Type A/Extrovert only for church planting?

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thistle93

thistle93

Puritan Board Freshman
Hi! It seems most church planters I see tend to be Type A/extroverts. Also many of the books I read on church planting seems to give the impression that these are the types that are successful church planters. I can defiantly see how this personality would have advantages when planting a church but also think it seems a bit pragmatic and focuses to much on the individual rather then the true source of growing the church, which is the Sovereign Holy Spirit.
I have pastored a church before and have thought about planting a church but I tend to be more of a type B/introverted. Have you seen examples of more type b/extroverts planting churches and them being sustainable or should we leave church planting to the type a/extroverts. The latter does not seem to follow the Biblical pattern. Thanks!

For His Glory-
Matthew
 
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For those unfamilar, could you explain the differences between type A and type B, please?
 
thistle93 said:
Hi! It seems most church planters I see tend to be Type A/extroverts. Also many of the books I read on church planting seems to give the impression that these are the types that are successful church planters. I can defiantly see how this personality would have advantages when planting a church but also think it seems a bit pragmatic and focuses to much on the individual rather then the true source of growing the church, which is the Sovereign Holy Spirit.
I have pastored a church before and have thought about planting a church but I tend to be more of a type B/extrovert. Have you seen examples of more type b/extroverts planting churches and them being sustainable or should we leave church planting to the type a/extroverts. The latter does not seem to follow the Biblical pattern. Thanks!

For His Glory-
Matthew
Click to expand...

According to recent research, our culture is unduly infatuated with extroversion. That is probably the reason you see more literature with a bias toward extroversion than introversion, not because one personality type is more suitable to the task than another.

I am a clinically diagnosed introvert and am in my ninth year of what is basically a church plant. However, I will say that it would be nice to have a more extroverted partner to work with. You need to have help in planting churches and that help should complement each other for the best chance of success.
 
Type A is usually a workholic/go-getter, interacts with crowds and seeks instant results. Type B is usually more laid back, personable with individuals and patient. I am sure both have their advantages and disadvantages with church planting.
 
KMK said:
According to recent research, our culture is unduly infatuated with extroversion.
Click to expand...

The author below would agree with you, and so would I. Here she is discussing the matter in a Ted Talk.

[video=youtube;c0KYU2j0TM4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KYU2j0TM4[/video]
 
Tim said:
KMK said:
According to recent research, our culture is unduly infatuated with extroversion.
Click to expand...

The author below would agree with you, and so would I. Here she is discussing the matter in a Ted Talk.

[video=youtube;c0KYU2j0TM4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KYU2j0TM4[/video]
Click to expand...

I just finished her book, Quiet
 
thistle93 said:
Hi! It seems most church planters I see tend to be Type A/extroverts. Also many of the books I read on church planting seems to give the impression that these are the types that are successful church planters. I can defiantly see how this personality would have advantages when planting a church but also think it seems a bit pragmatic and focuses to much on the individual rather then the true source of growing the church, which is the Sovereign Holy Spirit.
I have pastored a church before and have thought about planting a church but I tend to be more of a type B/introverted. Have you seen examples of more type b/extroverts planting churches and them being sustainable or should we leave church planting to the type a/extroverts. The latter does not seem to follow the Biblical pattern. Thanks!

For His Glory-
Matthew
Click to expand...

I am in the process of transitioning from my third church plant and am about to begin a fourth church plant, when we move to Philadelphia next year. No one has ever accused me of being an extrovert (though I think the categories are more complex than people sometimes think - I would prefer to say that extroverts are energized by being with people, while introverts are energized by time alone. So you can have introverts who are comfortable in the company of people; they just need to have that time balanced with time alone).

What I have found in my experience is that the model of church planting has to match your gifts. I knew a church planter in San Diego who was very much a "people person": within a month of moving there he had evangelistic Bible studies with many of his neighbors and business contacts (dentist, real estate agent etc). For him, it made sense not to move too quickly to having a worship service so that he had plenty of time initially for outreach. That approach wouldn't work for me: I am better in a teaching/preaching context, so church planting for me aims to move very quickly to that kind of context. I think people with different gifts can successfully plant churches (and I found that the PCA church planting assessment process recognized that); but you need to be comfortable with the gifts God has given you and not try to be someone else.
 
Funny. My Bible doesn't seem to contain a standardized personality test. It just says, "Go and do in the name and power of the Lord." We moderns really do tend to over think things.
 
I think that Vic and Iain make very good points: it's more complex than "you are one type or the other."

Further, note that this way of looking at things ("one is either an extrovert or an introvert") rather oddly divides us all up into two extremes. Why must everyone be one or the oher of these two? Are not many, if not most, a mixture? Both have desirable and undesirable characteristics associated with them. Are we these things plainly and simply or can we endeavor to do better? Can not the one with extroverted tendencies cultivate the desirable properties of those with introverted tendencies, and vice-versa?

I don't believe that there's nothing to personality types or temperaments. But they are not destiny in the way that many seem to think they are. Now to the question at hand: can a man be a successful church planter without being an extrovert? Yes. Can he be a successful church planter without endeavoring to be outreaching and friendly? I don't think so and I don't think that he should expect to be.

A man need not be a "used-car salesman" or a "Broadway singer" to be a church planter. But a man may not be one who cannot talk to strangers or be friendly to others. I would argue, in fact, that the "church planter as Type A" is a bit shopworn and does not necessarily reflect the current realities. In many urban settings, for instance, a more low-key approach (and a less "glad-handing" one) tends to be more attractive to a post-modern crowd afflicted with ennui and tired of being "sold something." While I think that Type A works better with baby boomers, this is not to say that it does with all those of later generations, particularly the young and twenty-somethings of today.

All this is to say, that we need all types, but whatever type we may be that needs to be moderated by both humility and friendliness. Ultimately, we are new men and women in Christ, which means that we are to be (and in Him are free to be) our best selves, not simply our old selves, our sinful selves. Some of this personality business can be tied up with our old selves and some of it is just who we are in our humanity. We have to die to the former and be our best selves in the Lord Jesus. A church planter, then, should be his best self in Christ: what more could anyone ask for?

Peace,
Alan
 
I like how some college ministry planters act as teams, a church oriented minister and a outreach oriented minister. Ideally both personality types working together or welcome somehow.
 
I feel like our culture and even the churches infatuation with personality types is almost like astrology with science spin. Instead of asking are you an Aquarius you get asked are you a extrovert. This is somehow supposed to open you up like a book and reveal everything you are to them for analysis.
 
I want to highlight an insight in a prior post. What psychological instruments label as "extrovert" denotes, among other things, someone who is energized by being WITH people. Too many pastors feel that their "ministry" should take place in front of a computer screen. If you are starting from scratch and do not even have a core nucleus to work with, you need to be cultivating relationships with living people, not Facebook friends. And, if your personality finds people energy-depleting, you will not likely devote enough time to the task for the church to be firmly planted and flourish.

An introvert can be a VERY effective pastor, teacher, and preacher. And, with discipline, might be a very effective church planter. The obstacle to be overcome is that many people so typed will find the relationship work exhausting and want to have more "time alone." A person who hides from people in books and the internet will not be an effective church planter regardless of personality "type."
 
I also notice some groups seem to have more of one type than another..... Campus Crusade seems heavier with extroverts.... Navagators heavy with introverts... not necessarily good or bad just different with different strengths and weaknesses.
 
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