Session One:
Spiritual Gifts Inventory
February 16, 2025
11:45am-12:45pm
Parish Hall
The following information is taken from the website of The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.
About Spiritual Gift Inventory
The Spiritual Gifts Inventory is designed to be a helpful process for those who would like to serve the church and community.
Paul Writes:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:6-8
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
Ephesians 4:7, 11-13
We begin from the premise that everyone has gifts, useful, and necessary to the work of God in and through the community, world and church. The second premise is that the gifts we have are not the same gifts, that each of us has something different that we can offer. In no way can it be construed that any one gift is better than any other gift. All gifts are precious. All gifts are needed in the life and ministry of the community and church.
Johannes Eckhart
One means of testing one’s ministry is to match it against the fruits of the spirit listed in Galatians: “… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Ministry should yield fruit. For instance, if one has the gift of hospitality then having people in one’s home or welcoming them to church should bring forth feelings of love, joy, peace, etc., rather than making one feel anxious, impatient or imposed on. Using our spiritual gifts for God deepens our spiritual maturity, contentment in service, and daily joy.
The spiritual gifts are more than talents or aptitudes. Expressing our gifts is a direct path to knowing and experiencing God with us. When we use our gifts there is a sensation or felt knowledge of the presence of something more than just ourselves at work in that moment. It comes in the form of inspiration, new ideas, seeing people or things in a new way, generous amounts of energy, a sudden capacity that “comes out of nowhere,” a sense of joy and “rightness.” As you deepen in your spiritual gifts these experiences become more frequent and give you new insight into God and a deeper feeling of abundance, of being connected to, known and loved by God.