“All those prayer and Bible-study groups, the fellowship and hugging and that obligation to spread the word. Sounds like a hotbed of extroversion to me.”

I realize how introversion–for better and worse–permeates all aspects of our lives. I was surprised to learn about the new book, Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture, by Adam McHugh, an introvert and pastor in an evangelical Christian church.

Introversion in the church. Well. That never occurred to me. I am not churchgoing (or synagogue, as would be appropriate for my background), and in my ignorance, imagined such institutions as havens of quiet contemplation, perfect for introverts.

But then I read this book and … of course! All those prayer and Bible-study groups, the fellowship and hugging and, for evangelicals, that obligation to spread the word. Sounds like a hotbed of extroversion to me. In fact, McHugh so struggled with that at one point, he contemplated giving up his theological studies. But he didn’t, and now is reaching out to other introverts. He was kind enough to answer some questions about his path and his book for us, and you can visit his website, Introverted Church. www.introvertedchurch.com/

In what ways is the church geared towards extroverts?

I think that in many church communities, the extroverted bias of our larger culture has crept into church practice, especially those churches that associate with the evangelical tradition. Churches sometimes unintentionally equate faithfulness with extroversion; we draw up a composite sketch of the “ideal” Christian–gregarious, with an overt passion and enthusiasm, eager to participate in a wide variety of activities, shares their faith with strangers regularly, assumes leadership positions quickly, opens up their home to others often–and this ideal person starts sounding suspiciously like an extrovert.

Editor’s Note: This article is taken from the on-line version of Psychology Today. The author, a non-Christian, writes a blog entitled The Introvert’s Corner. Click here to read the entire interview with Pastor McHugh, an evangelical PCUSA minister and formen Inter Varsity campus leader. www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-introverts-corner/201002/interview-adam-mchugh-author-introverts-in-the-church