as "spiritiuality" but hymn-singing doesn't seem to!
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
And nearly every thing that comes undert the rag-bag catch-alll category of "spirituality" is at the quiet end of the scale. For some reason when people write books about religion, contemplative prayer and meditation, and staring at pictures or whatver count as "spiritiuality" but hymn-singing doesn't seem to!
Probably because most of these books are written by introverts. As I said, it's the swing of the pendulum. Maybe a few extroverts should try and swing it back the other way, unless they don't think that what they are doing is spiritual.
[ 17. October 2012, 19:46: Message edited by: Angloid ]
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Ancilla
Shipmate
# 11037
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Posted
I got this book recently. I haven’t read much of it yet, but it was helpful for me just to have it acknowledged that being an extravert doesn’t mean I’m just an ‘unspiritual’ person!
Like Evensong, I’m at theological college, and I felt I was always getting the message that private, silent, sitting-still prayer was ‘real’ prayer, and that most of my spiritual life didn’t ‘count’. Another thing I’ve found really useful is looking at the ‘Nine Ways of Prayer of St Dominic’. He was apparently very physical and expressive in his personal prayer.
At the same time, I still find contemplative prayer (which could be described as introverted) helpful as a sort of counterbalance to my natural tendencies, but I no longer feel under pressure to be a different type of person.
I take the point that most services are probably easier for extraverts, for the simple reason that they involve being around other people. So I guess in traditions which prioritise public expressions of spirituality, introverts would feel excluded. Christianity per se isn’t skewed either way, but the more time I spend living in community the more aware I am of how we all make assumptions which inadvertently exclude other personality types.
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formerly Wannabe Heretic
Vocational musings
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
If Hart is right do you want the really scary thing the majority of church goers are introverts or so several studies have said consistently said across denomination and countries. My source is Faith and Psychology by Leslie J Francis.
Jengie
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Desert Daughter
Shipmate
# 13635
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Posted
The majority of churchgoers are introverts??? Well, I suppose it depends on where you consider "introvert" to start on the scale.
Take it from me (a 100% introvert on any scale), churchgoing is not easy for us. When I was a child, I took it as my weekly sacrifice to God, because I hated it so much. There are all these people around. And we do not like being in a room with many people. And increasingly (**shudder**) one is coerced into acknowledging their presence (being greeted by ushers, being cajoled into giving the peace etc...).
No, Sundays aren't easy for us.
![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif)
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
The studies I've seen suggest that clergy and religious are about 50/50 introvert / extrovert as compared with 25 / 75 in the general US population.
I think this is where there is a real pond difference. I don't know if anyone has done comparable research on the UK, but I would guess that the proportion of introverts is considerably higher.
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
The book I link to above has the figures from several studies both sides of the pond and variety of traditions. I am not going to cite them now, I am in work and the book is at home. The evidence is a lot more complex than a simple pond difference.
Jengie
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Desert Daughter:
The majority of churchgoers are introverts??? Well, I suppose it depends on where you consider "introvert" to start on the scale.
Take it from me (a 100% introvert on any scale), churchgoing is not easy for us. When I was a child, I took it as my weekly sacrifice to God, because I hated it so much. There are all these people around. And we do not like being in a room with many people. And increasingly (**shudder**) one is coerced into acknowledging their presence (being greeted by ushers, being cajoled into giving the peace etc...).
No, Sundays aren't easy for us.
Maybe you could attend one of those churches where almost everyone has a pew to themselves....
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
So how do extroverts pray?
By going to the pub and thinking nice thoughts about the other people there.
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Ken
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
If most churchy activity is aimed at introverts, is this why the one bit that clearly isn't, the peace, seems to sit so incongruously with the rest?
Hate the peace, me - the going around and shaking hands version anyway.
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Evensong
Shipmate
# 14696
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
So how do extroverts pray?
By going to the pub and thinking nice thoughts about the other people there.
So this qualifies as "pious activity"? Equally as valid as pulling out my prayer book each morning and saying the daily office and reading my bible?
And I'm not interested in the church versions of introverts and extroverts.
Can we skip to prayer outside formal settings please?
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leo
Shipmate
# 1458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
Attention Deficit Disorder?
I first read that as 'Anglican Deficit Disorder'.
My brief experience as a spiritual director is that many extroverts feel guilty because they 'can't pray properly'. It is a great liberation for them when they discover Franciscan contemplation - basically going for a walk and praising God by brief arrow prayers for the trees, flowers etc. Or fiddling with rosary beads etc.
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The Revolutionist
Shipmate
# 4578
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Posted
I think my natural inclination is towards more "spiritually extroverted" forms of prayer and worship.
Praising God while walking and enjoying his creation comes a lot more naturally to me than sitting or kneeling quietly.
I also find it a lot easier to pray with other people, whether that's just with a friend or as part of a prayer meeting.
I can see the value in quieter, more individual spiritual approaches to spending time with God, but they come less naturally to me.
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Circuit Rider
Ship's Itinerant
# 13088
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Posted
I think this thread is fascinating because I usually experience it the other way around. I am introverted of the INTJ variety, but America is mostly a highly extroverted place. Expressive, emotional, and loud expressions of "worship" (usually with the label "contemporary") are favored over more quiet and contemplative liturgical expressions. I read just the other day that at least two thirds of American church-goers are extroverted and want flashy experiences. I think the same distribution would be true among clergy also.
I didn't find Anglican liturgy until my late 40s or early 50s and suffered through years of being labeled "unspiritual" in the happy clappy situations I found myself in. I think it is wonderful. But now that I want to do the liturgy in my church the consumers in my pews call it boring and insist on a return sentimental and expressive forms. To them if it is not fun it is not spiritual. If they aren't somehow "blessed" (read entertained) they don't feel they have been to church. Consequently the largest and fastest growing churches I know of are the Charismatic/Pentecostal variety, or Baptists and mainliners that are cashing in with "contemporary" experience offerings.
I went a couple of weeks ago to a "leadership conference" of 13,000 people where (for me) the high cost of hearing excellent presentations and sermons was enduring the loud banging (ahem) music, videos, light shows, and promotions for books and merchandise just to get to the good stuff. I came home totally exhausted.
So to hear that an extrovert is out of place in a highly introverted church world is amazing to me. Can we trade places?
[ 18. October 2012, 17:03: Message edited by: Circuit Rider ]
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Bax
Shipmate
# 16572
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Posted
I find the issue of temperament/personality type (however you wish to describe it) and spirituality fascinating.
If you look at any number of arguments about worship (in church or elsewhere) and consider it from the perspective of this insight to how we are different to each other, its surprising how often a particular temperament will tend you to lean in one direction or another.
To take one random example, Eastfacing/Westfacing for a priest celebrating the Mass. Facing West the priest is looking at the congregation (suits extraverts?) or facing East can concentrate on praying and not feel stared at (suits intraverts?).
I think the key thing to learn is that God has created us to be different. Just because this way of worship suits me, does not make it the right way of worshipping.
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Figures from Leslie Francis book, this is a summary of a summary so be warned there is much more detail
Clerics:
- Macdaid, McCaulley & Kainz (1986) Roman Catholic USA most common type ISFJ (18%), ESFJ (14%), ENFJ (11%) & ENTP (11%).
- Macdaid, McCaulley & Kainz (1986) Protestant USA most common type ENFJ (16%), ENFP (14%) & ESFJ (13%).
- Oswald and Kroeger (1988) Mainline denominations including Roman Catholics, USA ENFJ(16%), ESFJ(12%) and ENFP(12%).
- Oswald and Kroeger (1988) Presbyterians, USA ENFJ(15%), ESFJ(12%) ENFP(11%).
- Francis & Payne (2001) Church in Wales (Anglican), Wales: 59% introvert, 41% extrovert.
It looks to me as though in the US, extrovert is the norm among clergy, it is less clear that it is in the UK (well in Wales anyway).
Congregations:
- Gerhardt (1983) Universalist Unitarians, USA 59% introversion, 41% extrversion
- Rehak (1998) Evangelical Lutherans 68% Introversion, 32% extraversion.
- Delis-Bulhoes(1990) Evangelical Protestant, Canada 71% introversion 29% extraversion.
- Delis-Bulhoes(1990) Roman Catholic, Canada 65% introversion 35% extraversion.
- Ross (1993) Anglican Canada ,62% introversion 38% extraversion
- Ross (1995) Roman Catholic Canada females 53% introversion 47% extraversion males 54% introversion 46% extraversion
- Francis, Duncan, Craig and Luffman (2004) Anglican female 55% Introversion 45% Extraversion; males 66% intraversion, 34% extraversion.
Leslie Francis' comment on this seems relevant to this thread
quote:
from pg115The finding that Anglica churches appeal more to introverts than to extraverts is consistent with the view that the dominant spirituality fostered by the western Christian tradition is one that promotes and values the inward journey and may encourage the inward discipline of personal prayer, quiet times and communion with God.
Jengie
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Paul.
Shipmate
# 37
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Posted
I'm definitely an introvert socially but when it comes to church worship the style I'm most comfortable with would probably be considered "extrovert".
I can't be the only one.
Posts: 3689 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bax:
To take one random example, Eastfacing/Westfacing for a priest celebrating the Mass. Facing West the priest is looking at the congregation (suits extraverts?) or facing East can concentrate on praying and not feel stared at (suits intraverts?).
Not nearly as simple as that, it might well work better with F and T. Feeling people want to be faced and feel excluded by the fact you face East, thinkers see the symbolism of facing East and appreciate its significance. If that is the case then it is nothing to do with Extraversion, Introversion.
I know of no study that looks at connections between peoples preferred personality type and the ritual.
There is an added complexity, worship personality may well not equate to personality in other situations. This is known phenomena but I only have a casual reference to it.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
I was interested to see the books linked to in the OP, because I have just been reading this one which argues that churches have been becoming more extrovert and that it is now introverts who are becoming uncomfortable.
It all seems a pretty good argument for keeping different types of churches available and not trying to make all churches - and all services - identical for the sake of unity. There will always be a mix of personality types in the church and in the world.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Circuit Rider
Ship's Itinerant
# 13088
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Posted
Chorister, I have read that one, and just finished this one. It makes the same case.
I think nations and regions have a predominant style, and America is increasingly and excessively extroverted, and values extroversion and has for some time considered introversion to be a problem to be fixed or cured.
As an introverted pastor in an extroverted church culture I have always been a misfit in my appointed congregations, and the road has been difficult. Discovering these differences the last few years has helped me navigate the waters and compensate for the difficulties. It is easier now.
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I felt my heart strangely warmed ... and realised I had spilt hot coffee all over myself.
Posts: 715 | From: Somewhere in the Heart of Dixie | Registered: Oct 2007
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Late Paul:
I'm definitely an introvert socially but when it comes to church worship the style I'm most comfortable with would probably be considered "extrovert".
I can't be the only one.
I think I'd be the same way. I'm an INTP, but I like my worship to push me out of my comfort zone, challenge me and feel 'other,' different than my day-to-day. That's why I can see a lot of my liturgical preferences seeming a more natural fit for an ESF. People have told me I preach like an F.
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
I'm intrigued to see "walking while praying" labeled as extrovert, I far prefer walking in the woods to talk to God instead of sitting in a room full of people, and I'm an introvert. But I'd say there are other dynamics going on that may be as much or more important.
Yes there is the benefit of being ALONE in the woods instead of in a room with 100 other people, a big plus for an introvert.
But also, it's movement instead of sitting still. If I sit all day at work and sit all evening catching up on work or studying for a class or surfing the Ship, the last thing my body needs on Sunday morning is more sitting! A walk in the woods to talk with God is far healthier, it brings a little balance to the week's activities.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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MSHB
Shipmate
# 9228
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Posted
This issue of spirituality and personality is rather complex.
I am an introvert (MBTI, Eysenck and various other measures). I also have Asperger's. And I have quite a bit of sensory sensitivity, especially to a range of sounds.
A congregation singing spiritedly is fine. But add tambourines or other percussion and I am cringing. People bringing hot drinks or chewing gum into church also cause me significant distress (misophonia). The peace greeting is stressful - too social, too unstructured.
I find it hard to disentangle the various elements of my personality. Do I find aspects of church services stressful because of my introversion, my mild autism, or my sensory issues? Sometimes it is all three.
Being alone is calming. Praying the office on my own is great - so structured, so quiet and peaceful. I am a natural contemplative. I am less comfortable with the evangelical quiet time (I need liturgy) - and I am very uncomfortable with prayer groups. "Spontaneous" group spirituality is often stressful - I need to know what will happen.
Oddly enough, when I do quizzes that try to pin down "your spiritual type", they keep assuming that I must be very rational and want (say) to read intellectual tomes on theology (eg Aquinas). I'd much rather read about the Desert saints or contemplative prayer. I am a mystic, if you like, not a rationalist, when it comes to spirituality.
And I do get something out of group spirituality (church services), but at times I will be close to an anxiety attack or a meltdown, especially near the start of the service when I haven't calmed down yet.
Moral: if you are going to do the peace greeting, please leave it until later in the service. Don't put it right at the start. Well, for my sake, anyway.
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MSHB: Member of the Shire Hobbit Brigade
Posts: 1522 | From: Dharawal Country | Registered: Mar 2005
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
I was interested to see the books linked to in the OP, because I have just been reading this one which argues that churches have been becoming more extrovert and that it is now introverts who are becoming uncomfortable.
My friend Adam wrote that!
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
(have to grab the fleeting wisps of vicarious glory whenever I can. carry on).
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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leo
Shipmate
# 1458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
I was interested to see the books linked to in the OP, because I have just been reading this one which argues that churches have been becoming more extrovert and that it is now introverts who are becoming uncomfortable.
It all seems a pretty good argument for keeping different types of churches available and not trying to make all churches - and all services - identical for the sake of unity. There will always be a mix of personality types in the church and in the world.
I totally agree - but would add that this very good book is drawn on experience in America - though much of what it describes is catching on here.
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My Jewish-positive lectionary blog is at http://recognisingjewishrootsinthelectionary.wordpress.com/
My reviews at http://layreadersbookreviews.wordpress.com
Posts: 23198 | From: Bristol | Registered: Oct 2001
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