Roy Oswald and Otto Kroeger of the Alban Institute collected data about Myers-Briggs personality types for more than 1,300 clergy. The selection of clergy was not random, so may not be representative of the entire clergy population, but information is still interesting.
Of the 16 Myers-Briggs types, these three were the most frequent. Continue reading “Top 3 personality types for clergy”
About half of clergy in North America are NF on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Between 50 and 70 percent of the typical congregation are SJ. (These numbers come from this book, as does what follows.)
This creates some areas of potential friction.
SJ – Respect tradition
NF – Find journey more important
SJ – What practical help for Christian living
NF – Lives for inspiration and wants to inspire others
SJ – Wants clergy in authority role
NF – Would like to be fellow pilgrim
SJ – Oriented to past
NF – Oriented to future
Reading these contrasts brings to mind complaints I hear from clergy about the laity. Some sense of the challenge here might come from the name of the two temperaments – the Idealist (NF) vs. the Guardian (SJ).
I wonder how an NF pastor (which I am) can better speak to and work with the guardians in the congregation so that God’s work and will be done.
John Meunier 