SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Welcome to the St. Anne's Gifts Inventory - We are pleased you have come!
What it's about:
The gifts inventory is a way of quickly taking stock of your God-given gifts - the things that you do that give you joy - and the things that you do that don't. There are no right or wrong answers - it's all about you. Click here for a brief audio introduction.
Why does that matter?
We all have things that give us greater pleasure than others. Many times it's necessary and important to do those things that we don't enjoy - in our families, at work and at church. Understanding our gifts helps us understand why some things feel so good and others just don't. It can also help us to accept requests for help that fit well with our gifts and refuse those requests that don't. In other words -set limits without feeling guilty! As you can see - this isn't only about using our strengths at St. Anne's. Our gifts permeate every minute of our lives.
Who decided that these are the gifts that matter most?
Theological support for this set of seven gifts comes from Romans 12:4-5, which is the passage about how all parts of the body are necessary and must support each other. These are the gifts that all of us are "given" at birth. While each of us has all of the gifts, some gifts are stronger and weaker in each of us. The gifts are:
1. Perceiver: the eyes of the body
2. Server: the hands of the body
3. Teacher: the mind of the body
4. Exhorter: the mouth of the body
5. Giver: the arms of the body
6. Administrator: the shoulders of the body
7. Compassion person: the heart of the body
While there are other gifts described in the Bible, they are not given to all of us. In general, they are reserved for special times or situations.
The St. Anne's Gifts Inventory:
The St. Anne's Inventory was developed using the example from Discover Your God-given Gifts by Don and Katie Fortune (1987). For further information, there are copies of this book in the St. Anne's library available for check out.
Completing the Gifts Inventory
You need a computer equipped with EXCEL to open the file! Almost any version will work. If you don't have this program, there are paper copies available in the St. Anne's office. You can also arrange to use a computer at the office. Contact Bobbie Mon-Thur 9am-3pm at stannesoffice@sbcglobal.net or 336-9571.
The electronic gifts inventory is an easy to use, self-scoring questionnaire. Each gift includes a section of 20 items that are central to that gift and five items that represent issues that someone who is strong in that gift may encounter. Both are important because the issues represent things that can get in the way of using our gifts to their fullest potential.
Determining your gifts:
Each gift is scored on a scale from 0 to 5. Select the number that YOU think fits you best. Remember - this is completely anonymous. No one has to know the results unless you chose to share them. Be guided in the value you select by the following scale:
0. Never or almost never true of you
1. Only occasionally true of you
2. Sometimes true of you (up to 49% of the time)
3. Usually true of you (50-75% of the time)
4. Mostly true of you
5. Always or almost always true of you
(Discover Your God-given Gifts, Don and Katie Fortune, p. 50)
It is important to remember that the value/number of each gift is relatively unimportant. It is the relative order of the gifts that matters. When you finish the questions for all the gifts you will have a positive score for each gift. It is the order of the gifts that is important. It doesn't matter if your highest score is 30, 50 or 90. If it's the highest, that is your dominant gift. The opposite is true for the lowest gift's score. So, put your gifts in order and you will begin to have a picture of where your strongest and weakest gifts lie.
The five issues questions that follow the 20 positive ones represent the areas that can be stumbling blocks for those who are high in that gift. They represent the fact that sometimes we try to be over-achievers in our gift and perhaps get in our own way! In general, we tend to be higher on the issues section for our highest gift. Click to listen to this brief audio summary.
How to access the gifts inventory:
There is a printable copy of all the information you just read below. To access the excel file, just select the "Interactive Spiritual Gifts Inventory" below. The file will download. Depending which browser you use, it will either go straight to your downloads folder or show up at the bottom of your browser screen once the download is complete. Just click on the file and begin. Because this is a fresh file just for you, you can save this file to your own computer and finish later.
How to complete the gifts inventory:
Open the gifts inventory in EXCEL. You will see the questions that pertain to perceiver. Each question is followed by a list of possible responses - 0 to 5 (see above). Read the first question. Decide on the best response. Place your cursor on that cell, press "x" and then enter. An x will appear in that cell, representing a response from 0 to 5. When you have finished the perceiver questions, continue to the next gift. At the bottom of the page, you will see the list of the seven gifts. Click on the next gift and it will appear on the screen. Continue in this manner until all 25 questions for each gift have been answered.
The EXCEL program automatically totals the score for each gift - both positive and negative. At the very end of the program your totals for each gift are shown under the title "Summary" at the bottom of the page. That enables you to easily arrange the gifts from highest to lowest score and immediately see which are strongest and weakest.
REMEMBER!!!
All gifts are essential. None are better than others - just different. We need all of them. It simply means that there are some activities that will bring more joy and others that you may like less. We can - and must - operate in all gifts much of the time. We don't have a choice. When we can choose, however, operating largely in the gifts where we are highest will usually bring more joy. It also helps explain why we tend to dislike some tasks (occupations) and embrace others!
Need help?
-Accessing the Gifts Inventory on the website or getting a paper copy: Bobbie Moon (336-9571)
-Understanding the Inventory and scoring: Ann McLean (737-4632) or Dave Annis (429-9764).
What it's about:
The gifts inventory is a way of quickly taking stock of your God-given gifts - the things that you do that give you joy - and the things that you do that don't. There are no right or wrong answers - it's all about you. Click here for a brief audio introduction.
Why does that matter?
We all have things that give us greater pleasure than others. Many times it's necessary and important to do those things that we don't enjoy - in our families, at work and at church. Understanding our gifts helps us understand why some things feel so good and others just don't. It can also help us to accept requests for help that fit well with our gifts and refuse those requests that don't. In other words -set limits without feeling guilty! As you can see - this isn't only about using our strengths at St. Anne's. Our gifts permeate every minute of our lives.
Who decided that these are the gifts that matter most?
Theological support for this set of seven gifts comes from Romans 12:4-5, which is the passage about how all parts of the body are necessary and must support each other. These are the gifts that all of us are "given" at birth. While each of us has all of the gifts, some gifts are stronger and weaker in each of us. The gifts are:
1. Perceiver: the eyes of the body
2. Server: the hands of the body
3. Teacher: the mind of the body
4. Exhorter: the mouth of the body
5. Giver: the arms of the body
6. Administrator: the shoulders of the body
7. Compassion person: the heart of the body
While there are other gifts described in the Bible, they are not given to all of us. In general, they are reserved for special times or situations.
The St. Anne's Gifts Inventory:
The St. Anne's Inventory was developed using the example from Discover Your God-given Gifts by Don and Katie Fortune (1987). For further information, there are copies of this book in the St. Anne's library available for check out.
Completing the Gifts Inventory
You need a computer equipped with EXCEL to open the file! Almost any version will work. If you don't have this program, there are paper copies available in the St. Anne's office. You can also arrange to use a computer at the office. Contact Bobbie Mon-Thur 9am-3pm at stannesoffice@sbcglobal.net or 336-9571.
The electronic gifts inventory is an easy to use, self-scoring questionnaire. Each gift includes a section of 20 items that are central to that gift and five items that represent issues that someone who is strong in that gift may encounter. Both are important because the issues represent things that can get in the way of using our gifts to their fullest potential.
Determining your gifts:
Each gift is scored on a scale from 0 to 5. Select the number that YOU think fits you best. Remember - this is completely anonymous. No one has to know the results unless you chose to share them. Be guided in the value you select by the following scale:
0. Never or almost never true of you
1. Only occasionally true of you
2. Sometimes true of you (up to 49% of the time)
3. Usually true of you (50-75% of the time)
4. Mostly true of you
5. Always or almost always true of you
(Discover Your God-given Gifts, Don and Katie Fortune, p. 50)
It is important to remember that the value/number of each gift is relatively unimportant. It is the relative order of the gifts that matters. When you finish the questions for all the gifts you will have a positive score for each gift. It is the order of the gifts that is important. It doesn't matter if your highest score is 30, 50 or 90. If it's the highest, that is your dominant gift. The opposite is true for the lowest gift's score. So, put your gifts in order and you will begin to have a picture of where your strongest and weakest gifts lie.
The five issues questions that follow the 20 positive ones represent the areas that can be stumbling blocks for those who are high in that gift. They represent the fact that sometimes we try to be over-achievers in our gift and perhaps get in our own way! In general, we tend to be higher on the issues section for our highest gift. Click to listen to this brief audio summary.
How to access the gifts inventory:
There is a printable copy of all the information you just read below. To access the excel file, just select the "Interactive Spiritual Gifts Inventory" below. The file will download. Depending which browser you use, it will either go straight to your downloads folder or show up at the bottom of your browser screen once the download is complete. Just click on the file and begin. Because this is a fresh file just for you, you can save this file to your own computer and finish later.
How to complete the gifts inventory:
Open the gifts inventory in EXCEL. You will see the questions that pertain to perceiver. Each question is followed by a list of possible responses - 0 to 5 (see above). Read the first question. Decide on the best response. Place your cursor on that cell, press "x" and then enter. An x will appear in that cell, representing a response from 0 to 5. When you have finished the perceiver questions, continue to the next gift. At the bottom of the page, you will see the list of the seven gifts. Click on the next gift and it will appear on the screen. Continue in this manner until all 25 questions for each gift have been answered.
The EXCEL program automatically totals the score for each gift - both positive and negative. At the very end of the program your totals for each gift are shown under the title "Summary" at the bottom of the page. That enables you to easily arrange the gifts from highest to lowest score and immediately see which are strongest and weakest.
REMEMBER!!!
All gifts are essential. None are better than others - just different. We need all of them. It simply means that there are some activities that will bring more joy and others that you may like less. We can - and must - operate in all gifts much of the time. We don't have a choice. When we can choose, however, operating largely in the gifts where we are highest will usually bring more joy. It also helps explain why we tend to dislike some tasks (occupations) and embrace others!
Need help?
-Accessing the Gifts Inventory on the website or getting a paper copy: Bobbie Moon (336-9571)
-Understanding the Inventory and scoring: Ann McLean (737-4632) or Dave Annis (429-9764).