Running head: NEW DIRECTIONS IN CLERGY PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING 1
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New directions in clergy psychological profiling: Connections with church growth?
Leslie J Francis*
University of Warwick, UK
Author note:
*Corresponding author:
Leslie J Francis
Warwick Religions & Education Research Unit
Centre for Education Studies
The University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)24 7652 2539
Fax: +44 (0)24 7657 2638
Email: leslie.francis@warwick.ac.uk
NEW DIRECTIONS IN CLERGY PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING 2
Abstract
The Church Growth Research Programme reported a significant link between the
psychological type profile of the senior cleric and patterns of church growth and decline. The
present paper examines the implications of this finding from the perspectives of personality
psychology, Christian theology, and church practice.
Keywords: psychology of religion, theology of individual difference, church growth,
psychological type, clergy studies.
NEW DIRECTIONS IN CLERGY PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING 3
Introduction
The 2015 meeting of the Church of England’s now annual conference on Faith in
Research invited comments on the under-reported finding from the church-sponsored Church
Growth Research Programme that the psychological type profile of the senior cleric offered a
significant predictor of numerical growth in Anglican churches. The finding was reported by
David Voas and Laura Watt in their report on Numerical change in church attendance:
National, local and individual factors
1
. They wrote that ‘there are strong associations
between growth and personality type, but none between growth and attendance on leadership
courses’ (p. 50). A similar point was made on p. 31.
There are two particularly surprising features about this finding. The first feature is
that David Voas’ work is generally located within the sociology of religion and sociologists
of religion are not noted for employing or promoting psychological theories. The second
feature is that this particular finding, although voiced twice in Voas’ report, did not make its
way into the public summary of key findings from the Church Growth Research Programme
published as From anecdote to evidence
2
.
There may be good reasons for this finding being overlooked. Psychological type
theory comprises a field of study that has been challenged both by theologians and by
psychologists. The aim of the present study is to clarify the claims of psychological type
theory, to examine the theological rationale for taking psychological type theory seriously
within a church-related context, to examine the strength of the case for psychological type
theory alongside other models of personality, to review the wider research evidence linking
the psychological type profile of church leaders with church growth, and to explore the
implications of the findings for church leadership.
Clarifying psychological type theory
NEW DIRECTIONS IN CLERGY PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING 4
Psychological type theory offers a model of personality (a psychology of individual
difference) that is grounded in a theory of human psychological functioning. The theory is
rooted in the observations of Carl Jung
3
and expanded and clarified by a series of
psychological assessment tools, including the Myers Briggs Type Indicator
4
, the Keirsey
Temperament Sorter
5
and the Francis Psychological Type Scales
6
. The theory differentiates
between two core psychological processes, the perceiving process concerned with gathering
information (called the irrational process because there is no evaluation involved) and the
judging process concerned with evaluating information (called the rational process). The
theory maintains that each process is expressed through two contrasting functions. Perceiving
in expressed through sensing (a concern for facts) and through intuition (a concern for ideas).
Judging is expressed through thinking (evaluation on the basis of objective logical analysis)
and feeling (evaluation on the basis of subjective personal and interpersonal values). While
all four functions are required for optimal human functioning, individuals tend to prefer (and
hence develop) one of the two perceiving functions and one of the two judging functions over
the other.
In addition to the two core processes, the theory also proposes the idea of orientation
and attitude. Orientation is concerned with the source of psychological energy and
distinguishes between introverts who draw their energy from the inner world and extraverts
who draw their energy from the outer world. Attitude is concerned with the approach taken to
the outer world and distinguishes between judging types who employ thinking or feeling in
the outer world to create an organised approach to life, and perceiving types who employ
sensing or intuition in the outer world to create a flexible approach to life.
Psychological type profiling enables individuals to voice their preferences between
introversion (I) and extraversion (E), between sensing (S) and intuition (N), between thinking
(T) and feeling (F), and between judging (J) and perceiving (P). The present author, for
NEW DIRECTIONS IN CLERGY PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING 5
example, reports as INTJ. Psychological type theory seems, therefore, to offer a coherent and
interesting account of mental functioning.
Engaging with theology
The major objections raised by theologians against psychological type theory go like
this. The classification of individuals within discrete psychological types underestimates the
infinite variety of human individuality and undervalues the power of God to recreate and to
transform individuals. The grounds underpinning the first of these objections can be
challenged by the principles informing the approach of empirical theology. The grounds
underpinning the second of these objections can be challenged by the principles informing
the approach of the theology of individual difference.
Empirical theology has its recent roots in the work of Hans van der Ven in Nijmegen
7
,
Hans-Georg Ziebertz in Wurzburg
8
, and my work in Warwick
9
, but its more ancient roots are
in the work of Jesus of Nazareth. When his listeners asked Jesus to teach them about the
Reign of God, invariably Jesus invited them to go and to observe the natural world. They
became empirical theologians by engaging with the natural sciences as exemplified by
studying the growth of seeds, or the activity of yeast. They became empirical theologians by
engaging with the social sciences as exemplified by studying the behaviour of guests at the
wedding feast or observing the behaviour of maidens awaiting the bridegroom. The point is
that there are patterns in the world that God creates, both the natural world and the human
world, and patterns are to be expected in the Reign of God within the natural world and
among God’s people. Psychological type theory emerges precisely from such disciplined
observation.
The theology of individual differences has its roots in my work with Andrew
Village
10
as we take seriously the insights into what it means to be human afforded by the
network of classic Christian doctrines. The theology of individual differences is rooted in a