The church is God’s family. To participate in church, is to participate in “together.” What if “together” is difficult for you? In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kristen Schwind and Ron Messner give voice to the introvert in church. They highlight both the weaknesses and the strengths our personalities pose in how we experience the “together” aspect of church. 

 Who is an introvert?  

• A person who finds solitude as life-giving and human interaction as life-expending.  

 Who is an extrovert? 

• A person who finds human interaction as life-giving and solitude as life-expending.  

 How can introversion in the church be challenging?   

• Fellowship can be difficult. 
• By being reserved, individuals can be misjudged as aloof or uncaring. 
• By being reserved, individuals can be passed over for duties. 
• By not being always present, individuals can be misjudged as uncommitted. 

 How can we walk in an understanding way towards the introvert in church? 

• Be a safe person to talk to. 
• Use their gift of listening and employ them in discipleship opportunities. 
• Learn from their ability to find life in solitude. 
• Provide structure in social settings. Corporate worship, small group Bible studies, committee work and various church duties are excellent examples of this. 

 What encouragement is there for the introvert? 

• Be careful not to fall into isolation. 
• Challenge yourself to step out and engage the community of the church. 
• Make full use of the structured social events such as worship, teaching and more. 

The church is God’s family. To participate in church, is to participate in “together.” What if “together” is difficult for you? In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kristen Schwind and Ron Messner give voice to the introvert in church. They highlight both the weaknesses and the strengths our personalities pose in how we experience the “together” aspect of church. 

 Who is an introvert?  

• A person who finds solitude as life-giving and human interaction as life-expending.  

 Who is an extrovert? 

• A person who finds human interaction as life-giving and solitude as life-expending.  

 How can introversion in the church be challenging?   

• Fellowship can be difficult. 
• By being reserved, individuals can be misjudged as aloof or uncaring. 
• By being reserved, individuals can be passed over for duties. 
• By not being always present, individuals can be misjudged as uncommitted. 

 How can we walk in an understanding way towards the introvert in church? 

• Be a safe person to talk to. 
• Use their gift of listening and employ them in discipleship opportunities. 
• Learn from their ability to find life in solitude. 
• Provide structure in social settings. Corporate worship, small group Bible studies, committee work and various church duties are excellent examples of this. 

 What encouragement is there for the introvert? 

• Be careful not to fall into isolation. 
• Challenge yourself to step out and engage the community of the church. 
• Make full use of the structured social events such as worship, teaching and more. 

The communication process is hard enough with just words. Add emotion to the mix and sometimes we might as well be speaking a foreign language. This is because the present moment meaning we attribute to emotions has been constructed in the past. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kaleb Beyer untangles the knot spousal communication can find itself in because we are not decoding the emotions in the room correctly.

• There are six basic emotions common to all people: happiness, sadness, surprise, shame, anger and fear.
• Each of these emotions has a lot of shades. For example, anger spans from irritation to rage with many experiences in between.
• The meaning we make out of emotions is not common among all people. For example, anger for one person means something different to another.
• The meaning we make out of emotions was constructed in past experiences. For example, how a person did or did not experience soothing when anger arose in their past largely formed up the meaning they attribute to anger today.
• In marriage relationships, emotional messages can get mixed and can set off an unhealthy cycle of communication. Each one “hearing” the incorrect meaning from the other.
• Emotions teach us about ourselves. Slowing down and noticing the cues that trigger emotions and the meaning we construct is very instructive.
• By understanding our emotional experience and that of our spouse, we can better interact in an understanding way.

Identify formation follows a simple path: Exploration to Commitment. Exploration must precede commitment. Commitment must precede a settled identity. Yet, taking the path is not necessarily easy. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Ted Witzig Jr. explains some of the finer points along the journey to belonging, purpose and worth.