The Introvert Charismatic: The Gift of Introversion in a Noisy Church

by Mark Tanner, David Wilkinson (Foreword)

The modern Christian world – most notably in charismatic and evangelical circles – often seems dominated by extrovert behaviour. Those who are easy with exuberant worship, relish large crowds and are recharged by fellowship seem to set the tone. Introverts – those who recharge their batteries in private – can sometimes find charismatic culture a bit shallow, loud, driven or insensitive, but still love the things that God is doing. Those whose faith is at its most meaningful in private worship or one-to-one conversation can easily feel excluded – as if they need to shout before God will move in power. Is introversion a sin to be forgiven, an illness to be healed or an oppression to be defeated? "It is none of those things," emphasizes Mark Tanner. "Introversion is a creation gift. It is part of the image of God." This book will be a means of freedom to those who read it: It is right to worship God with the personality you have been given; the Holy Spirit wants to use introverts; the world and the Church need them – they are a gift.

Genres: Christian, Psychology, Religion, Faith, Theology

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2015

About the author

Mark Tanner is the Anglican Bishop of Berwick, a suffragan in the Diocese of Newcastle. Before that he was warden of Cranmer Hall, St John's College, Durham, UK. He had also been vicar of Holy Trinity in Ripon for four years. While at Ripon, he was also Officiating Chaplain to 21 Engineering Regiment, Area Dean of Ripon, and Regional Network Leader as part of the North and East Leadership for New Wine. Before moving to Holy Trinity he was vicar of St Mary's, Wheatley, in the red light district of Doncaster, and was an Associate with ReSource. He has also been the convenor of the Renewal series of Grove Booklets. His passion is seeing people release into all that God has for them. He loves introducing people to faith, is a natural teacher and trainer, an instinctive strategist and networker.

He has written variously on a number of subjects, including a book entitled The Introvert Charismatic and a number of Grove Booklets, mainly on preaching and leadership.

He is married to Lindsay and they have two teenage children. He enjoys vehicles (especially a 1951 BSA Bantam he is rebuilding), real ale (but not at the same time as the bike) and being a husband and dad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ta...

Reviews

[Vivien Naomi Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book deserves a 4-star almost purely because of the lack of coverage on such issues out there. The title is promising but if you are an introvert looking for answers (like me), then perhaps you will find some parts uninteresting or slightly irrelevant. I mean, if introverts are who Mark Tanner describes to be, the chance of them having thought through most of what he says, is pretty high, in my opinion. But well, the affirmation is pretty assuring. I think Tanner did structure the book well, but the contents within the structure were not always short and sweet as I would have liked it to be. Perhaps there's so much worry about offending people on either side of the spectrum that sometimes the point gets obscured in the middle of all the disclaimers and apologies. (i am generalizing; i don't claim to be an expert; not that extroversion is bad) and too much of the word count is invested in defining and redefining what is charismatic. The chapter on church history of charismatics was necessary but I thought it dragged on too long after the point was made, which greatly diminished my interest in continuing the book from that point onwards. However, I did enjoy the ending chapters which was straightforward and tackles directly the point of challenging introverts to not just be accepted but to accept others within the community. Definitely worth a read either way but I suppose some parts can be skimmed through, with discretion and personal preference considered.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second time I have read this book certainly some interesting thoughts about Introversion and some interesting conclusions. A good read for Christians from a Pentecostal perspective and thought provoking

[Brian Macleod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful and full of plenty insights.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came to this book after having read Adam McHugh's "Introverts in the Church" and Susan Cain's "Quiet". McHugh's book had been a life-changer for me, helping me to understand myself in new ways. I was excited to see this book come out, written as it was from a UK charismatic perspective.

If you've not read the other books it is probably a good book to read, but it felt to me a bit like coming to a GCSE textbook after reading an A-Level book. It also tended to focus on New Wine charismatic Christianity, and I come from a "New Churches" charismatic background, which is rather different. I also felt it dwelt at rather great length on defining what it meant by a charismatic in a way that didn't particularly help me.

Having got my negative comments out of the way, I did appreciate the second half of the book, and would recommend it for those in the UK who haven't read other books on the topic. I would also commend the book to anyone involved in leading who just doesn't get why introverts struggle with aspects of charismatic (and evangelical) church culture. I will certainly be passing the book to some of the extrovert leaders I know and work with in a bid to spread greater understanding of the ways in which we differ, and as a tool for embracing diversity in the church.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable a read, especially as I largely read it at the UK's New Wine Shepton Mallet Conference. Whilst some of the content nicely overlaps with the book 'Quiet', this is particularly aimed at the context of the Charismatic church. There was a lot of good things to think and reflect about raised in this book (this clearly gives me away as a classic introvert!) Interesting that it also pointed out some things about myself about some of my habits and preferences which those who really know me will think are obvious to. A helpful and interesting read.