If the Whole Body Were an Eye, Where Would be the Hearing?
© 1996
Bobbie L. Celeste, Ph.D
The Midwest Ministry Development Service
1840 Westchester Boulevard, Suite 204
Westchester, IL 60154-4334
As Paul points out in I Corinthians, the body is not one member but many and each member has a different role and function. When individuals sense a call to ministry, they often assume that that call leads them to preach and serve as ordained clergy. Discerning the validity of that call takes a number of forms. In most religious traditions, the individual is expected not only to sense a calling from God, but also to be called out by the community of faith. The career centers become part of the discernment process as they advise and counsel aspiring ministers and denominations about perceived gifts of these individuals. Career centers are also called upon to assist and evaluate practicing ministers who are seeking vocational assistance mid-career. This article looks at how personality and interests can be a reflection of one’s gifts and a clue about appropriate vocational direction.
Imagine this scene. You have just arrived at a party. You scan the room and see that there are distinct clusters of people, each gathered in a different part of the house. Several guests are admiring a large oil painting over the fire place. The artist who painted the work is describing the creative process. In the kitchen a lively conversation centers around teaching methods which encourage cooperative rather than competitive learning. Several in the group appear to be teachers. Another group is watching Wall Street Week in Review and talking about how the business climate is affecting the local political scene. On the patio several people are looking at the stars and talking about the recent advances in the Hubbell telescope. In the garage, a group are hovering over a new lawn tractor purchased by the host and hostess. They seem to be discussing its horsepower and repair record. The last group is discussing a new accounting method that has recently been instituted in their office and the advantages of a particular computer program which can be used with it.
Now that you have observed the party-goers, which group would you join? Which group would you be least likely to join?
Take another situation: You have an afternoon to do whatever you like. Which of the following would you enjoy: (1) working on your car; (2) reading the latest research journal in an area of interest; (3) going to a concert; (4) writing letters to friends; (5) making phone calls in support of a favorite civic group; or (6) organizing your home office and balancing your check book?
Person-Environment Fit
These choices are typical of ones we all face as we choose careers and hobbies. The categories which are described above are part of the theoretical model of vocational psychology as developed by John Holland. His theory assumes that there are individual differences in personality and interests which can be matched with compatible environments. This is the person-environment fit approach which has stood the test of time in vocational psychology and is a helpful framework for working with clergy and candidates for ministry as they explore their vocational fit within ministry. According to the theory, congruence between one’s personality and the vocational environment leads to greater satisfaction and comfort. Incongruent choices lead to dissatisfaction and discomfort. This appears to be the case. Research indicates there is a positive relationship between congruence and job satisfaction.
In the process of developing leadership for ministry, however, we are concerned not only about the individual’s job satisfaction, but also about job effectiveness. Unlike the congruence-satisfaction relationship, correlation between congruence and achievement has not been empirically demonstrated. Clearly people can be competent in an area even when they are not particularly interested in the work. In such cases one’s basic intellectual abilities or hard work can make up for lack of congruent fit. On the other hand, persons can be extremely interested in an area and, if they lack requisite skills or personality traits, can be fairly incompetent. The ideal situation then is to be involved in work which fits your basic personality and interest pattern and possess the requisite skills required to handle the work effectively. With that combination, the minister is likely to be both satisfied and effective.
The Strong Interest Inventory as a Measure of Vocational Congruence
The Strong Interest Inventory is a well-researched instrument used in measuring adults’ vocational interests and has been one of the tools used by the career centers throughout the country who work with clergy and seminary students. It has been found to be effective with various cultural and ethnic groups.
In addition to the occupational scale of ministry, it includes an interest scale measuring religious activities as well as other activities related to the work of ministry, e.g., public speaking, writing, and teaching. Recently the Strong went through a revision, bringing it more in line with current demographic realities in the United States. The new Strong also includes a learning styles scale which contrasts the hands-on learner with the theoretically, scholarly student. Another new scale indicates an individual’s preference of leadership style on a continuum from directive to passive.
When clergy and seminary students score in a manner which is similar to other ministers on the Strong, it indicates that they have similar likes and dislikes to those who find ministry satisfying. It obviously is no guarantee that the person will be competent in ministry, but it is an indicator that they will find ministry a reasonable person-environment fit. What about those who do not seem compatible with others in ministry? Several possibilities exist. One possibility is that the person will do ministry in a very unique way or find a unique role for themselves in ministry. For example, anecdotal information leads to an impression that those who serve in a non-traditional ministry, such as working a three-point charge in Appalachia, do not have interests similar to the average minister. Another possibility is that the person will be somewhat mismatched in ministry and find the tasks and rewards which are inherent in the position not to their liking.
Incongruence is Related to Depression and Worry
This latter possibility led to a research project done at Midwest which looked at ministers who were incongruent with other ministers as indicated by their scores on the Strong occupational scale of ministry. We wondered what the psychological profile of these incongruent ministers would be compared with ministers who were congruent. Our research indicated that those who were incongruent tended to be less psychologically "comfortable" as shown on their psychological testing than were the congruent ministers. In particular, on the sample of 1,276 male Protestant clergy, the incongruent ministers group had somewhat higher scores on depression, worry and introversion. A second study of women clergy found similar results. This research does not tell us which is cause and which is effect in this relationship. It is possible that clergy who are more depressed, withdrawn and worrisome do not answer the Strong Interest Inventory in a manner similar to the more upbeat, outgoing minister profile. It is my hypothesis, however, that those who enter ministry without the requisite vocational fit find themselves somewhat square pegs in round holes and their feelings of depression and worry increase as they serve positions which are not very compatible for them. Other research in this general area of congruence and psychological adjustment is consistent with this latter hypothesis. People who work in congruent environments have fewer signs of psychopathology than those in incongruent ones.
Congruence Found in Effective Ministers
In a recent study which looked directly at effective ministers, Robert Urie studied twenty-five Presbyterian ministers in the South who were considered by their colleagues to be effective in their work. Findings for this group, which included twenty-one men and four women, indicate that ministry was a vocational match for these ministers. They were all highly attracted to the Artistic and Social themes on the Strong Interest Inventory and the minister scale was a high, if not the highest occupational interest or best "match" of all 325 occupations considered. The author found these effective ministers were genuinely creative in their use of language and worship as well as being creative in their handling of committee work, conflict, writing and teaching. These individuals were strongly oriented towards religious activities as measured by the Strong Interest Inventory, and they enjoyed working with people and helping others even in servant roles. These effective ministers, rather than becoming burned out or less enamored of the role and vocation of parish minister, sustained significant interest in the role over the course of time.
Everyone would certainly agree that no one is looking for ministers to be cookie-cutter cutouts of one another or to be of one personality "type." However, the minister who does not enjoy the likes and dislikes of others in ministry and for whom the typical tasks and responsibilities of the work of ministry are not particularly attractive or appealing will surely experience distress as he or she attempts to fit into an incompatible profession. For this reason, the Strong Interest Inventory continues to be a helpful tool as persons assess their interests for ministry, before, during and following seminary.
Conclusion
Recruiting and retaining effective ministers is of significant interest to all who work with leadership development in the church. A good vocational match with ministry is a complex issues involving more than vocational interests. In the Urie study, compatible vocational interests accounted for four out of the fifteen characteristics found in the effective ministers group. Vocational inventories such as the Strong Interest Inventory used by the career centers are important tools which, along with other assessment procedures, can help guide others on how they might best use their gifts.
KEY: If you answered the questions above, here are the Holland Vocational Themes which you chose. To learn more, check out "Making Vocational Choices" by John L. Holland or call Midwest Ministry Center. If you are in ministry or other helping professions, you are likely to be most attracted to the Social and/or Artistic themes. Most people have one or two dominant themes, but others find that they have three or four.
The Party: 1) The Painting Group = Artistic; 2) The Teaching Group = Social; 3) The Business Climate Group = Enterprising; 4)The Telescope Group = Investigative; 5) The Lawn Tractor Group = Realistic; 6) The Accounting Method Group = Conventional.
Free Time: 1) = Realistic; 2) = Investigative; 3) = Artistic; 4) = Social; 5) = Enterprising; 6) = Conventional.
Bobbie L. Celeste, Ph.D. has been a career counselor with Midwest at our Columbus office since 1981. Bobbie recently completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Ohio State University and will now be working as one of our staff psychologists.