Personality Type In Congregations [Paperback]

Lynne M. Baab (Author), Lynne N. Baab (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 155 pages
• Publisher: Alban Inst (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566991994
• ISBN-13: 978-1566991995
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm so excited about my 2011 book, Friending: Real Relationships in a Virtual World, because it reflects many of the lessons from all my childhood moves and it draws on interviews with dozens of people about what friendship looks like today, with Facebook and so many other new ways to communicate. In the videos on this page, I talk about what I learned from writing Friending. I invite you to visit my website, www.lynnebaab.com, to learn more about my books and to read articles I've written on some of the same topics as the books.

I lived more than half my childhood overseas, which gave me an international perspective that has borne fruit late in life with our 2007 move to New Zealand. I've been thinking about friendship all my life, and moving so far away made me even more convinced that I wanted to write a book on friendship.

I currently teach pastoral theology at a university in Dunedin. I am still deeply engaged with the topics I've written about it my books. I keep a sabbath every week and I still see fasting as a significant way to disengage with the consumer culture. I love and practice a variety of spiritual disciplines which are meaningful to me and have shaped my spiritual life. I still enjoy thinking about and talking about personality type and issues of midlife, and I continue to speak and teach about preventing burnout among Christian leaders.

I am so grateful for the privilege of being a writer. If you have read my books, thank you. If you choose to purchase one of my books for the first time, I hope and pray that it will encourage you to live a richer and fuller life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars May be confusing at first, but stay with it!, July 31, 2000

By 

spidir (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Personality Type In Congregations (Paperback)

Over the years I've discovered that books about Myers-Briggs type theory tend to get very confusing very quickly, and this one was no exception. By the end of the first chapter, terms like "function pairs," "temperament types," and "tertiary functions" lay in a garbled heap in my head. But I forged on to the following chapters and found much of value. Unlike many writers about typology, Baab suggested ways of using type information to develop and enhance our less dominant functions. She gave specific, credible examples to back up her assertion that it is unwise to make generalizations about people on the basis of type. And she included the best review of the relevant literature and annotated bibliography about this topic that I have ever seen.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for pastors and congregations, December 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Personality Type In Congregations (Paperback)

For those with at least a beginning understanding of the Myers-Briggs personality types, this book will offer lots of practical help. Baab includes sections on prayer and Bible study, placing volunteers, Christian education, the sometimes tricky area of committe meetings, and worship. As an instructor in a Bible Institute, I have been able to reach more students by using her suggestions.

I particularly appreciated that Baab sees the limits as well as the value of personality type. She avoids the error of forcing people into the box of their personality type. Her last chapter gives wise advice to those who are recently introducted to type. She gives enough examples so that I was always able to follow her thoughts, although I am not trained in type.

I would like to give a more complete review, but I don't have the book in front of me. I lent it to my pastor!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful application of personality type to church life, November 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Personality Type In Congregations (Paperback)

Anyone who is involved in local church ministry and has at least basic familiarity with the Myers-Briggs personality types will find this book a wonderful help.

Ms. Baab includes personal spirituality, worship, Christian education, congregational business meetings, and the best utilization of volunteers in her discussion of type in the congregation. She offers an excellent balance of theoretical discussion and examples that always allowed me to understand where she was going.

Baab writes as an "old hand" rather than as a new convert to the use of type, and her experience shows. Her last chapter gives solid advice to those who might move too fast in implementing type. She also recognizes that type is only a partial description of a person. Family experiences, spiritual maturity, and simply the sovereignty of God all affect how a person will best grow in his or her relationship with God and in service to the church.

I teach in a Bible Institute, and have found the book useful in advising students in their spiritual lives, as well as in teaching in a way that reaches students who are not of my type. I would be able to give a more detailed review, but I lent the book to my pastor, so don't have it in front of me!