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The Transformational Index (the TI) is a tool that provides organizations with a quick, customize way to identify and measure what really matters to them.

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Often, charities, foundations, corporate social responsibility departments, impact investors and social enterprises find it difficult to demonstrate that their work has made a real and measurable difference.

The Transformational Index (the TI) is a tool that provides organizations with a quick, customize way to identify and measure what really matters to them.

To date the TI has been used in all forms of business and campaigns including social enterprises, charities, faith-based organizations and foundations. Sectors where it has been applied include health, education, young people, information technology, disability and employment and training.

Learn more at thetransformationalindex.org

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Often, charities, foundations, corporate social responsibility departments, impact investors and social enterprises find it difficult to demonstrate that their work has made a real and measurable difference. The Transformational Index (the TI) is a tool that provides organizations with a quick, customize way to identify and measure what really matters to them.

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To us goodmaking (verb) is 'bringing that which is good (virtuous, kind, benevolent, wholesome or healthy) into being.'

Without goodmakers, the world would be a harder, drabber and much less fulfilling place. Yet, those that make good, our goodmakers, are often unseen, under resourced and left questioning whether they are really making a difference or just putting a sticking plaster on a cracking dam.

Our vision is for an alternative world in which individuals, organisations and businesses always work for the benefit of people and the planet, where goodmaking is seen as an important and valued activity. Perhaps even as valued as banking, coding and practising law.

We want to see people of purpose have their imaginations unleashed, their next steps supported and their ideas, projects and businesses working for the good of society.

Goodmakers Society will catalyse, support and equip social and spiritual entrepreneurs with the tools they need to have good ideas, get them off the ground and make lasting transformative impact

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To us goodmaking (verb) is 'bringing that which is good (virtuous, kind, benevolent, wholesome or healthy) into being.' Without goodmakers, the world would be a harder, drabber and much less fulfilling place. Yet, those that make good, our goodmakers, are often unseen, under resourced and left questioning whether they are really making a difference or just putting a sticking plaster on a cracking dam.

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Currently specialising in shame (PhD and book), spiritual health and wellbeing, also mentoring and spiritual accompanying, some with pioneers. FYT Trustee, practical theologian, doctoral supervision...

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We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking "Accept", you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.

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Dr Sally Nash - Profile - Dr Sally Nash - Learning & Research

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We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking "Accept", you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.

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Home By Another Route - a call for pioneer ministry and the reimagination of church. 

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Home By Another Route - a call for pioneer ministry and the reimagination of church. 

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Crisis, what crisis?
Paul Bradbury believes that a movement of the Holy Spirit is beginning to renew and reform today's church - a church marginalised and 'in exile'. Following on from his previous book, Stepping Into Grace,  Paul takes the prophet's powerful image of dry skeletal human remains coming to life through the miraclous work of the Spirit of God to encourage and inspire the contemporary to seek renewal through the Spirit.


This is a compelling and prophetic book - a must-read for today's church.

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Crisis, what crisis?Paul Bradbury believes that a movement of the Holy Spirit is beginning to renew and reform today's church - a church marginalised and 'in exile'. Following on from his previous book, Stepping Into Grace, Paul takes the prophet's powerful image of dry skeletal human remains coming to life through the miraclous work of the Spirit of God to encourage and inspire the contemporary to seek renewal through the Spirit.

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Contemporary art on themes of theology, economics and politics.

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A series of modern parables - some retellings, and some new perspectives. https://fyt.org.uk/tag/parables/

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A youtube channel for meditations and reflections using music, poetry, liturgy and prayer.

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christian meditation contemplative poetry liturgy reflection "christian reflection" "christian meditation" prayer "christian prayer" "contemplative meditatio...

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Christian Contemplative Meditations & Reflections using music, poetry, prayers and liturgy drawing on the rich history of spirituality.

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What represents your spiritual life: symbols, stories, actions, ways of thinking. An activity and accompanying resource to engage young people in discipleship in the everyday. Get the resource OR run the activity yourself by gathering a big box of trinkets - ask your group to pick 5 that represent where they experience God.

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Description

Author: Frontier Youth Trust
Do you want young people to engage with an everyday discipleship and spiritual life? This is a resource to help youth workers take young people on a journey into Christian discipleship.
We asked more than 300 young people and youth workers to make a Spiritual Selfie - a picture of things that represented their spiritual life. These items symbolised a habit, behaviour, practice, routine, or way of thinking that the young person or youth worker used to sustain their faith. The items included practical resources, symbols of ways to meet God, meaningful things to do, and metaphors for ways of thinking. Building on young people's responses to our My Spiritual Selfie project, this resource offers 30+ reflections and activities for youth workers and young people. The set of cards follow the story of Acts over eight themes to explore mission and discipleship, culminating in young people and youth workers building their own spiritual selfie as a resource to sustain them.

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Author: Frontier Youth Trust Do you want young people to engage with an everyday discipleship and spiritual life? This is a resource to help youth workers take young people on a journey into Christian discipleship. We asked more than 300 young people and youth workers to make a Spiritual Selfie - a picture of things that represented their spiritual life.

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Help - how to use the Pioneer Tool Library

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Help - how to use the Pioneer Tool Library

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If you scrolled down for help in using the Tool Library - here it is! 🙌

Much like a real life library, the Pioneer Tool library is made up of different sections, but rather than just borrowing books you can also add lots of different tools in. Think of this page as the gateway to the different sections. Each section is themed to help you navigate and we give a few examples above of what you can find in that section. To get to the different sections simply click on the link in the descriptor of that section and you will be taken there. Alternatively click on the links below.

Once in a section you can find the different tools available, add tools, comment or like. To add a tool simply click the + symbol in the appropriate area and you then add your tool however you can e.g. with a description, a link, an image etc. Once you have used a used a tool we would love you to pop back in like or comment on it particularly if you tweaked it, or used it a different way, then add that to the comments to help others. If you want to get back here to look at other sections just click the back tab in your browser.

The Sections

Section 1 - Yoof - All things Young People related - get there here
Section 2 -  Famalangadingdong - All Things Children and Families related - get there here
Section 3 - Worship hacks - Worship Ideas and Hacks - get there here
Section 4 - Bible hacks - Bible ideas and Hacks - get there here
Section 5 - Staying Sharp - Hacks to help you keep your edge - get there here
Section 6 - Creative Hacks - Images, artwork, poems & words to riff off - get there here
Section 7 - The Great Outdoors - Links to the outdoor space and natural environment  - get there here
Section 8 - Grounded - Hacks from the world of branding and marketing - get there here
Section 9 - Bookmarks - Great books on Pioneering - get there here
Section 10 - MishMash - Articles, Resources, Organisations, Training to help you on your missional journey - get there here
Section 11 - Keep It Simple - Super simple ideas and hacks people use time and time again - get there here

If you have an idea for a new section email us and we can make that happen. It would be great if eventually this became the go to place for busy pioneers hacking their way in the now and not yet kingdom.

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The new spectrum site with a host of tools and resources

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Done

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Pioneer Spectrum - CMS Pioneer Mission Leadership Training

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Home Toolbox Contact Welcome to the Pioneer Spectrum A tool to shape constructive conversations around pioneering mission in every place and space How can we... enable a mixed ecology of church? create churches that meet different people groups wherever they are at? help pioneers and church planters discern their vocation?

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Working with people outside the church is always really key when listening to your context. For example when planning a virtual Mountain Pilgrims we first pose a question in online walking groups such as: If you could walk with anyone from history or today, who would it be and why? The answers can help inspire, develop and hone ideas...

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Ask: what if and why not?

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Simon Sinek: Golden Circle Speech - TED Talk

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Super simple ideas and hacks people use time and time again, click here to be taken to the Keep it Simple Padlet

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Words and Images on growing a missional ecosystem instead of an institutional

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The Whole Sweep of Scripture, by N.T. Wright.

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N.T. Wright shares on how to read the Bible.

A video by www.theworkofthepeople.com.

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A short intro to Every Book of the Bible

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A short intro to Every Book of the Bible

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From the University of Nottingham

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Bibledex - Expert videos about every book in the Bible

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Bibledex features short and quirky videos on every book of the Bible presented by theology experts.

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A collaboration between CMS and God for All Cumbria for training and Pioneering in the North of England and Southern Scotland

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Over the years Jonny Baker has created a whole series of worship tricks ranging from liturgies to ideas, to spaces and design ideas.

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i am in two minds as to whether to put this out there but last saturday with extinction rebeliion in full flow and a focus on the planet for grace we gathered round the table. some members had been in to join in the action - sadly i couldn't make it due to work. so we gathered to pray for our world, to remember it is god's world and lament the ways it is being pushed to its limits. i have a recording of the planetary mass from the nine o clock service. i can't remember where i got it from but i have always loved it and play it to students as an example of creative liturgy. it must be from the early nineties. anyway i transcribed it which i have never done and we read through it together and shared bread and wine round the table. it was without the visuals and drama but poignant and powerful. if anyone is reading who was involved in its creation thank you - and i hope it's ok to put this on my blog. but here is the liturgy and i have added tracks we listened to. the soil by david benjamin blower was perfect for passing round bread and wine and we brought soil and water to the table along with bread and wine.

i'd love to hear of what other laments and liturgies anyone else is creating or using.

Welcome and Opening Prayer
Listen to planetary mass 0-3:09

The planetary mass is our celebration of life and our ritual of celebration and repentance on behalf of our culture. Here we seek to mourn the destruction of so much life on our planet and to cultivate a compassion that feels in our own flesh the wounds inflicted on others and on our planet and to awaken to the incredible awe and beauty of our existence with God. Whether humanity has a future or whether it is going to become extinct in the next few centuries depends on our will to live and that means our absolute will for our one indivisible life. We have got used to death, at least to the death of other creatures and other people and to get used to death is the beginning of freezing into lifelessness itself. So the essential thing is to affirm life, the life of other creatures, the life of other people, our own lives.

The Lord is here
His Spirit is with us

Breathe in the Holy Spirit...
Breathe in life
And out fear
In passion
And out numbness
In hope
And out death

The Word
Wisdom let us attend. From the book of Deuteronomy:
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and hold fast to Him.

This is the word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Read Declaration of Rebellion from This is Not A Drill
Confession
Creator God the Source of all life we confess our sin to you.
We confess where we have turned away from you and where in ignorance we have turned our back on the earth and on each other.
We confess that as we have wanted more and more we have dominated and exploited your creation.
And we admit that we are responsible for abusing the riches of our home, that we are complicit in crucifying you by polluting the air and the sea, by destroying the forests, by starving the people of the two-thirds world, and by robbing the future generations of life not yet here, our children and grandchildren.
God of all creation we turn away from our addiction
We turn back to you
Our Source and our Hope
We repent and we turn back to you

Communion
This ritual is a symbol of the worship already happening in creation. The whole universe is invited to this intimate event, the feasting on Christ. The church here has no walls - we worship with plants, planets, animals, and angels.

The day before Christ suffered he took bread in sacred hands and looking up to heaven he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying 'take eat this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me'. In the same way after supper he took the cup and gave thanks. He gave it to them saying 'drink this all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this to recall me, to remember me.'

Creator and soul of the cosmos
The universe shines with your life Lord
You're everything we desire.
We give our lives to you
You created everything that lives
Through Christ you are the Source
We believe and trust in you
Our desire is to let go of death and give ourselves to the vision of life your son Jesus believed in to the point of his own death
We commit ourselves to him
Spirit of life, integrity and truth who raised our brother from death and gives us hope beyond death here now
You are our strength and compassion
We believe and trust in you

God of life we bring wine to the table
Touch this now to become a life blood transfusion.
Christ our life we bring bread to the table to become your precious flesh
In our global village we offer it in the presence of those who starve.
Eternal source we offer water:
The overwhelming swell of the oceans unique to this planet.
Creator God we thank you for the gift of soil:
The foundation of the forest, the sign of our mortality
Creator God we offer ourselves along with these elements of bread and wine and join with the voice of the whole universe crying out for life and healing.
Father hear our prayer through Jesus Christ.
Amen

We can no longer see ourselves as separate from nature.
We are all given a chance to participate in the story of the universe.
We're all in it together - people, particles and God.
Through Christ hope is built into the very fabric of space time and matter.
So now there's hope.
Now contains the possibility of resurrection.
So let's come to the table now and let's reconnect with Christ,
hope of the cosmos,
the power to renew us and change our lives now.

[ share bread and wine
play The Soil by David Benjamin Blower during distribution]

Prayer
Let us pray together now for the universal church and the world.
Christ our hope at this critical time lead us into facing our denial.
As the church, as a culture wake us up to an awareness of the responsibility and opportunities we now have.
We honour the wisdom gained by centuries of spiritual and artistic endeavour through the experience of our mystics and the lives and deaths of all our saints.
We pray for an open church that celebrates the coming together of all faith and wisdom traditions, the sciences and the arts.
We pray for a new time of hope, mystery and promise as we bring all these riches to bear on our global crisis.
God the Mother and Father of all creation we pray that a new way of living emerges out of the present reductionist system that's robbed the world of its spirit and turned human beings into objects and nature into a machine.
We pray for a culture that allows us to live in harmony with all creation and stops crippling the earth's diversity.
We pray that your Spirit of passionate life that raised Christ from the dead bursts now into all people in our earth community.
Creator God we pray that we will wake up to a new consciousness.
Watch Greta Thurbnberg and George Monbiot video Listen to Numbers by Radiohead
Blessing
May Holy Wisdom whose voice calls all to the feast
Whose hand draws the whole cosmic community of life to her table,
preserve you in eternal life.
And the blessing of God Creator, Liberator and Holy Spirit be amongst you and stay with you always
Amen

The mass has ended
Go in peace

[All liturgy is from The Planetary Mass by the Nine O Clock Service]

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i am in two minds as to whether to put this out there but last saturday with extinction rebeliion in full flow and a focus on the planet for grace we gathered round the table. some members had been in to join in the action - sadly i couldn't make it due to work.

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The Pioneer Gift edited by Jonny Baker & Cathy Ross

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The Pioneer Gift edited by Jonny Baker & Cathy Ross

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Pioneer ministry happens among the 88% of the population that the Church does not reach.

Even if the best practices of growing churches were rolled out across every parish, 75% of the population would remain untouched, so pioneer ministry is about doing things differently - literally ripping up the existing manual and starting again. The situation demands urgency, imagination and energy - and a good theological grounding which this book sets out to provide.

Ordained pioneer ministry is a significant and growing presence in the Church of England and the Methodist Church and in denominations around the world. Here leading practitioners and theologians in the pioneer movement including Doug Gay, Liz Sercombe, Beth Keith, Gerald Arbuckle and others reflect on emerging trends, practices and key theological challenges.

They explore how people experience transformation, contextual engagement, dissent as a form of leadership, emerging patterns of urban ministry, whether the language of sin and guilt works today, challenges assumptions about how pioneer ministry is learned and more.
Read the Church Times review of The Pioneer Gift

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The Pioneer Gift by Cathy Ross, Jonny Baker - Paperback

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Pioneer ministry happens among the 88% of the population that the Church does not reach. Even if the best practices of growing churches were rolled out across every parish, 75% of the population would remain untouched, so pioneer ministry is about doing things differently - literally ripping up the existing manual and starting again.

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A poem with images from Pillar Rock

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Here be dragons - Youthwork and Mission off the Map

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Here be dragons - Youthwork and Mission off the Map

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"Here be Dragons" follows on from the best selling book "Meet them where they're at", exploring the space where missional youth work and emerging church content.

Introducing the concept of Symbiotic Youth Work as a way of exploring the relationship between young people, us and the missionary God who crosses frontiers towards humanity, discovering together what it means to be and grow church in a new land.

Tags:

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Here Be Dragons, Youth Work and Mission Off the Map

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"Here be Dragons" follows on from the best selling book "Meet them where they're at", exploring the space where missional youth work and emerging church content. Introducing the concept of Symbiotic Youth Work as a way of exploring the relationship between young people, us and the missionary God who crosses frontiers towards humanity, discovering together what it means to be and grow church in a new land.

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Resources and training ideas to get your head around mission, read and add ideas, click here to be taken to the Mishmash Padlet

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Essential reading for pioneering - get some great recommendations, or make your own, click here to be taken to the Bookmarks Padlet

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A place to share hacks from the world of business, enterprise and innovation. some examples are given below, click here to be taken to the Grounded Padlet

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Mountain Pilgrims is an emerging community of people that seek to re-imagine the outdoor experience. Mountain Pilgrims meet outside to discover the 'thin places' where the spirit soars and we are lifted out of the everyday. We invite those with different experience and fitness to join us as we journey together...

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A place to share ideas and resources for the Great Outdoors ... some examples are given below, click here to be taken to the Great Outdoors Padlet

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Ruth Wells’ blog

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A place to share ideas and resources for staying sharp - some examples are given below, click here to be taken to the Staying Sharp Padlet

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A place to share all your Bible hacks - some examples are given below, click here to be taken to the Bible Hack Padlet

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A place to share all your worship hacks - some examples are given below, click here to be taken to the Worship Hack Padlet

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A place to share all your youth ideas - some examples are given below, click here to be taken to the Youth Padlet.

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A place to share creative hacks: art, poetry, creative thinking... some examples are given below, click here to be taken to the Creative Hacks Padlet

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10 simple ways to start recognising faith at home

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Spending time together is so much easier when food is involved. For a toddler sitting in a highchair they get to feel part of the family, and it helps everyone with communication, including teenagers!

Try having everyone in the family (including adults!) answer simple questions like:

What was the best thing about your day?
What was the hardest thing about your day?

You could even add in an extra focus like:

Did you see God in anything you did today? Or Did you talk to God about anything today?

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Kitchen Table Project - Ten things we can do at home

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Spending time together is so much easier when food is involved. For a toddler sitting in a highchair they get to feel part of the family, and it helps everyone with communication, including teenagers! Try having everyone in the family (including adults!) answer simple questions like: What was the best thing about your day?

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Salvation Army free resources for outdoor gathering & activities with under 5’s

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For more detailed information, advice and guidance read the Set-up Guide; but here are some FAQs that Captains Nick and Shelley (creators of Get OWT!) have shared their answers to. What does a session roughly look like?
We make all the Get OWT! packs and take them to the event shelter for people to pick up. Families are asked to book in advance using Eventbrite to ensure we have a pack ready for them, though we prepare a few spares for those who forget to book. Families sign in, in their bubble, and then go and use the resources in the meadow or woodland area.

Activities that take place at the Event Shelter are booked to ensure people are not mixing bubbles. With booking in, there are enough resources for everyone. No sharing is necessary!
What if we don't have a nice outside area to use?
You can make your venue work for you - nature is everywhere, even in a very urban area. You might need to undertake a 'reccy' to find out what spaces will be suitable.

We contacted our local authority to ask for permission to use the meadow and woodland. You might need to find out if you can attach resources to lamp posts, fences and gates etc. Private landowners often encourage people to explore the outdoors, so don't be put off if the space you'd like to use is privately owned. Contact the owner and see if permission can be granted to use the space.

You can encourage people to collect their packs from the car park, which you could convert into an 'urban garden' or from the foyer of your building.
What happens if it rains or is very cold?
Our mantra is, 'There's no such thing as bad weather, only wrong clothing.'

We have journeyed with our families and they know we will be there unless the rain is torrential or the wind is dangerous or the temperature is very, very cold. Generally, families want to get out once a day and so we have trusted them to make the decision for themselves.

We will only cancel in exceptional circumstances and in line with local Covid guidelines.
How do you keep people safe?
We communicate the expectations on social media and in the sign-up sheets, and have clear signage to remind families of the local rules which we place prominently throughout the areas being used.

Families take part in the activities in their own space and time. There is no need for anyone to congregate around the Event Shelter.

Booking for sensory activities ensures families stay in the bubbles, and we take social distancing, hand washing, sanitising and mask wearing very seriously. Packs are made in advance to ensure there is adequate time for quarantining them.
Where do you find the resources you use?
We get inspiration from children's stories, our own children, nature and creation. If you're stuck for ideas, don't worry, as there are lots of resources online and several good books outlining good outdoor activities. We often ask the families to suggest themes for the sessions and some parents, especially the creative ones, are happy to come up with ideas linked with the themes. We find this empowers the families we work with and helps keep them included.

You will need to photocopy the resources and source some items, but if you want to follow our programme, you will find material on this page.
What about Bible stories, singing and praying?
Our mission is that people are emotionally, socially and spiritually uplifted during Get OWT! God is the creator, and during the session families are directed to think about a variety of things in response to the activity. We pray that God will meet them in creation and in the wonder they experience. The Salvation Army's publications ( Kids Alive! and the War Cry) are put in packs or made available from the Event Shelter. These contain good stories and spiritual reflections.

We are currently putting together additional material for those seeking to make their Get OWT! sessions more overtly religious. These sessions will give leaders the option to include Bible readings, prayers and songs.

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For more detailed information, advice and guidance read the Set-up Guide; but here are some FAQs that Captains Nick and Shelley (creators of Get OWT!) have shared their answers to. What does a session roughly look like? We make all the Get OWT! packs and take them to the event shelter for people to pick up.

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Outdoor intergen worship resources & ideas for your local community

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Welcome to Muddy Church...

Muddy Church is a place for people to gather together, outside and to connect with the space and God. The heart of Muddy Church is to offer spaces to

This site is full of resources designed for use by individual groups - these are all available free to download or use online (there are pre-printed copies available to buy).

'wander and wonder' together.
Muddy Church is an intergenerational idea, based on groups discovering the gifts in their community.

RESOURCES

We have a huge range of resources including reflection sheets, activity ideas and trails. All are FREE to use and adapt to your setting.

Most Muddy Church resources are available to download for free, to make them accessible to all. You can support Muddy Church and help with the ministry through donating any amount via Ko-fi.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO BUY

ALL ABOUT MUDDY CHURCH

​

Every Muddy Church is unique designed around your community. Find out more about our ethos, values and how Muddy Church happens.

Muddy Church has grown into a collection of people and groups looking to build worshipping communities and opportunities outside. Muddy Church is intergenerational and unique to each space and event as people connect with the places they are in and others around them. Everyone is welcome to journey together, talk, explore, grow, have fun and be.

Muddy Church is a fun and engaging place, enjoying creation, nature and being together .

Find out more, join in and share the journey .

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND WATCH THE LATEST VIDEOS

For the latest news, ideas and information join us on our social media channels

Get in touch with us.

WHO IS WHO?

WHO WE HAVE CONNECTED WITH

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Muddy Church is a space for wandering and wondering with God. Communities exploring faith together in adventure and outdoor spaces. Children, families, pets, all ages welcome

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by Azariah France-Williams

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"Although the subtitle of France-Williams' new book is 'Institutional Racism and the Church of England,' make no mistake:-here is a powerful and provocative word to people on both sides of the ocean, wherever racial injustice is found. It's impossible to turn the pages of Ghost Ship and not find yourself challenged to turn the nightmare around us into God's dream of a better world." -- The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church

"France-Williams employs a formidable range of approaches - among them testimony, academic categories, careful research, interviews, anecdote, poetry, humour, parody, exegesis and close reading - to mount a compelling and urgent argument for the church's institutional and personal failure to receive the gift the Holy Spirit in the lives, bodies and callings of its BAME witnesses. Most of all he models prophetic ministry: pleading, portraying, persuading and ultimately inspiring the church that has caused so much hurt and grief but that despite all he still bravely loves. This is a testament of truth; and an epistle of power." -- Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin in the Fields

" Ghost Ship is poetically, formally and spiritually courageous. The profound honesty with which it is written is matched only by the honesty it asks for. The power of that honesty offers wondrous scope for the liberation and revitalisation of the Anglican church." -- Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

" Ghost Ship has been many years in the making and I have been honoured to have journeyed with the author as his prophetic vision has developed and matured, culminating in this book. This text is an excellent combination of historical analysis, personal reflection, poetry, biblical hermeneutics and first hand narratives, all combined to produce a highly readable book. Its key strength is that it is written by an insider, one whose love for the Church of England is such, that he is willing to tell her the truth!" -- Anthony Reddie, Director of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture, University of Oxford

"In this powerful book, France-Williams tells the stories of discrimination many of us review in our heads on the way home after work and put aside to be cheerful and present with people we love, and then we go back the next morning. For those of us who have committed our lives to the service of God through the Anglican Church, the institutional weight of slavery and colonialism and their legacy of racism bear down daily, whether we have decided to cope like a raging and blinded Samson in the temple of Dagon or a smiling token carefully packaged. France-Williams digs it all up and puts it on the page. Ouch! But, thankfully, he reframes the isolating burden of discrimination as institutional racism, the presenting sin of the church. With that sin has come the great potential for repentance, deep institutional transformation, and the salvation of a radical change of course. Let us take it up in our time." -- Winnie Varghese, Trinity Church Wall Street, New York

"In Ghost Ship, France-Williams takes on white supremacy in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion with precision, imagination, and confidence. Every page is evidence of his ability to make complex matters accessible to neophytes and experts alike. It is within reason to expect this tome to become a standard in the training of church leaders, lay and ordained. His exploration of Pan-African Anglicanism is a gift to students of church history and shows that he stands on the shoulders of faithful giants. I commend this book to a world desperately in need of France-Williams' pioneering imagination and insight." -- The Rev. Canon Broderick Greer, Writer and Episcopal Priest

"This is a powerful book. Its power comes not in loud or angry protest, but in prophetic storytelling that speaks truth to power, reflecting back on the Church its failings when it comes to racial justice. In an understated way, it combines personal testimony with imagery, real-life accounts and a range of voices who put together a mosaic of centuries-long racial injustice in the Church. The at times devastating critique of the status quo within the Church is not dampened by the beautiful writing, but calls the reader to attention. It is a lament of the state of the Church and a rallying call towards a better way." -- Chine McDonald, writer and broadcaster

"Intelligence and passion fuel France-Williams' dissection of the leadership "club" - people like me - at the heart of the Church of England's failure to own and address its racism. The reader need not accept all his arguments uncritically, to recognise this authentic black voice needs to be heard." -- The Right Reverend Dr David Walker, Bishop of Manchester

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institutional racism and the church of england

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Ghost Ship by A.D.A France-Williams - Paperback / softback

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"Although the subtitle of France-Williams' new book is 'Institutional Racism and the Church of England,' make no mistake:-here is a powerful and provocative word to people on both sides of the ocean, wherever racial injustice is found.

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by Ruth Harley, Al Barrett & Rachel Mann

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a journey of self discovery

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This explanation covers the basics that you will need to understand how the Enneagram works, and will be especially helpful for beginners. As you will see, only a few simple concepts are needed to begin your journey of self-discovery. The Enneagram, however, is ultimately subtle and complex, as you will appreciate the more you use it in your life. For additional guidelines, consult Personality Types, 27-55, and for further clarifications Understanding the Enneagram, 11-30.

Index of Subjects

Your Basic Personality Type
The Centers
The Wing
The Levels of Development
Directions of Integration (Growth) and Disintegration (Stress)
The Three Instincts
Typing Yourself and Others

Structure

The Enneagram's structure may look complicated, although it is actually simple. It will help you understand the Enneagram if you sketch it yourself.

Draw a circle and mark nine equidistant points on its circumference. Designate each point by a number from one to nine, with nine at the top, for symmetry and by convention. Each point represents one of the nine basic personality types.

The nine points on the circumference are also connected with each other by the inner lines of the Enneagram. Note that points Three, Six, and Nine form an equilateral triangle. The remaining six points are connected in the following order: One connects with Four, Four with Two, Two with Eight, Eight with Five, Five with Seven, and Seven with One. These six points form an irregular hexagram. The meaning of these inner lines will be discussed shortly.

Your Basic Personality Type

From one point of view, the Enneagram can be seen as a set of nine distinct personality types, with each number on the Enneagram denoting one type. It is common to find a little of yourself in all nine of the types, although one of them should stand out as being closest to yourself. This is your basic personality type.

Everyone emerges from childhood with one of the nine types dominating their personality, with inborn temperament and other pre-natal factors being the main determinants of our type. This is one area where most all of the major Enneagram authors agree- we are born with a dominant type. Subsequently, this inborn orientation largely determines the ways in which we learn to adapt to our early childhood environment. It also seems to lead to certain unconscious orientations toward our parental figures, but why this is so, we still do not know. In any case, by the time children are four or five years old, their consciousness has developed sufficiently to have a separate sense of self. Although their identity is still very fluid, at this age children begin to establish themselves and find ways of fitting into the world on their own.

Thus, the overall orientation of our personality reflects the totality of all childhood factors (including genetics) that influenced its development. (For more about the developmental patterns of each personality type, see the related section in the type descriptions in Personality Types and in The Wisdom of the Enneagram. There is a discussion of the overall theory in Understanding The Enneagram, 67-70).

Several more points can be made about the basic type itself.

1. People do not change from one basic personality type to another.

2. The descriptions of the personality types are universal and apply equally to males and females, since no type is inherently masculine or feminine.

3. Not everything in the description of your basic type will apply to you all the time because you fluctuate constantly among the healthy, average, and unhealthy traits that make up your personality type.

4. The Enneagram uses numbers to designate each of the types because numbers are value neutral- they imply the whole range of attitudes and behaviors of each type without specifying anything either positive or negative. Unlike the labels used in psychiatry, numbers provide an unbiased, shorthand way of indicating a lot about a person without being pejorative.

5. The numerical ranking of the types is not significant. A larger number is no better than a smaller number; it is not better to be a Nine than a Two because nine is a bigger number.

6. No type is inherently better or worse than any other. While all the personality types have unique assets and liabilities, some types may be considered to be more desirable than others in any given culture or group. Furthermore, for one reason or another, you may not be happy being a particular type. As you learn more about all the types, however, you will see that just as each has unique assets, each has unique liabilities. The ideal is to become your best self, not to imitate the assets of another type.

Identifying Your Basic Personality Type

If taken properly, our questionnaire, the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (RHETI® version 2.5), will identify your basic personality type for you. This short section is included so that we can have a basic understanding of the types in our discussion without having to go to the longer descriptions in the next section.

As you think about your personality, which of the following nine roles fits you best most of the time? Or, to put it differently, if you were to describe yourself in a few words, which of the following word clusters would come closest?

These one-word descriptors can be expanded into four-word sets of traits. Keep in mind that these are merely highlights and do not represent the full spectrum of each type.

Type One is principled, purposeful, self-controlled, and perfectionistic.

Type Two is generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing, and possessive.

Type Three is adaptable, excelling, driven, and image-conscious.

Type Four is expressive, dramatic, self-absorbed, and temperamental.

Type Five is perceptive, innovative, secretive, and isolated.

Type Six is engaging, responsible, anxious, and suspicious.

Type Seven is spontaneous, versatile, acquisitive, and scattered.

Type Eight is self-confident, decisive, willful, and confrontational.

Type Nine is receptive, reassuring, complacent, and resigned.

The Centers

The Enneagram is a 3 x 3 arrangement of nine personality types in three Centers. There are three types in the Instinctive Center, three in the Feeling Center, and three in the Thinking Center, as shown below. Each Center consists of three personality types that have in common the assets and liabilities of that Center. For example, personality type Four has unique strengths and liabilities involving its feelings, which is why it is in the Feeling Center. Likewise, the Eight's assets and liabilities involve its relationship to its instinctual drives, which is why it is in the Instinctive Center, and so forth for all nine personality types.

The inclusion of each type in its Center is not arbitrary. Each type results from a particular relationship with a cluster of issues that characterize that Center. Most simply, these issues revolve around a powerful, largely unconscious emotional response to the loss of contact with the core of the self. In the Instinctive Center, the emotion is Anger or Rage. In the Feeling Center, the emotion is Shame, and in the Thinking Center, it is Fear. Of course, all nine types contain all three of these emotions, but in each Center, the personalities of the types are particularly affected by that Center's emotional theme.

Thus, each type has a particular way of coping with the dominant emotion of its Center. We can briefly see what this means by examining each type, Center by Center. In the Instinctive Center, Eights act out their anger and instinctual energies. In other words, when Eights feel anger building in them, they immediately respond to it in some physical way, raising their voices, moving more forcefully. Others can clearly see that Eights are angry because they give themselves permission to express their anger physically.

Nines deny their anger and instinctual energies as if to say, "What anger? I am not a person who gets angry." Nines are the type most out of touch with their anger and instinctual energies, often feeling threatened by them. Of course, Nines get angry like everyone else, but try to stay out of their darker feelings by focusing on idealizations of their relationships and their world.

Ones attempt to control or repress their anger and instinctual energy. They feel that they must stay in control of themselves, especially of their instinctual impulses and angry feelings at all times. They would like to direct these energies according to the dictates of their highly developed inner critic (superego), the source of their strictures on themselves and others.

In the Feeling Center, Twos attempt to control their shame by getting other people to like them and to think of them as good people. They also want to convince themselves that they are good, loving people by focusing on their positive feelings for others while repressing their negative feelings (such as anger and resentment at not being appreciated enough). As long as Twos can get positive emotional responses from others, they feel wanted and are able to control feelings of shame.

Threes try to deny their shame, and are potentially the most out of touch with underlying feelings of inadequacy. Threes learn to cope with shame by trying to become what they believe a valuable, successful person is like. Thus, Threes learn to perform well, to be acceptable, even outstanding, and are often driven relentlessly in their pursuit of success as a way of staving off feelings of shame and fears of failure.

Fours attempt to control their shame by focusing on how unique and special their particular talents, feelings, and personal characteristics are. Fours highlight their individuality and creativity as a way of dealing with their shameful feelings, although Fours are the type most likely to succumb to feelings of inadequacy. Fours also manage their shame by cultivating a rich, romantic fantasy life in which they do not have to deal with whatever in their life seems drab or uninteresting to them.

In the Thinking Center, Fives have fear about the outer world and about their capacity to cope with it. Thus, they cope with their fear by withdrawing from the world. Fives become secretive, isolated loners who use their minds to penetrate into the nature of the world. Fives hope that eventually, as they understand reality on their own terms, they will be able to rejoin the world and participate in it, but they never feel they know enough to participate with total confidence. Instead, they involve themselves with increasingly complex inner worlds.

Sixes exhibit the most fear of all three types, largely experienced as anxiety, which causes them to be the most out of touch with their own sense of inner knowing and confidence. Unlike Fives, Sixes have trouble trusting their own minds, so they are constantly looking outside themselves for something to make them feel sure of themselves. They might turn to philosophies, beliefs, relationships, jobs, savings, authorities, or any combination of the above. But no matter how many security structures they create, Sixes still feel doubtful and anxious. They may even begin to doubt the very people and beliefs that they have turned to for reassurance. Sixes may also respond to their fear and anxiety by impulsively confronting it- defying their fear in the effort to be free of it.

Sevens have fear about their inner world. There are feelings of pain, loss, deprivation, and general anxiety that Sevens would like to stay clear of as much as possible. To cope with these feelings, Sevens keep their minds occupied with exciting possibilities and options- as long as they have something stimulating to anticipate, Sevens feel that they can distract themselves from their fears. Sevens, in most cases, do not stop merely at thinking about these options, however. As much as possible they attempt to actually do as many of their options as they can. Thus, Sevens can be found staying on the go, pursuing one experience after another, and keeping themselves entertained and engaged with their many ideas and activities.

The Wing

No one is a pure personality type: everyone is a unique mixture of his or her basic type and usually one of the two types adjacent to it on the circumference of the Enneagram. One of the two types adjacent to your basic type is called your wing.

Your basic type dominates your overall personality, while the wing complements it and adds important, sometimes contradictory, elements to your total personality. Your wing is the "second side" of your personality, and it must be taken into consideration to better understand yourself or someone else. For example, if you are a personality type Nine, you will likely have either a One-wing or an Eight-wing, and your personality as a whole can best be understood by considering the traits of the Nine as they uniquely blend with the traits of either the One or the Eight. In our teaching experience over the years, we have also encountered some individuals who seem to have both wings, while others are strongly influenced by their basic type and show little of either wing.

There is disagreement among the various traditions of the Enneagram about whether individuals have one or two wings. Strictly speaking, everyone has two wings-in the restricted sense that both of the types adjacent to your basic type are operative in your personality since each person possesses the potentials of all nine types. However, this is not what is usually meant by "having two wings," and proponents of the so-called two-wing theory believe that both wings operate more or less equally in everyone's personality. (For example, they believe that a Nine would have roughly equal amounts of his or her Eight and One wings.)

Observation of people leads us to conclude that while the two-wing theory applies to some individuals, most people have a dominant wing. In the vast majority of people, while the so-called second wing always remains operative to some degree, the dominant wing is far more important. (For example, Twos with Three-wings are noticeably different from Twos with One-wings, and while Twos with Three-wings have a One-wing, it is not nearly as important as the Three-wing.) It is therefore clearer to refer simply to a type's "wing" as opposed to its "dominant wing," since the two terms represent the same concept.

One other observation about wings is worth mentioning. In the course of teaching the Enneagram in workshops and Trainings, many people in the latter half of their lives have reported the development of their so-called "second wing." And in individuals who have been pursuing psychological and/or spiritual work, we have seen evidence that this is true. We do not know, however, whether these students were merely seeing all of the positive potentials of the nine types unfolding in them as they matured-their second wing being one of the other seven types-or whether this was a specific development of the second wing type. We will continue to investigate this idea in our work with our students and colleagues.

It is, of course, necessary to identify your basic type before you can assess which wing you have. Besides indicating your basic type, the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator may also indicate your wing. Even so, the best way to understand the influence of your wing is to read the full descriptions of your type and its wings in Personality Types. You can also read the descriptions of the two types adjacent to your basic type and decide which best applies to you.

The Levels of Development

There is an internal structure within each personality type. That structure is the continuum of behaviors, attitudes, defenses, and motivations formed by the nine Levels of Development which make up the personality type itself. This discovery (and the working out of all the traits that comprise each type) was originally made by Don Riso in 1977, and was further developed by Don with Russ Hudson in the 1990s. They are the only Enneagram teachers to include this important factor in their treatment of the Enneagram. The Levels are an important contribution not only to the Enneagram but to ego psychology - and the personality types of the Enneagram cannot be adequately explained without them. The Levels account for differences between people of the same type as well as how people change both for better or worse. Thus, they can also help therapists and counselors pinpoint what is actually going on with clients and suggest solutions to the problems they are having.

The Levels of Development provide a framework for seeing how all of the different traits that comprise each type fit into a large whole; they are a way of conceptualizing the underlying "skeletal" structure of each type. Without the Levels, the types can seem to be an arbitrary collection of unrelated traits, with contradictory behaviors and attitudes often part of the picture. But by understanding the Levels for each type, one can see how all of the traits are interrelated-and how healthy traits can deteriorate into average traits and possibly into unhealthy ones. As pioneering consciousness philosopher Ken Wilber has noted, without the Levels, the Enneagram is reduced to a "horizontal" set of nine discrete categories. By including the Levels, however, a "vertical" dimension is added that not only reflects the complexity of human nature, but goes far in explaining many different, important elements within personality.

Further, with the Levels, a dynamic element is introduced that reflects the changing nature of the personality patterns themselves. You have probably noticed that people change constantly-sometimes they are clearer, more free, grounded, and emotionally available, while at other times they are more anxious, resistant, reactive, emotionally volatile and less free. Understanding the Levels makes it clear that when people change states within their personality, they are shifting within the spectrum of motivations, traits, and defenses that make up their personality type.

To understand an individual accurately, it is necessary to perceive where the person lies along the continuum of Levels of his or her type at a given time. In other words, one must assess whether a person is in their healthy, average, or unhealthy range of functioning. This is important because, for example, two people of the same personality type and wing will differ significantly if one is healthy and the other unhealthy. (In relationships and in the business world, understanding this distinction is crucial.)

The continuum is comprised of nine internal Levels of Development-briefly, there are three Levels in the healthy section, three Levels in the average section, and three Levels in the unhealthy section. It may help you to think of the continuum of Levels as a photographer's gray scale which has gradations from pure white to pure black with many shades of gray in between. On the continuum, the healthiest traits appear first, at the top, so to speak. As we move down the continuum in a spiral pattern, we progressively pass through each Level of Development marking a distinct shift in the personality's deterioration to the pure black of psychological breakdown at the bottom. The continuum for each of the personality types can be seen in the following diagram.

The Continuum of the Levels of Development Healthy

Level 1: The Level of Liberation

Level 2: The Level of Psychological Capacity

Level 3: The Level of Social Value

Average

Level 4: The Level of Imbalance/ Social Role

Level 5: The Level of Interpersonal Control

Level 6: The Level of Overcompensation

Unhealthy

Level 7: The Level of Violation

Level 8: The Level of Obsession and Compulsion

Level 9: The Level of Pathological Destructiveness

At each Level, significant psychological shifts occur as is indicated by the title we have given to it. For example, at Level 5, the Level of Interpersonal Control, the person is trying to manipulate himself and others to get his or her psychological needs met. This invariably creates interpersonal conflicts. By this Level, the person has also fully identified with the ego and does not see himself as anything more than that: the ego must therefore be increasingly defended and inflated for the person to feel safe and to keep their identity intact. If this activity does not satisfy the person, and anxiety increases, he or she may deteriorate to the next state, Level 6, the Level of Overcompensation, where their behavior will become more intrusive and aggressive as they continue to purse their ego-agenda. Anxiety is increasing, and the person is increasingly disruptive, and focused on getting his needs met, regardless of the impact on people around them.

One of the most profound ways of understanding the Levels is as a measure of our capacity to be present. The more we move down the Levels, the more identified we are with our ego and its increasingly negative and restrictive patterns. Our personality becomes more defensive, reactive, and automatic- and we consequently have less and less real freedom and less real consciousness. As we move down the Levels, we become caught in more compulsive, destructive actions which are ultimately self-defeating.

By contrast, the movement toward health, up the Levels, is simultaneous with being more present and awake in our minds, hearts, and bodies. As we become more present, we become less fixated in the defensive structures of our personality and are more attuned and open to ourselves and our environment. We see our personality objectively in action rather than "falling asleep" to our automatic personality patterns. There is therefore the possibility of "not doing" our personality and of gaining some real distance from the negative consequences of getting caught in it.

As we become more present, we see our personality traits more objectively and the Levels become a continuous guide to self-observation, a map that we can use to chart where we are in our psycho-spiritual development at any given time. As we move "up" the Levels, we discover that we are freer and less driven by compulsive, unconscious drives and therefore able to act more effectively in all areas of our lives, including in our relationships. When we are less identified with our personality, we find that we respond as needed to whatever life presents, actualizing the positive potentials in all nine types, bringing real peace, creativity, strength, joy, compassion, and other positive qualities to whatever we are doing. (For more, see Personality Types, 45-51, 421-6; 465-93; Understanding the Enneagram, 136-66, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.)

Directions of Integration (Growth) and Disintegration (Stress)

As we have seen with the Levels of Development, the nine personality types of the Enneagram are not static categories: they reflect our change over time. Further, the sequence of the types and the arrangement of the inner lines of the symbol are not arbitrary. The inner lines of the Enneagram connect the types in a sequence that denotes what each type will do under different conditions. There are two lines connected to each type, and they connect with two other types. One line connects with a type that represents how a person of the first type behaves when they are moving toward health and growth. This is called the Direction of Integration or Growth. The other line goes to another type that represents how the person is likely to act out if they are under increased stress and pressure-when they feel they are not in control of the situation. This second line is called the Direction of Stress or Disintegration. In other words, different situations will evoke different kinds of responses from your personality. You will respond or adapt in different directions, as indicated by the lines of the Enneagram from your basic type. Again, we see the flexibility and dynamism of the Enneagram.

The Direction of Disintegration or Stress for each type is indicated by the sequence of numbers 1-4-2-8-5-7-1. This means that an average to unhealthy One under stress will eventually behave like an average to unhealthy Four; an average to unhealthy Four will act out their stress like an average to unhealthy Two; an average to unhealthy Two will act out under stress like an Eight, an Eight will act out under stress like a Five, a Five will act out like a Seven, and a Seven will act out like a One. (An easy way to remember the sequence is to realize that 1-4 or 14 doubles to 28, and that doubles to 57-or almost so. Thus, 1-4-2-8-5-7-and the sequence returns to 1 and begins again.) Likewise, on the equilateral triangle, the sequence is 9-6-3-9: a stressed out Nine will act out like a Six, a stressed out Six will act out like a Three, and a stressed out Three will act out like a Nine. (You can remember this sequence if you think of the numerical values diminishing as the types become more stressed and reactive. For a longer explanation and examples, see Personality Types, 47-52, 413-8.) You can see how this works by following the direction of the arrows on the following Enneagram.

The Direction of Integration or Growth is indicated for each type by the reverse of the sequences for disintegration. Each type moves toward integration in a direction that is the opposite of its unhealthy direction. Thus, the sequence for the Direction of Integration is 1-7-5-8-2-4-1: an integrating One goes to Seven, an integrating Seven goes to Five, an integrating Five goes to Eight, an integrating Eight goes to Two, an integrating Two goes to Four, and an integrating Four goes to One. On the equilateral triangle, the sequence is 9-3-6-9: an integrating Nine will go to Three, an integrating Three will go to Six, and an integrating Six will go to Nine. You can see how this works by following the direction of the arrows on the following Enneagram.

It is not necessary to have separate Enneagrams for the Direction of Integration and the Direction of Disintegration. Both directions can be shown on one Enneagram by eliminating the arrows and connecting the proper points with plain lines.

The Direction of Integration (Growth)
1-7-5-8-2-4-1
9-3-6-9

The Direction of Disintegration (Stress)
1-4-2-8-5-7-1
9-6-3-9

No matter which personality type you are, the types in both your Direction of Integration or Growth and your Direction of Disintegration or Stress are important influences. To obtain a complete picture of yourself (or of someone else), you must take into consideration the basic type and wing as well as the two types in the Directions of Integration and Disintegration. The factors represented by those four types blend into your total personality and provide the framework for understanding the influences operating in you. For example, no one is simply a personality type Two. A Two has either a One-wing or a Three-wing, and the Two's Direction of Disintegration (Eight) and its Direction of Integration (Four) also play important parts in his or her overall personality.

Ultimately, the goal is for each of us to "move around" the Enneagram, integrating what each type symbolizes and acquiring the healthy potentials of all the types. The ideal is to become a balanced, fully functioning person who can draw on the power (or from the Latin, "virtue") of each as needed. Each of the types of the Enneagram symbolizes different important aspects of what we need to achieve this end. The personality type we begin life with is therefore less important ultimately than how well (or badly) we use our type as the beginning point for our self-development and self-realization.

The Three Instincts

The three Instincts (often erroneously called "the subtypes") are a third set of distinctions that are extremely important for understanding personality. A major aspect of human nature lies in our instinctual "hard wiring" as biological beings. We each are endowed with specific instinctual intelligences that are necessary for our survival as individuals and as a species. We each have a self-preservation instinct (for preserving the body and its life and functioning), a sexual instinct (for extending ourselves in the environment and through the generations), and a social instinct (for getting along with others and forming secure social bonds).

While we have all three Instincts in us, one of them is the dominant focus of our attention and behavior-the set of attitudes and values that we are most attracted to and comfortable with. We each also have a second Instinct that is used to support the dominant Instinct, as well as a third Instinct that is the least developed-a real blind spot in our personality and our values. Which Instinct is in each of these three places-most, middle, and least developed-produces what we call our "Instinctual Stack" (like a three-layer cake) with your dominant Instinct on top, the next most developed Instinct in the middle, and the least developed on the bottom).

These instinctual drives profoundly influence our personalities, and at the same time, our personalities largely determine how each person prioritizes these instinctual needs. Thus, while every human being has all three of these instincts operating in him or her, our personality causes us to be more concerned with one of these instincts than the other two. We call this instinct our dominant instinct. This tends to be our first priority-the area of life we attend to first. But when we are more caught up in the defenses of our personality-further down the Levels of Development- our personality most interferes with our dominant instinct.

Further, our Enneagram type flavors the way in which we approach our dominant instinctual need. Combining our Enneagram type with our dominant instinct yields a much more specific portrait of the workings of our personality. When we apply the distinctions of these three instincts to the nine Enneagram types they create 27 unique combinations of type and dominant instinct that account for differences and variability within the types. We call these combinations the Instinctual Variants.

The Enneagram Institute® offers an online test, the Instinctual Variants Questionnaire (IVQ), for helping people determine not only their dominant instinct, but also their Instinctual Stack. The IVQ also provides a detailed personality profile derived from the combination of the test taker's Enneagram type, wing, and Instinctual Stack.

The following are brief descriptions of the three instincts:
Self Preservation Instinct
People who have this as their dominant instinct are preoccupied with the safety, comfort, health, energy, and well-being of the physical body. In a word, they are concerned with having enough resources to meet life's demands. Identification with the body is a fundamental focus for all humans, and we need our body to function well in order to be alive and active in the world. Most people in contemporary cultures have not faced life or death "survival" in the strictest sense; thus, Self-Preservation types tend to be concerned with food, money, housing, medical matters, and physical comfort. Moreover, those primarily focused on self-preservation, by extension, are usually interested in maintaining these resources for others as well. Their focus of attention naturally goes towards things related to these areas such as clothes, temperature, shopping, decorating, and the like, particularly if they are not satisfied in these areas or have a feeling of deficiency due to their childhoods. Self-Pres types tend to be more grounded, practical, serious, and introverted than the other two instinctual types. They might have active social lives and a satisfying intimate relationship, but if they feel that their self-preservation needs are not being met, still tend not to be happy or at ease. In their primary relationships, these people are "nesters"-they seek domestic tranquility and security with a stable, reliable partner.
Sexual (aka "Attraction") Instinct
Many people originally identify themselves as this type because they have learned that the Sexual types are interested in "one-on-one relationships." But all three instinctual types are interested in one-on-one relationships for different reasons, so this does not distinguish them. The key element in Sexual types is an intense drive for stimulation and a constant awareness of the "chemistry" between themselves and others. Sexual types are immediately aware of the attraction, or lack thereof, between themselves and other people. Further, while the basis of this instinct is related to sexuality, it is not necessarily about people engaging in the sexual act. There are many people that we are excited to be around for reasons of personal chemistry that we have no intention of "getting involved with." Nonetheless, we might be aware that we feel stimulated in certain people's company and less so in others. The sexual type is constantly moving toward that sense of intense stimulation and juicy energy in their relationships and in their activities. They are the most "energized" of the three instinctual types, and tend to be more aggressive, competitive, charged, and emotionally intense than the Self-Pres or Social types. Sexual types need to have intense energetic charge in their primary relationships or else they remain unsatisfied. They enjoy being intensely involved-even merged-with others, and can become disenchanted with partners who are unable to meet their need for intense energetic union. Losing yourself in a "fusion" of being is the ideal here, and Sexual types are always looking for this state with others and with stimulating objects in their world.
Social (aka "Adaptive") Instinct
Just as many people tend to misidentify themselves as Sexual types because they want one-on-one relationships, many people fail to recognize themselves as Social types because they get the (false) idea that this means always being involved in groups, meetings, and parties. If Self-Preservation types are interested in adjusting the environment to make themselves more secure and comfortable, Social types adapt themselves to serve the needs of the social situation they find themselves in. Thus, Social types are highly aware of other people, whether they are in intimate situations or in groups. They are also aware of how their actions and attitudes are affecting those around them. Moreover, Sexual types seek intimacy, Social types seek personal connection: they want to stay in long-term contact with people and to be involved in their world. Social types are the most concerned with doing things that will have some impact on their community, or even broader domains. They tend to be warmer, more open, engaging, and socially responsible than the other two types. In their primary relationships, they seek partners with whom they can share social activities, wanting their intimates to get involved in projects and events with them. Paradoxically, they actually tend to avoid long periods of exclusive intimacy and quiet solitude, seeing both as potentially limiting. Social types lose their sense of identity and meaning when they are not involved with others in activities that transcend their individual interests.

Typing Yourself and Others

Once you have taken the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (RHETI® version 2.5) to discover your dominant type, and perhaps also the Instinctual Variants Questionnaire to further refine your understanding of the Enneagram types, you may be curious about the personality types of others. Since you will usually not be able to administer the RHETI® or IVQ to business associates or to strangers, you might wonder how you can become more skilled at discovering which type someone else is. By studying the descriptions in Personality Types, Understanding the Enneagram, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram, you will, in time, become more adept at typing people. As you do so, however, you might keep several points in mind.

You may be able to figure out the types of a few close friends rather quickly, or you may find it difficult to categorize people and not know where to begin. Either state is normal. It is not always apparent which type someone is, and it takes time and study to sharpen your skills. Remember that you are like a beginning medical student who is learning to diagnose a wide variety of conditions, some healthy and some unhealthy. It takes practice to learn to identify the various "symptoms" of each type and to see larger "syndromes."

Despite the subtleties and complexities involved, there is really no secret about typing people. You must learn which traits go with each type and observe how people manifest those traits. This is a subtle undertaking because there are many subtypes and quirks to each personality type. Different types can sometimes seem similar, particularly if their motivations are not taken into account. This is why it is not sufficient to focus on a single trait in isolation and make a diagnosis based on it alone. It is necessary to see each type as a whole- its overall style, approach to life, and especially its underlying motivations-before you can determine someone's type reliably. Many elements must come together before you can be sure that you have typed someone accurately.

Moreover, when we diagnose others, we are always on thinner ice than when we use the Enneagram to deepen our own self-knowledge. It is, of course, more appropriate to apply this material to ourselves than to type others while we avoid looking at our own lives. Nevertheless, it is unrealistic to think that anything as interesting (or as insightful) as the Enneagram will not be used for better understanding others. In fact, we categorize people all the time. No one approaches others without some sort of mental categories. We automatically perceive people either as male or female, black or white, attractive or unattractive, good or bad, friend or enemy, and so forth. It is not only honest to be aware of this, it is useful to have more accurate and appropriate categories for everyone, including ourselves.

Although the Enneagram is probably the most open-ended and dynamic of typologies, this does not imply that the Enneagram can say all there is to say about human beings. Individuals are understandable only up to a certain point beyond which they remain mysterious and unpredictable. Thus, while there can be no simple explanations for persons, it is still possible to say something true about them. In the last analysis, the Enneagram helps us to do that-and only that. The Enneagram is useful because it indicates with startling clarity certain constellations of meaning about something that is essentially beyond definition: the mystery that we are.

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How The System Works - The Enneagram Institute

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This explanation covers the basics that you will need to understand how the Enneagram works, and will be especially helpful for beginners. As you will see, only a few simple concepts are needed to begin your journey of self-discovery. The Enneagram, however, is ultimately subtle and complex, as you will appreciate the more you use it in your life.

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A place to share all your family and children's ideas - some examples are given below, click here to be taken to the Famalangadingdong Padlet.

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Add and find useful tools in the Pioneer Tool Library 📚 - it could be a book, resource, training activity, process, poem, song, video, project, organisation....scroll down to find different themed sections/padlets 👇👇👇 see a few sample tools here and click on the links to find even more tools.
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