Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/introverts-in-the-church-the-review

Comment #2547

2012-03-14T11:16:21Z

Good, I think. The author set up a meeting with him at Saddleback Church and they attend a worship service where McHugh points out that there is no time or space for contemplation (in the service). Here's a quote (p69):

"It's brave of McHugh, whose spiritual and professional calling depends on his connection to God, to confess his self-doubt. He does so because he wants to spare others the inner conflict he has struggled with, and because he loves evangelicalism and wants it to grow by learning from the introverts in its midst."

Comment #2546

2012-03-14T01:20:14Z

For good, bad, or indifferent?

Comment #2545

2012-03-14T01:12:25Z

FYI, I just came across McHugh in the book, "Quiet".

Comment #2544

2011-08-24T01:37:57Z

Great post. Thank you.

Comment #2543

2011-08-24T00:44:03Z

I suspect that if he could have, Andrew would have led BCF in the direction of many of the ideas I mentioned. Just a guess.

But Father Tom is also an introvert pastor, and I'd say most of them are not his cup of tea at all.

Comment #2542

2011-08-23T23:21:55Z

Ah. I did not mean necessarily that BCF is an introvert-friendly church. I meant that it is made up of a very large percentage of introverts. I suspect many would like to read this book to understand things better. I think a lot of the order of service at BCF is based on the leaders' idea/experience of traditional.

By the way, Andrew was definitely an introvert pastor. He had his prayer shed in the back yard for his personal time. (And he still is an introvert, just not a pastor.)

Comment #2541

2011-08-22T14:18:14Z

God save us from those who want to save us from ourselves! :)

It's interesting that you describe BCF as an introverted church. I know you've mentioned that there are many introverts (read, nearly everyone), but my experience there does not fit with the way McHugh describes an introvert-friendly church. Without the book at hand, here are a few things I can remember. (And bear in mind, he does not recommend all of these at once, nor exclusively. To be healthy, a church must be balanced, serving—and stretching—all personality types.)

* Traditional liturgy

* Deep preaching with open-ended questions, encouraging response and discussion, particularly in written form (e-mail, websites)

* Spaces of silence during worship. Personally, when it comes to confession of sin, for example, a few seconds doesn't begin to cover it for me. And for the most part, "silence" means just that. Putative silence that is constantly interrupted by vocal "leading" misses the point. I'm of two minds when it comes to music, though. I'd rather have none, but it's true that soft music masks the traffic noise outside, the tapping of a neighbor's fingers on the pew, the nose-blowing, and the babies' noises. On the other hand, we should be developing the ability to block out distractions during meditation, and masking them may hinder that. And the music itself, especially if it has words associated with it, is as likely to be distracting as not. (That was my own comment; I don't recall the book addressing the issue of music during "silence.")

* Taize-style, contemplative music

* Traditional hymns with theological depth

* Contemplative and other ancient forms of prayer

* Attention to non-verbal forms of worship and the importance of symbolism, art, architecture, and movement.

Those are a few that come to mind. It's true that BCF is more introvert-friendly than many churches, and there are many things I enjoyed about my experiences there. But—at least from my very limited, outsider's point of view—I'd attribute a good deal of the "unfriendliness" to a heavy-handed, top-down authority structure. Who are "they" to tell you not to organize a get-together that involves church members? No more than it was right for another church of your acquaintance to forbid a member to have a Bible study at her house.

Comment #2540

2011-08-21T14:29:26Z

This is giving me insights into our BCF. I think it's a classic case of overreacting to something and going to the other extreme. BCF was (is?) and introverted church, and many of the policies were anti-extrovert. Not expressly, but in effect. They purposely tried to not over-schedule, but ended up under-scheduling. Some things that we felt were controlling were really their efforts to save us from the trouble that extrovert churches press on people. For example, when a group of people (at least 15) met to brainstorm extra activities that we could do together (not "official" but for whomever wanted to come) one of the elders ended up squashing the whole idea with one comment. Jon said at the time that he was sure the man hadn't intended to squash it - but that's how it happened, and we were quite frustrated by it.

Very interesting comment on worship styles.

Comment #2539

2011-08-20T23:41:15Z

As I recall, he does have some ideas along the lines you mention. He also insists there are times when we just have to suck it up (not his words) and work outside of our comfort zones. In order to do that well, however, we need to be sure to schedule plenty of time in our lives for recovery, processing, and just being alone. He has plenty of suggestions as to how to do that for introvert pastors, almost none of which I find particularly helpful for introvert mothers. :( He does have a website, www.introvertedchurch.com, which might have more ideas.

Comment #2538

2011-08-20T19:42:49Z

I find this quite interesting. It doesn't quite make me cry, but I identify with a number of points. Does he address how an introvert can best deal with situations where small talk is the norm? How is an introvert supposed to introduce himself? Does he have tips on guiding the conversation away from ourselves and toward something more comfortable/interesting? Does he have any recommendations for how to learn how to listen?