Who better to promote the merits and benefits of StrengthsFinder than our future priests? In theory, this sounds nice, but how pragmatic is this concept? Well, the odds might be better than we think.

Our parish has been involved in StrengthsFinder since 2009. Over 1,000 people in our community have taken the assessment and most of them have been involved in our seminars, 7-week journey or one on one coaching. This does not include the countless teens we have also introduced StrengthsFinder to.

It has been my experience that the teens (middle school or high school) can be a tough crowd to work with when it comes to Strengths exploration. While they are willing to take the assessment, I find their overall enthusiasm and embrace of the concepts to be more of a mixed bag. Some are excited to learn about their talents while many seem to think it is a nice exercise that might have some value for them someday down the road – way down the road 😊.

I think this just has to do more with where they are at in life than anything else. Because of their youth and lack of life experience, they are usually not as introspective about things compared to adults who have plenty of things to reflect upon and see where their natural tendencies have played out (in family life, careers, etc.). You see the “a-ha” moments going off with adults when they now have words and descriptions to assign to what they experienced.

So it is with this backdrop that I had cautious optimism heading into a StrengthsFinder workshop/seminar that I was putting on for our local seminary. All of the seminarians were there along with their formators and rector. This particular seminary is a college seminary meaning that the guys are roughly 18-22 years of age.

To my pleasant surprise, their openness, curiosity and enthusiasm were off the charts. As I glanced around the room, they were genuinely interested and engaged with the process and what this meant for their continued formation and development.

As we know, these young men are not your typical 20-year-old guys. They are continually bathed in self-evaluation, ongoing personal and pastoral formation and discernment of where the Lord might be leading them. It is the air that they breathe at the seminary. StrengthsFinder was another tool for them to go deeper in not only understanding themselves, but also how they could cultivate their God given gifts to become even more effective witnesses of Christ. They really seemed to enjoy it and appreciate having this new addition to their discernment toolbox.

As I drove home that day, I kept thinking how great it would be if every seminary was able to introduce their men to StrengthsFinder. Not only would it help them in their own growth, but it would plant the seeds of effective ministry down the road. Imagine a Church where our pastoral leaders are enthusiastically leading the charge to help our brothers and sisters discover their God given talents and how they can more actively participate in sharing the Gospel in word and deed!

Bruce Baumann, Director of Faith Formation, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Plano, TX