HOW COULD GOD USE YOU IN MINISTRY?

Thank you for considering how God has designed you for ministry and Kingdom impact! We trust this short self-assessment survey will help you. It is designed to help you think about what God has invested into your life in order to help you better understand how that intersects with other ministry opportunities, particularly church planting. There is a role for you in church planting and we’d like to help you explore possible options to find the best fit for you.

You’ll find a spiritual gifts, passions, and personality self-assessment with some explanations below each about what your results might mean for church planting and other ministries. Individuals best succeed as they fulfill their ministry calling in light of how God has equipped them.

If, after taking the tests, you’d like more information about church planting or apprenticeship opportunities, contact Sean Pierce, sean@northeastchurchplanting.com.

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Here Am I, Send Me … Now What?How has God Equipped Me to Be a Church Planter?

Once you have taken this spiritual gifts Inventory, list what you believe to be your top five gifts.

Spiritual Gifts Assessment

Instructions: Respond to the following statements according to the scale below by clicking the option that best describes you.

1 = Never 2 = Rarely 3 = Sometimes 4 = Often 5 = Always

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1. I like to organize people, events, and tasks.

2. I can readily distinguish between spiritual truth and error, good and evil.

3. People who are struggling emotionally or spiritually say I am an excellent listener.

4. I can communicate the Gospel to others clearly and effectively.

5. I have a strong capacity to trust God for the difficult things in life.

6. I give liberally and joyfully according to my means to people or projects in financial need.

7. I enjoy working behind the scenes to support the ministry of others.

8. I open my home to minister to people in need.

9. I find that I have a strong capacity to attract followers to my team.

10. I have the ability to feel the pain of others who are suffering.

11. I am at my best when leading and caring for a small group of believers.

12. I am able to teach God’s Word clearly and effectively.

13. Others seek me out for advice about spiritual or personal matters.

14. I feel compelled to study and learn biblical truths.

15. I am careful, thorough, and skilled at managing details.

16. I am able to discern a person’s character based upon first impressions.

17. I enjoy reassuring and strengthening those who are discouraged.

18. I consistently look for opportunities to build relationships with lost and unchurched people.

19. I am convinced that God is going to accomplish something special through me.

20. I give more than a tithe so that kingdom work can be accomplished.

21. I have a strong capacity to identify practical needs and do something about them.

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22. I enjoy meeting new people and helping them to feel welcome.

23. I am able to influence others to achieve a vision.

24. Suffering people gravitate to me and find me comforting to be around.

25. I have a deep desire to protect believers from people and beliefs that may harm them.

26. Whenever I teach a Bible class, the size of the class increases in number.

27. I can often find simple, practical solutions to complicated and confusing problems.

28. I really enjoy studying the Bible.

29. I can clarify goals and develop strategies or plans to accomplish them.

30. I can see through phoniness or deceit before it is evident to others.

31. I give hope to others by directing them to promises of God.

32. I find that unchurched people enjoy spending time with me.

33. I am rarely surprised when God turns obstacles into opportunities for ministries.

34. I experience tremendous joy in meeting needs and sharing my provisions with others.

35. I willingly take on a variety of odd jobs around the church to meet the needs of others.

36. I genuinely believe the Lord directs strangers to me who need to get connected to others.

37. Many people place a lot of trust in me and my leadership abilities.

38. My friends believe that sometimes I allow people who are “down and out” to take advantage of me.

39. I get excited about helping new believers grow to maturity in Christ.

40. I pay close attention to the words, phrases, and meaning of those who teach.

41. I am able to select the most effective course of action from among several alternatives.

42. I spend time digging into the facts.

43. I can identify and effectively use the resources needed to accomplish tasks.

44. I tend to see rightness and wrongness in situations.

45. I reassure those who need to take courageous action in their faith, family, or life.

46. I invite unbelievers to accept Christ as their Savior.

47. I am able to trust God in situations when most others have lost all hope.

48. I watch my finances closely so I can give generously to others and the Lord’s work.

49. I see spiritual significance in doing practical tasks.

50. I like to create a place where people do not feel alone.

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51. I set goals and then manage people and resources effectively to accomplish them.

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52. I enjoy visiting people in hospitals or nursing homes.

53. I can faithfully provide long-term support and concern for others.

54. I like to take a systematic approach to my study of the Bible.

55. I can anticipate the likely consequences of a group’s or an individual’s actions.

56. I routinely want to learn more about a particular topic or Bible passage.

57. I like to help organizations or groups become more efficient.

58. I receive affirmation from others concerning the reliability of my insights or perceptions.

59. I strengthen those who are wavering in their faith.

60. I openly tell people that I am a Christian and want them to ask me about my faith.

61. I am convinced of God’s daily presence and action in my life.

62. People come to me with requests for help in meeting their financial needs.

63. I like to find small things that need to be done and do them without being asked.

64. I enjoy entertaining people and opening my home to others.

65. I influence others to perform to the best of their ability.

66. I can look beyond a person’s disabilities or problems to see a life that matters to God.

67. I enjoy giving guidance and practical support to a small group of people.

68. I can communicate Scripture in ways that motivate others to study and want to learn.

69. I give practical advice to help others get through complicated situations.

70. I learn and remember Bible truths easily.

71. I enjoy learning about how organizations function.

72. I can identify preaching, teaching, or communication which is not true to the Bible.

73. I like motivating others to take steps for spiritual growth.

74. I get extremely frustrated when I cannot share my faith.

75. I enjoy challenging others to trust God.

76. I find it difficult to understand why more Christians do not give more help to those with real needs.

77. I prefer being a helper, assisting others to do their job more effectively.

78. I do whatever I can to make people feel that they belong.

79. I am able to cast a vision that others want to be a part of.

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80. I delight in bringing hope and joy to people living in difficult circumstances.

81. I can gently restore wandering believers to faith and fellowship.

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82. I can impart information and skills to others at a level that makes it easy for them to grasp and apply to their lives.

83. I can apply scriptural truth that others regard as being practical and helpful.

84. I can organize facts into meaningful relations.

85. I can visualize a coming event, anticipate potential problems, and develop backup plans.

86. I can sense when demonic forces are at work in a person or situation.

87. I am able to challenge or rebuke others in order to foster spiritual growth.

88. I seek opportunities to talk about spiritual matters with unbelievers.

89. People are amazed at my ability to trust God to provide in the most difficult situations.

90. I look for ways to increase my income primarily so I can give more to others.

91. I readily and joyfully use my natural or learned skills to help wherever needed.

92. I am delighted when someone asks me to pray for them.

93. I figure out where we need to go and help others to get there.

94. I enjoy doing practical things for people who are in need.

95. Christians often seek me out for counsel when making important decisions in their lives.

96. I have noticed that people who sit under my teaching experience spiritual growth.

97. I have insights into how to solve problems that others do not see.

98. It is easy for me to see patterns and truths in Scripture.

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The Gifts Inventory Scoring Guide

Enter the number from each of your answers on the line corresponding to the statement number. The total will be displayed in the space provided for each gift.

TOTAL

My Spiritual Gifts: How Has God Gifted Me?

Write the top and bottom four results below.

My top four spiritual gifts are: My bottom four spiritual gifts are:

1. Click here to enter text. 1. Click here to enter text.

2. Click here to enter text. 2. Click here to enter text.

3. Click here to enter text. 3. Click here to enter text.

4. Click here to enter text. 4. Click here to enter text.

Your top gifts and bottom gifts speak volumes about what God has invested in you. What gifts you possess and clearly do not possess are highly significant in your ministry. Do these sound right to you? Ask some close friends or your spouse how they see these in you.

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It is important to recognize that every Christian should seek to demonstrate the fruit of a Spirit-filled life as exemplified in each of these gifts. God expects us to serve even in areas of weakness. However, you will more easily and naturally serve out of your gifts.

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What Do My Spiritual Gifts Say about Church Planting or Pastoral Ministries?

Church PlantingThere is no perfect spiritual gift mix for a church planter. God can use anyone with an endless variety and expressions of gifts to plant a church. However, if at least a couple of your top four gifts includes leadership, evangelism, faith, or shepherding and possibly teaching, you should prayerfully consider whether or not God might be calling you to church planting.

Lead church planters tend to be gifted leaders with a strong desire for evangelism who are comfortable living by an unusual amount of faith and who may desire to shepherd or teach God’s people as they reach the lost and start churches. If you have these kinds of gifts, God could potentially use you in planting one or more churches.

Church planting teams need a full complement of spiritual gift expressions. If you are interested in planting a church and seem to have gifts that don’t lend themselves to a lead role like the one’s mentioned above, your involvement is still critical to successful church planting. Gifts of mercy, hospitality, service, exhortation, etc are powerfully used by God to reach the unchurched.

Shepherding MinistriesThe gifts of mercy, helps, administration, encouragement/exhortation, teaching, wisdom, and of course shepherding among others are often associated with a strong propensity to pastoring an established church or shepherding a community of faith. These leaders are an indispensable part of impacting God’s Kingdom.

As a shepherd you could use your spiritual gifts to lead the group or church to reach unchurched people with the gospel, multiply small groups, be involved in church planting efforts, and engage a global world through engaging unreached people groups. Shepherds can be involved in church planting ministry by being mentors to church planters and future church planters. They can host church planters as interns. They also provide support, people, core members, etc for new churches.

Cross-Cultural MinistriesInternational missions and other cross-cultural ministries often involve people with a tremendous diversity of gifts. Evangelism, faith, and even hospitality and encouragement go a long way to engage people with a completely different worldview and spiritual background. If after finishing this self-assessment this is what you’re interested in, ask about potential missions agencies and networks who you could work with.

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Tell Me More

Now that you’ve completed and self-scored the Spiritual Gifts Inventory, you will see some areas of strength. The top five scores represent your spiritual gifts.

Here is a description of each spiritual gift, described in terms of a capacity:

1. Faith – The divine capacity to act on God’s promises with confidence and a steadfast belief in God’s ability to provide (Romans 4:18-21, 1 Cor 12:9; Hebrews 11).

2. Helps – The divine capacity to meet the practical needs of others so that they, in turn, are free to pursue their own calling (Rom 12:7; 1 Cor 12:28; Acts 6:1-7).

3. Discernment – The divine capacity to distinguish truth from error, right from wrong, and pure from impure motives (1 Cor 12:10; James 3:13-18, 1 John 4:1-6).

4. Hospitality – The divine capacity to care for people by making them feel welcome, comfortable, and accepted. (Rom 12:13; 1 Peter 4:9,10).

5. Teaching – The divine capacity to clearly explain and apply God’s Word, producing spiritual growth in the lives of the hearers. (Romans 12:6-8, 2 Tim 2:2; Titus 3:1,2).

6. Encouragement/Exhortation – The divine capacity to give strength, support, comfort, and urging. (Rom 12:8; Acts 11:22-24; 1 Thessalonians 5:11).

7. Mercy – The divine capacity to detect hurt, feel compassion, and give practical help to those who are hurting or in need. (Rom 12:8; Matt 5:7; Luke 10:30-37).

8. Giving – The divine capacity to cheerfully give money and resources beyond a “tithe” to the work of the Lord. (Rom 12:8; 2 Corinthians 8:1-5).

9. Evangelism – The divine capacity to effectively communicate the gospel of Jesus so that unbelievers respond in faith to Christ. (Eph 4:11; Luke 19:10; Acts 8:26-40).

10. Leadership – The divine capacity to communicate vision, motivate, and guide people to accomplish the purposes of God. (Rom 12:8; Hebrews 13:7,17; 1 Timothy 3).

11. Shepherding – The divine capacity to guide and nurture people to grow in their faith and become more like Christ. (1 Peter 5:1-11; Acts 20:28).

12. Administration – The divine capacity to understand what makes an organization tick, and the special ability to plan and execute procedures so that ministry goals are accomplished. (1 Cor 12:28; Titus 1:5; 1 Timothy 5:4).

13. Wisdom – The divine capacity to apply spiritual truth effectively and practically so that it meets a specific need in a specific situation of people’s lives (1 Cor 12:8; James 3:13-18).

14. Knowledge – The divine capability of grasping the meaning of God’s revelation and comprehend spiritual truth as found in the Bible (1 Cor 12:8, 13:2)

How do you see these gifts being manifested currently in your ministry? How could God use them in other ministry opportunities you have been considering? Who do you sense has similar gifts and how is God using them to impact His kingdom?

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My Heart(Passion for Ministry):

What Do I Like Doing?

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My Heart (Passion for Ministry):What Do I Like Doing?

Please answer the following questions:

1. I feel most significance when I minister to the following groups of people:(Please check no more than three)

Preschoolers Children Students Women Men Homeless Married Couples People of Other Culture Singles People of Other Religions Families the Poor People in Need Professionals the Sick and Hurting

2. My heart beats fast when I think about ministering in the following ways: (Please check no more than three)

Sports International Missions Social Needs Prayer Worship Organizing Ministries Fellowship Evangelism Cross-Cultural US Missions Church Planting Bible Teaching Starting New Ministries Community Service Caring for People Hospitality Social Media Organizing Events Marketing Community Transformation Leading Small Groups Preaching Leading Ministry Teams Making Disciples Counseling People

Please answer in one sentence

I have invested in the items I checked above over the last few years by . . .

In the next 3 – 5 years, I’d love to be able to know that I have done something about . . .

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My friends would say that I am really interested in or passionate about . . .

Other than salvation, marriage, and birth of children, the top three most positive experiences I’ve had in my life were (Also think about why these were so meaningful to you):

Experience 1:

Experience 2:

Experience 3:

MY HEART

Based on these answers related to my passion, I sense my passion is for:

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What My Passions Say about Church Planting?

If you have a passion and interest in leading a new congregation that evangelizes a people group or community or sees lives radically transformed by the gospel, you should prayerfully consider church planting as a potential ministry focus. Just because you have these passions doesn’t automatically mean church planting is for you. However, church planting is the best method of reaching new population groups with the gospel.

If you like people, are interested in starting new ministries or proclaiming the gospel in an area that has minimal gospel presence such as many communities in the northeastern U S, you should consider God might be calling you to be a part of planting new churches. These areas desperately need new churches that effectively live and communicate the gospel to the unchurched.

If you have a heart to gather unchurched people into small group settings or minister to people who are unchurched, even if those are your own friends and neighbors, you should probably consider church planting as a viable ministry for you. There are many ways for such churches to begin and you might be the one God wants to use.

If you have a deep desire to see holistic community transformation through the lives of people serving others and communicating Christ’s redemption through actions as well as speech, church planting might be a ministry for you to consider. The gospel transforms, period. When lives are changed, the community itself begins to look different.

If you realize a leaning toward cross-cultural people and ministries, you might consider ministering internationally in a way that results in church planting movements among Unreached People Groups. You also might consider working among Internationals or an Unreached People Group that is located in the United States or your home country. There are many ministries focused on such opportunities. Two were listed at the bottom of the section discussing Spiritual Gifts.

How can your spiritual gifts help you minister effectively within your passions? How could God use your gifts and your passions to be involved in ministries that lead to new communities of faith?

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Relational Style

Self-Assessment

Discovering How I Relate to Others

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Relational SurveyDetermining your Temperament Profile

A number of temperament tests are available today. An excellent, free self-assessment is available through Crown Financial Ministries at: http://www.careerdirectonline.org/personalityID/.

Click on the link and save the results for future reference. If necessary, you can copy and paste the results into a word document. Please note, this assessment is to determine your instinctive behavior. Therefore, try to be transparent in your responses and not what you think is the best response. There are no right or wrong answers.

What Do My Tendencies Say about Me and Church Planting?

It is important to note that no personality is better than the others. Most people’s tendencies lean toward a combination of at least two of these. If you have strong Directing (D) or Interacting (I) tendencies with a numerical value greater than 50, you should probably explore whether or not God is calling you to plant a church as a lead planter, especially if you have both D and I that is greater than 50. People with a strong D type personality often have a compelling internal drive to accomplish a difficult yet critical mission and tend to move quickly toward that goal, a trait that is important in church planters. People who are I’s tend to be extraverts, enjoy social interaction and are individuals with whom others like to be around. They also tend to be natural motivators who easily rally people to a cause. The D and I combination is a powerful trait for a leader planter. When combined with the spiritual gifts mentioned earlier and appropriate passions to match, there is little reason why you should hesitate to plant churches.

If you have an Interacting (I) and Supporting (S) score that is greater than 50, you also should also consider that perhaps God is calling you to learn how to plant a church. As mentioned earlier, the “I” portion of your personality means you are an extraverted people person. The S characteristic means you likely highly value close personal relationships and often show tremendous amounts of care or empathy to those who are hurting. This also is a powerful combination that is seen in successful church planters because of the high relational abilities.

Other combinations can be used of God in church planting especially if the individual has a strong sense of self-awareness and builds a team that accomplishes the mission together. No temperament guarantees success or failure. The two combinations mentioned above are the two witnessed most often in lead planters in a region like upstate New York.

The Conscientious (C) personality tends to be strong in administration, organization, and details. This type of church planting leader excels at making sure strategies, processes, and logistics are sound and will actually work. However, if the lead planter has this tendency, he needs to demonstrate an ability and discipline of relating effectively to a broad range of people. The prospective planter with this temperament can also benefit from having a wife and team members with more of an I and S type temperament.

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Regardless of your personality tendencies, every church planting team needs a balance of all of these personalities. No individual can be strong in every area. However, no effective team can afford to be weak in any of these areas. Therefore, your potential role on a team is vital!

What Do My Tendencies Say about Me and Shepherding?

It is important to note that no personality is better than others.

If you have strong Directing (D) tendency with a numerical value greater than 50, this means you tend to focus on accomplishing a big task. People with a strong D type personality often have a compelling internal drive to accomplish a difficult yet critical mission and tend to move quickly toward that goal, a trait that is important in leaders. However, if the shepherd who is a strong D is not careful, he can appear to be controlling and insensitive to a community of faith.

If you have an Interacting (I) score above 50, you are likely an extrovert. People who are I’s are usually fun to be around and are liked by many people. They also often make great evangelists, as they are wired to talk to people. They have a knack for making people feel at ease relationally. Pastors who are I’s are often poor administrators, however, and so should seek the help of others to balance out this weakness. In fact, individuals who are I’s who lack self-awareness and discipline may at times appear scattered and uncaring about details.

A Supporting (S) characteristic above 50 as a potential shepherd likely means you highly value close personal relationships and often show tremendous amounts of care or empathy to those who are hurting. Individuals who are S’s tend to attract hurting people and view the church as a family that needs shepherding. They tend to be good listeners. If S pastors are not careful, they may choose relationships and people’s feelings over the need to make tough organizational or leadership decisions especially if such decisions may potentially hurt people’s feelings in the process. However, they are great at helping make sure the group walks together through changes.

The Conscientious (C) personality tends to be strong in administration, organization, and details. This type of shepherd excels at making sure logistics and details are taken care of. However, if a shepherd has this tendency, he needs to be careful to demonstrate an ability and discipline of relating effectively to a broad range of people and not treat the community of faith simply as a machine to be run efficiently. C-type shepherds need to value and engage people personally more than simply the tasks or details at hand.

Various combinations of these are VERY common. Such combinations tend to accentuate strengths and give balance to a person overall. A note about a couple of the combinations . . .

A person who is above 50 as a D and as a C with a low I and S is a very task oriented person. They tend to create things and move forward with detail and intention. They are especially low on the relational side and may struggle to connect well with individuals who are I and S. I and S people are highly relational and may not understand or connect well with logistics and details. Whereas D/C leaders chose task over person, the I/S leader chooses person over task. Leaders with these two combinations tend to be extreme in either task or relationships and need to build in the proper systems and team support to ensure success in their ministries.

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A very common combination is S/C. These people are loyal and detailed. They tend not to be gregarious and are quieter. They are wonderful servants and tend to work well with most people and with high structure. They may wrestle with being up front until they gain more experience.

SELF-ASSESSMENT SUMMARY

What do the composite results of your spiritual gifts, passions, and personality say about how God might use you? Take a step back from all of the information. Take an honest look at what you sense God is saying to you through His Word, your counselors, prayer, and circumstances. Keep in mind that ministry is NOT simply a function of the three areas surveyed above. God is the Lord of the Harvest and of your life. God leads us to serve out of our weaknesses as well as our strengths. Even so, what do these results say about the ministry opportunities you’ve been considering? What are your next steps based on this assessment?

We’re here to help!

There are many options for you in ministry whether helping start a church, pastoring or being on a pastoral team of an existing church, international missions, etc. If at least one or two of these three assessment areas (Spiritual Gifts, Passions, and Personality) point to church planting as a possibility in what God might have in your future, we’d love to help you learn more and explore what church planting might mean for you.

For more information, contact Sean Pierce, sean@northeastchurchplanting.com

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