I have been asked if I know of a written questionnaire for those who have low or no reading skills. I don't. Please contact me if you do.
However, with a group of 12 or more participants, I can suggest the following process:
Whoever is leading the process, will need to develop 5 or 6 simple examples of situations in which the 22 Gifts might be used. It is best to use examples drawn from the actual life of the group. For a church setting this might include: an annual financial drive; tasks related to Sunday worship; pastoral visitation; a community dinner; etc.
Here's how the process might work with a group.
Meet in a room with an open area so that people can gather in the centre and then move to one of 4 different directions. Give the example, and ask participants to move in the direction that best fits them. For example:
When your church is planning for a community dinner, would you rather:
- (East) be in the kitchen / help set up and clean up;
- (West) be in the hall to talk with strangers to help them feel welcome and meet other people;
- (North) be the person who leads the organizing of the dinner; or
- (South) pray for and encourage others who are doing the work.
Once the participants have moved to the four separate directions, the leaders could then ask each of the groups to talk amongst themselves to see if the Gifts for that direction applied to them. (The leaders would name the 2 or 3 or 4 possible gifts for each of the 4 groups.) Each participant would record what Gift she thought she might have.
If this process were repeated 5 or 6 times, that would give the participants some good information to continue looking at their Gifts.
Remember, the questionnaire was developed to start a conversation and there is more than one way to get people talking! This process would also work well with a youth group.
