In October 2003 I graduated from being an exploring candidate to a declared candidate for ministry. One of the items I came across was a letter written to my PPRC (our church hasn't promoted the SPRC thing too much) seeking a recommendation from them to continue in the candidacy process. With that letter was an Inventory of Religious Activities and Interests form. This was from a test, which I took (2) weeks after the letter (funny how things roll along), that measured my (a candidate's) interests in various ministerial roles--as the title might suggest. Here is how I scored:
Very High interests in these 2 areas: Evangelist and Spiritual Guide
Moderately High interests in these 4 areas: Administrator, Teacher, Preacher, Priest
Average interests in these 2 areas:counselor, scholar
Moderately Low interests in this 1 area: reformer
Very Low interests in this 1 area: Musician
The music thing, as I recall, did trouble me at first. I've always wanted to play music, but the description is for someone "directing a local church music program." So, no thank you to that!
As I look at where I am right now, those categories, for good or for bad, are still pretty accurate. I was surprised at the administrator role. I can fake good administration (if you didn't know that, then viola! it worked). But I've always considered myself more of a teacher than a lot of things. Prior to receiving the call to ministry, my mind was set towards a career in teaching. I love it!
In Mission I was a substitute teacher for (2) years. What I hated about that job was the busy work teachers would leave. Most times I would venture into whatever topics the class had been covering and listen to what the students had learned so far. It was easy to determine what a teacher wanted students to learn and how they wanted to teach it, so I could build off cues and offer my own input (where appropriate and needed). Of course, knowing other subs, and having so many in school myself, I wouldn't blame teachers for not wanting a sub to do what I would. Imagine spending days and weeks teaching students something and bam! one day some goober (i said it) throws that out the window.
Anyways, if you haven't already, try the Spiritual Gift survey from the UMC. Since I've never taken it I couldn't tell you exactly how it is formatted or anything. Give it a try and let me know what you think. If you already have, click on comments below and give us some info. Do these inquiries provide useful information for you?
Stay blessed...john
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