The Rev. George Yandell, Rector
November 18, 2020
The first time I took the Myers/Briggs temperament sorter was in 1976 just before seminary. The results said I was an ENTP (extraverted/intuitive/ thinking/ borderline perceptive/judging type). When I met again with the psychiatrist after graduating seminary in May 1979, I took it again (as required by the diocese of Tennessee- I guess to see if seminary had infected me with some aberrations). I scored as an ENFJ.
The next time I took it in 1983 I scored less extraverted, more intuitive, and had moved toward being more strongly a feeling type and a J (judging type- we like closure). ENFJ. The test administrator suggested that when I took it the first time, I had not yet been ordained. In 1983, the test guru said the changes reflected my having been a priest for 3 years. Don’t know about that. But I do know I developed a pretty strong urge to finish each project I initiate before I move on to the next project (or it is initiated for me). So when I took it last in the mid 2000’s, I tested less extraverted, more strongly intuitive, more feeling and more a J.
Being a “J” is not an easy trait for a priest, or at least this priest. There are many concurrent needs and programs each needing attention. Often there is no way to gain closure. (I have a deep-seated fear of getting behind.) So I try to initiate projects that have clearly defined beginnings, middles and ends.
When I was trained in the mid-1980’s as a community organizer with the Industrial Areas Foundation, the deliberate processes for organizing groups for essential actions clicked for me. The steps are these:
- have one-on-one meetings with people you want to get to know- learn from them what animates them, what makes them tick, what they’re passionate about
- invite people with common interests/ passions to participate in small group meetings
- ask people of particularly strong interests and passions to help with or lead more group meetings
- in the meetings, ask, “What are the most important things we should be doing in the parish/community/region?”
- take verbatim notes in each meeting
- after a number of small group meetings, pool the results, weight each response by the number of times it’s mentioned, publish the results for everyone who participated
- develop action plans based on the most important items raised
- divide into teams to work with others of passion in the parish/community to accomplish the actions, conferring with community leaders to get them to act for the community,
- confronting them in public if necessary
- meet after all the teams have completed (or modified) their action plans and evaluate successes, failures, and contemplate future actions
- report the results to all in the parish/community.
- Start the process again when the community seems ready to move forward.
Close reading of the gospels suggests to me that Jesus was innately gifted as an organizer. (You can try this at home, comparing his actions and teachings with the steps above.) He might have learned some of it from John the Baptist, at least the confrontational parts.
Over the past 10 years at Holy Family, you can see how this process has worked for us. Small group input sessions’ responses have sculpted our successive Long Range Plans and Mutual Ministry Review (MMR) initiatives. In the new year, we might profit from engaging in small group sessions again. And from doing the MMR in the spring. We will have accomplished (or need to modify) these parts of the Long Range Plan
- Develop a plan for the whole campus
- Become better stewards of physical facilities by creating ongoing plans for regular and long-term maintenace
- Maintain a viable and up-to-date website, make it transactional, i.e. 2-way communication.
- Become aware of and strive to meet the needs of aging parishioners.
- Promote and support use of campus for retreats
- Eliminate the mortgage before refinancing is due @ 2023.
Even in the covid era, we can celebrate what we’ve accomplished by deliberate work on the components of the long range plan and adjusting/improving our ministries through the MMR.
I’d love to engage with anyone who’d like to talk about your Myers Briggs type (or how your personality guides you in work and play). G. Yandell