Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos (mersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith) [Paperback]

Tim Keel (Author)

Book Description

Series: mersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith | Publication Date: October 1, 2007

As our culture shifts from modern to postmodern, pastors and church leaders are finding that old, rigid church leadership systems and structures no longer seem to work. Church leaders are searching for and discovering new, creative ways of leading--emphasizing intuition, creativity, narrative, and an embrace of the chaos and tension of our time. Tim Keel, pastor of a thriving emergent church and a rising leader in the emergent church movement, offers a thought-provoking yet practical exploration of this new style he calls Intuitive Leadership. His fresh approach will be welcomed by pastors and lay leaders interested in the emergent conversation and how Christian mission should look in our rapidly changing culture.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

EXCERPT FROM CATALOG We live in the midst of an emerging postmodern milieu. This is a new world that seeks to bring the heart and soul and body back into contact and balance with a modern mind that is not just dangerously enlarged but nearly detached. Out of this environment a different imagination is starting to emerge. As it does, a new language set is developing that is artistic, intuitive, prophetic, and poetic. This language set and the new kinds of competencies that are beginning to assert themselves in response to this environment are doing so not in terms defined by the categories and structures of the former world (modernity) but in ways that are new--and, in many cases, ancient. When the time comes for God to do something new within a culture that has grown stagnant or unresponsive to his movement, God often moves from the margins of that culture. We see this kind of shift illustrated in the narratives of Scripture where more often than not the margins are symbolized by the woman and the child: Moses and his mother, Ruth and Obed, Hannah and Samuel, Mary and Jesus. Because systems and structures rarely surrender their power, the woman and the child are often vulnerable and endangered. They seem insignificant, even bothersome or contemptible, and yet wiser men than I sensed a change in their world two thousand years ago. Rather than sit ensconced within their controlled worlds, they set off to find the source of this change: a babe lying in a manger, on the margins of society. New wineskins emerge to make space for what is happening as the old often burst, unable to contain what is fresh and new. New systems and structures must emerge to release the kind of imagination and creative thinking I have been describing.

From the Back Cover

The world is changing. To make an impact today, churches need to discover new ways of leading that embrace intuition, creativity, narrative, and the chaos and tension of our time. Tim Keel offers a theologically grounded, thoughtful, and practical exploration of how intuitive leadership can help the local church embrace contemporary opportunities and challenges. This important contribution to the emergent church discussion will help you find the freedom to explore the possibilities and empower your church for our postmodern world. "Tim Keel writes with the eye of an artist, the heart of a pastor, the mind of a philosopher, and the hope of a visionary. His intuitions will inspire your own, and his voice will add so much to the conversation about what is emerging in our lives, churches, and world."--Brian McLaren, author, speaker (brianmclaren.net) "Tim Keel has written a fascinating and engaging book that will quickly become both a starting point and a standard bearer for thinking about leadership in the emerging church."--John R. Franke, professor of theology, Biblical Seminary "Deeply personal and human in its approach, Intuitive Leadership both charms the mind and informs the heart. The result is a wise and gentle tracing of the contours of postmodernism that is as healing as it is liberating."--Phyllis Tickle, contributing editor in religion, Publishers Weekly "Read Tim Keel's book. Let it invite you to connect with your stories, the markers along the road that have been shaping you so far. Let it permit you to give voice to your questions."--from the foreword by Alan J. Roxburgh, vice president, Allelon Canada Tim Keel is the founding pastor of Jacob's Well, a growing church in Kansas City, Missouri, and serves on the board of directors for Emergent Village. He is passionate about creating spaces for people to connect to God, themselves, others, and the surrounding world.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Baker Books (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801068134
• ISBN-13: 978-0801068133
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #911,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth your time, even if you're not a leader..., December 13, 2007

By 

Timothy Samoff "Samoff Dot Com" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos (mersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith) (Paperback)

It's been a long time since I read a book that I couldn't put down... And the book was most likely a work of fiction. But this one is most certainly real stuff, as non-fiction as you can get. And even though I'm not a church leader, per se, something about Intuitive Leadership - Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor & Chaos, the latest literary endeavor by Jacob's Well Church pastor and Emergent Village co-founder, Tim Keel drew me in, bound my imagination, and wouldn't let me go until I turned the last page. Keel's experience, not only as a pastor and teacher, but as an artist, allowed him to effortlessly create a dialog that is as flowing and natural as it is compelling. This is a narrative that was forged as much by limber fingers dancing lightly (and sometimes very heavily) on the keyboard of a laptop computer as it was by dipping brush after brush into a multitude of jars of pigment. Keel's words leapt off of each page as if he were sitting right in front of me, narrating the very text that I was reading.

Read the entire review here:

http://sense-datum.org/tim/archive/2007/11/28/book_review_intuitive_leadersh/tim_samoff__weblog

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Effective Ministry in a Broken World, November 15, 2007

By 

Dr. David Frisbie (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos (mersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith) (Paperback)

How do we serve each other in such a broken world?
How do we "live Jesus" in the midst of so much suffering, uncertainty, and confusion?

Like a good friend who's spent some time further up the trail, Tim Keel shows us what intuitive leadership looks like, helping pastors and other leaders (and the rest of us) understand how to grow communities of faith.

There's a lot of insight here about our own heritage and how it sometimes prevents the very ministry we're trying to achieve. Well worth reading!

Meanwhile, in a world increasingly shaped by story-telling and metaphor, Keel shows us how to embrace meaning, deploy justice, and live faith.

Dr. David Frisbie
The Center for Marriage & Family Studies
Author of Raising Great Kids on Your Own: A Guide and Companion for Every Single Parent

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read, November 4, 2007

By 

Mike Walden (kville, mo) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos (mersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith) (Paperback)

Tim delivers a clear, well-researched, crisply written articulation of the changing landscape our environment and how it relates to engaging with God in our time. It is a very personal story which provides great insight to his church, Jacob's Well. This is a great read for anyone interested in learning more about how modern Church history has shaped a lot of our understanding of the gospel.