Andi Lynch

Senior Project
Final Paper
Confidence in Christ: God Given Spiritual Gifts
When I first started my senior project I had looked at some of the
problems that comes across often in childrens ministry. I noticed that
many parents were not confident in their ability to teach about God to
their children and when equipping parents to be the primary faith
formers of their children is my future job I wanted to work on a project
that could help. I had decided with the help of professor Christopher to
do a project on spiritual gifts. I wanted my project to make a difference
in the lives of people who were already in a Christian leadership
position. In order to do this I asked the SLR (spiritual life
representatives) and RAs (Resident Assistants) of our Concordia
campus if they would be interested in learning about their spiritual
gifts and ways to use the gifts they have. I ended up with 6 SLRs and
9 RAs that signed up for my project and that totaled 16 people that
were interested in their spiritual gifts!
One thing that I quickly realized as I was researching for my
project was this was not going to be easy. First of all spiritual gifts are
somewhat of a taboo topic in the Lutheran church because of all of the
controversy in the 60s with the charismatic gifts (speaking in tongues,
healingsetc.) With all of the controversy I had to be very careful how
I presented the information and keep on my path of using the (servant
leader) spiritual gifts instead of being caught up in a controversial
battle that would have left people confused and angry. I knew I wanted
to focus on how spiritual gifts could benefit the Body of Christ and how
the servant leaders could continue in the use of those spiritual gifts.
Another obstacle that I had to face was the fact that I was not using my
strongest gifts. I love to do the administration stuff in the background,
paperwork and forms are my forte but being in front of people not so
much. However, through out my project I learn so many different skills
that will help me so much in my future career as a DFLM.
The first big step to my project was to pick an inventory in which
I could have student leaders take and learn what their spiritual gifts
were. I had to go through many different inventories and decide which
one would fit best with my criteria. I decided on the Modified Houts
questionnaire, an inventory that was written in a non-Lutheran
perspective but I felt covered all of the spiritual gifts, was easy to
understand, and could be completed in under 20 minuets. After I gave
the inventory I got some backlash from the student leaders because
they were not expecting a non-Lutheran perspective (some people
thought that I had written the inventory). I think that I needed to do a
better job at disclaiming the inventory and preparing the student

leaders for what was to come. However overall I got a lot of

complements on how the project was run and no one in my one on one
meetings has said that the inventory was a stumbling block for them.
My second big step was the Bible study. This is where the bulk of
my time and effort was spent. I spent months looking at different
spiritual gifts classes, Bob McKinneys masters thesis, CTCR
documents, and other resources that pastors on campus and at my
home church gave me. I also had the opportunity to ask pastors their
own opinions and understandings, which was enlightening in many
ways. It was during this time that I learned how to do quality research
and ask for help and advice from people that had more knowledge
than I did. At first I had a hard time because I believed that I had
bitten off more than I could chewmy plans was to write an entire
Bible study about a very hard topic in the church. However I had to
trust that God had everything in control and at the very least people
would know what spiritual gifts they had. Looking back I can see that
God was working through my fear of not being good enough. While
this is a lesson that I did not enjoy learning I feel that I had to learn
how to trust fully in Him. I wrote my Bible study in a large group small
group format so that everyone would have a chance to participate in
the small groups and we would all have a sense of community sharing
our highlights in the large group. I also wanted to give everyone a
booklet of resources to use so that they could go back and research
spiritual gifts themselves in the future. As an administrative person I
had a great time writing the Bible study and was extremely proud of it
when I brought it into our mentor meeting. When I gave the Bible
study I expected to be extremely nervous however after talking with
people before I felt great and I believe that the study went very well.
My final part of the project was short 10 minuet one on one
meetings for people who were interested in going a step further and
learning more about their spiritual gifts. In a total of 11 people that
made it to my Bible study 9 wanted an additional meeting. I count this
as a huge success! In my one on one meetings many people have said
that this project has opened their eyes to what spiritual gifts are and
how their gifts are acting in their lives. I have some meetings where
people can see their gifts working in their lives. They are excited to
use them and for their gifts to be affirmed in the Body of Christ. In
one of my meetings a leader who loves to go on missions had a great
affirming moment because she could apply all of her gifts to the
mission work that she is doing on campus and what she is gong to do
in the future. Many other leaders have mentioned that with the
discerning of spirits gift they also have a better understanding of why
they can tell what peoples motives are behind their action. This was
such a cool learning for me to see how people are taking the project
and applying it to their lives to build up the Body of Christ.

Overall in my project I have learned many important skills that I

will use in my internship and in my future career as a DFLM. I have
learned how to research, write a Bible study, give a Bible study, follow
up on a project, have an assessment plan afterward, and most
importantly trust in God. I think one of the most valuable pieces
knowledge that I have gained from this project is that I can do this! I
do not have to worry that I am unskilled and new in the profession but
instead I know that I have the knowledge and skills to be a great DFLM.
I know that in the future there will be many different struggles that I
will face, sometimes I will do a great job while other times I will fail
miserably. However I am not going into church work for myself, I am a
child of God and my job is to follow Him and lead as many people (and
families) as God puts in front of me. This project has been a great
experience and I cant wait to serve my Lord in the future.