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GiftQuest Documentation

How to Take the GiftQuest Spiritual Gift Inventory

GiftQuest is designed to help you identify the relative strength of seven spiritual gifts and, where applicable, explore ministry and vocational alignment. The quality of your results depends on answering thoughtfully and honestly.

This is not a test with right or wrong answers. Answer according to what is genuinely like you and what brings you deep inner fulfillment, satisfaction, and joy - not according to what you think you should choose or what you wish were true.

Most important: read every statement carefully. In each group, choose exactly one Most (M) and one Least (L). Also take the background Talent (T) and Vocational Interest (V) selections seriously - they influence your ministry and vocation alignment results.
On this page
Inventory overview Background information Statement versions T & V selections Choosing Most & Least How to answer well Saving and resuming Finishing and results Common questions

Inventory overview

The GiftQuest inventory has two main parts. First, you provide background information that helps place your answers in context. Then you work through groups of statements and choose which statement in each group is most like you and which is least like you.

Your spiritual-gift profile is based on the pattern of your Most (M) and Least (L) choices. Additional background selections are used to make ministry and vocational alignment more personally relevant.

1. Complete your background information

Before the statement portion begins, GiftQuest asks for basic information and may ask about your experience in secular vocations and church ministries. When you list previous jobs, careers, ministries, or volunteer roles, rate how fulfilling those experiences actually were for you.

1 - Not Fulfilling
The experience did not bring meaningful satisfaction or joy.
2 - Somewhat Fulfilling
Parts of the experience were satisfying, but not strongly so.
3 - Extremely Fulfilling
The experience brought strong satisfaction, joy, or a sense of fit.

If you do not have three real examples, do not invent them. Enter the experiences you actually have and answer as accurately as you can.

Statement versions: Legacy, Millennial, Gen Z, and Alpha

GiftQuest offers multiple statement versions so the wording, examples, and tone can be more natural for people from different generations and age groups. The available versions are Legacy, Millennial, Gen Z, and Alpha.

The underlying purpose does not change. These are different ways of expressing the inventory statements, not different spiritual-gift systems. The same seven spiritual gifts are being evaluated.

Your age may be used to suggest an appropriate statement version. You can review the Generation selection on the background page and choose the wording version that is most appropriate for you.

The Legacy statement version refers to the inventory's traditional wording. It should not be confused with other GiftQuest materials that may use the word "Legacy" in a different context.

Do not skip the T & V selections

The T and V checkboxes are important parts of your GiftQuest results. They are not simply optional survey questions.

T Spiritual Gifts & Talents

Select every item that genuinely fits you - gifts or God-given talents you reasonably believe you possess. Do not select something only because you admire it or wish it described you.

V Vocational Interest Categories

Select every category that genuinely fits work you have found fulfilling or work you reasonably believe would be fulfilling to you.

Your T and V choices influence the final ministry and vocation alignment scores and rankings. Both the items you select and the items you leave unselected can matter to those results. Do not leave the entire section blank simply to move through the inventory faster.

These selections are separate from the seven-gift profile produced by the Most/Least statement portion. In other words, your T and V selections help refine where your gifting may align; they do not replace the spiritual-gift inventory itself.

If you are uncertain about an item, use your best honest judgment. Select it when you have a reasonable basis to believe it fits you. Avoid both over-selecting everything and under-selecting because you are being overly cautious.

2. Choose one Most and one Least in every group

The statement portion presents groups of four statements. Read all four statements before choosing. Each group must contain exactly:

MMost like you
Choose the one statement, out of the four, that is generally most like you and most naturally reflects what brings you fulfillment or inner satisfaction.
LLeast like you
Choose the one statement, out of the four, that is generally least like you or least naturally reflects what brings you fulfillment or inner satisfaction.

The other two statements remain unselected. A statement cannot be both Most and Least in the same group.

How to answer well

GiftQuest works best when you answer from your actual experience and natural patterns instead of trying to create a particular result. Keep these principles in mind:

  • Read every word. Small differences in wording can change the meaning of a statement.
  • Choose by fulfillment. Think about what brings deep inner satisfaction and joy and what tends to be naturally energizing rather than draining.
  • Answer as you are. Do not answer according to what you think a Christian, leader, employee, parent, or volunteer should choose.
  • Do not answer aspirationally. Choose what is genuinely true, not what you hope will become true later.
  • Do not compare yourself with someone else. The inventory is asking about your own patterns of fulfillment.
  • Make a relative choice. More than one statement may sound like you. Your task is still to choose the most-like and least-like statement within that particular group.
  • Be consistent, not perfect. Use your best judgment and keep moving rather than trying to reverse-engineer what a statement might measure.

Saving and resuming

GiftQuest tracks your progress as you work through the statement groups. Your selections are saved as you make them, and the Save option allows you to stop before the inventory is complete.

If you were given or emailed a secure inventory access link, keep it available so you can return to the same inventory. When you resume, review any incomplete group and continue from there rather than starting a second inventory.

Finishing the inventory and understanding the results

When every required statement group has one Most and one Least selection, the inventory can be finished and scored. Your results show the relative strength of the seven spiritual gifts measured by GiftQuest.

Where ministry and vocational alignment results are provided, those results consider your spiritual-gift profile together with relevant inventory responses and the T and V selections you made in the background section.

A high or low result is not a statement of your value, maturity, faithfulness, or ability to serve. GiftQuest is intended to help you understand patterns of gifting and alignment so that you can consider them thoughtfully alongside experience, prayer, Scripture, wise counsel, and real-world opportunities to serve.

Common questions

That is normal. Compare only the four statements in that group and choose the one that is relatively most like you and the one that is relatively least like you.

Not necessarily. Skill and fulfillment are not always the same thing. For the Most/Least statements, focus on what is genuinely like you and what brings inner satisfaction and joy.

Do not leave them blank merely to save time. The T and V selections influence ministry and vocation alignment results. Review each item and select all that genuinely fit you. If no item in a particular category fits, it is appropriate to leave that item unselected.

No. The statement versions adapt wording, examples, and tone for different generations and age groups. The same seven spiritual gifts remain the focus of the inventory.

Use the real experience you do have. Do not invent jobs, ministries, or ratings simply to fill every field. For T and V selections, use your best honest judgment about talents you may possess and categories of work you reasonably believe would be fulfilling.

No. Read each statement for what it says and answer naturally. Trying to predict the result can make your responses less representative of your actual patterns.
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