The Rev. Dr. Ken Hood

Leadership Coach, Author, Pastor

“The glory of God is a person fully alive.” -Irenaeus

Ken’s passion is supporting leaders as they discover more about themselves, deepen in their strengths, face and integrate the more challenging parts of themselves, and flourish in their work and their lives as more spacious, whole people. Religious leaders navigating complicated systems, seeking to lead in a more authentic way, contemplating a shift into a new role or identity, or who are committed to ongoing growth and learning are Ken’s primary focus.

Ken has coached leaders in a variety of contexts and levels: seminary faculty, seminary doctoral students, pastors of large, medium, and small churches, church staff and volunteers, as well as people in a variety of industries from medicine, engineering, to education around the globe. Ken brings a powerful, eclectic approach steeped in Internal Family Systems (IFS), transformational coaching, and contemplative spiritual practices.

Ken brings over twenty years of experience as a pastor. He began his career in ministry as a church planter, shepherding the Presbyterian Church of Lake Travis from an idea to a chartered congregation continuing to thrive in the Texas hill country of Austin. He pastored the creative and dynamic Tualatin Presbyterian Church for 18 years, earning multiple Lilly grants for innovation and creativity in worship. During this time Ken also authored two books published by Wipf and Stock. The Irrational Jesus: Leading the Fully Human Church blended his doctoral work with behavioral economist Dan Ariely with practical tools for church leadership. The Irrational David: The Power of Poetic Leadership pairs poetry and scriptural interpretation inspired by his time studying conversational leadership with poet David Whyte. Ken also served as an adjunct faculty member at Duke Divinity School for nine years. There, Ken supported several classes as a teaching assistant, co-taught the Thesis class, and served as a cohort mentor for spiritual practices.

Education:

BA Honors Humanities The University of Texas at Austin 1994

M.Div Princeton Theological Seminary 2001

D.Min Duke Divinity School 2014

Certifications:

Hudson Certified Coach

ACC, International Coaching Federation

IFS Informed Practitioner

Strategic Planning and Risk Management, Stanford University

Conversational Leadership, David Whyte

Psychedelic Assisted Somatic Trauma Level 1, Psychedelic Somatic Institute

Certified Recovery Coach