The Enneagram Goes to Church

If I had known the Enneagram earlier in my ministry, I would have been a much better pastor. When this thought came to Todd Wilson, he had already served as a pastor in several churches for the better part of fifteen years and was successfully leading a large, historic, and diverse congregation. He'd started out in ministry with a strong education in everything from biblical exegesis and homiletics to organizational development and Christian education. However, at its root, pastoral ministry is about shepherding, serving, leading, and loving people, and Todd realized that what he lacked was wisdom about how people work. He says, 'When it came to empathetically shepherding people and sensitively engaging their manifold personalities and diverse ways of seeing the world, I was an amateur.' Whether you are on a church staff or leading a small group, you will find that the insights from the Enneagram that have helped many grow in self-awareness can be applied to life in our faith communities. The Enneagram can help us to become better teachers. It can influence how we develop worship and Christian education. And it can guide us in building and leading teams. It's time to take the Enneagram to church-and to allow it to shape our life together.

Todd Wilson is the president and cofounder of the Center for Pastor Theologians and the former senior pastor of Calvary Memorial Church. He holds a PhD from University of Cambridge and is the author of Mere Sexuality and Real Christian, as well as coauthor of The Pastor Theologian. He and his family live in Oak Park, Illinois.