The Irrational David

In The Irrational Jesus: Leading the Fully Human Church, Ken Evers-Hood explored how our predictable irrationality can trip us up and how we can adjust for biases. But irrationality isn't all bad. Leaders who live in their heads will never connect deeply with the hearts of those they serve. Because we are like small rational riders astride enormous emotional elephants, leaders must learn how to sing to elephants even as they speak to riders. In The Irrational David: The Power of Poetic Leadership, Ken invites you to sing.

Through his work with poet David Whyte, Ken explores poetic leadership in King David, a fully human, irrational leader who knew how to stir people with song. In four sections, The Irrational David observes King David the believer, the beloved, the beautiful mess, and the broken-hearted. Offering his own poetry as a lens, Ken enters into scripture and creates a conversation between the spoken word and sacred text.

Discover how irrationality and poetry can prepare us for the real conversations for which our communities are so hungry. Find new layers of meaning in familiar Scriptures. And welcome a fellow traveler into your life who has found strength through vulnerability and is willing to share his journey on the beautiful and messy road of faith with you.


""Evers-Hood invites us into a powerful series of intertwining reflections on Scripture, poetry, ministry, and faith. This book is a refreshing read for pastors looking to revitalize their ministry by reminding us all that we are not just brains that ponder logically, but feeling creatures trying to move through a confounding world. Also, the lay person will find a refreshing imagination around what it means to see faith as a gift of grace not an achievement of certainty.""
--Eric Barreto, Associate Professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary

""Through personal storytelling, poetry, and reflections on the stories of our faith, Ken gives us a model for how to organize our Christian life together. That through storytelling in its various forms, a Christian community can share vulnerability, and expand its imagination, sense of wonder, and prophetic possibilities in order to be loving and be loved. As Ken writes about, those are risks worth taking in order to live in the Holy Ways of God.""
--Ashley Goff, Minister for Spiritual Formation and Director of The Pilgrimage, Church of the Pilgrims


Ken Evers-Hood graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary and earned his Doctor of Ministry from Duke Divinity School. He is the author of The Irrational Jesus: Leading the Fully Human Church, an imaginative blend of behavioral economics, game theory, and practical ministry. Ken pastors Tualatin Presbyterian Church, a creative, flourishing community near Portland, Oregon. When Ken isn't serving TPC, you might find him talking about irrationality to anyone who will listen, juggling everything that goes along with three kids, or enjoying an Oregon coast sunset with his wife Melissa.