Leading Pentecostally: Everything Lives Where the River Runs

Carolyn Tennant

Book cover for Leading Pentecostally: Everything Lives Where the River Runs
Image for variant 9798986539522
Book cover for Leading Pentecostally: Everything Lives Where the River Runs
Image for variant 9798986539522

Leading Pentecostally: Everything Lives Where the River Runs

Leading Pentecostally: Everything Lives Where the River Runs

Carolyn Tennant

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Description

What can a Pentecostal bring to leadership that the smartest atheist in town cannot?

This daring question by Dr. Carolyn Tennant reframes everything: leadership that isn't merely clever or current, but Spirit-led, rooted in God's presence, shaped by God's power, and measured by God's mission.

Leading Pentecostally contends that the Church doesn't just need better methods; it needs leaders who shepherd in step with the Holy Spirit, where doctrine and daily decisions meet, and presence matters more than polish.

We've imported corporate playbooks and crowned CEOs where Jesus asked for followers. Programs, platforms, and performance can't replace Spirit-authority, or the Great Commission's call to "go out and make disciple of all men and women."

For decades, pop-culture leadership trends have captivated the Church, promising growth while producing exhaustion. We've counted activity and attendance while neglecting transformation.

But when leaders step into the river that flows from God's throne, when we relinquish control and follow the Spirit, life springs up everywhere.

Are you ready to leave the safety of the shallows, enter the current, and watch the Spirit do what strategies never can, bringing to life everything your leadership touches?

For pastors and lay leaders who suspect there's more than metrics, who long to trade stagecraft for surrender and busyness for boldness, this book is your invitation and your wake-up call. If you want leadership that feels like Jesus, yielded, weighty, and alive in the Spirit, you'll find the language, lenses, and practical applications here to make it real.

You'll especially value:

  • A precise answer to the core question: what the Spirit-filled leader offers that natural brilliance can't-authority, guidance, and life from God's presence.
  • A Pentecostal praxis as distinctive as Pentecostal theology, where presence delivers infinitely more than performance.
  • A courageous critique of CEO-style church models and a Spirit-first alternative aligned with the Great Commission's "go out."
  • A vivid "river of life" framework (Rev. 22; Ezek. 47) for discerning God's leadership, plus a way to test results: is everything around you coming alive?
  • Practical recalibrations of "success," shifting from numbers and notoriety to Spirit-empowered transformation.
  • A call to prioritize prayer, altars, and waiting, making room for the Spirit's boldness, gifts, and fruit.
  • For readers who appreciate trusted voices: Dr. Tennant has authored several other works, including Catch the Wind of the Spirit and Keys to the Apostolic and Prophetic.

The river is moving. Will you dip your toe or wade in over your head? Because everything lives where the river runs!

Critical Reviews

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT

Leading Pentecostally: Everything Lives Where the River Runs

Dr. "T," as we often call her, has spent years, decades, searching what it means to be a Pentecostal leader. She has used her well-informed biblical research alongside her practical experience to develop a healthy, clear, and insightful approach to ministry for the Pentecostal leader. If you are a Pentecostal leader, you must read this book!

Rev. Rick Dubose, Assistant Superintendent of the Assemblies of God U.S.A., author of The Creator's Wheel and In Jesus' Name.

Many Pentecostal leaders sense intuitively that our leadership should be as spiritually distinctive as our theology of the Spirit. Dr. Carolyn Tennant is a trusted Pentecostal scholar and powerful prophetic voice. So it is fitting that she would step up in this work to challenge people of the Spirit to go beyond cultural and corporate leadership models to define Spirit-led leadership that engages, creates, and transforms Pentecostally. And like the river of the Spirit Tennant calls us to, this book runs deep. What a life-giving, mentoring read for hungry leaders who want to go deeper in Spirit-led practice in ways that do justice to our deeply held doctrine of the Spirit.

Dr. Beth Grant, Missionary educator and author of Leading with a Whisper

Dr. Carolyn Tennant is a critical communicator in Pentecostal circles. We have hosted her in our ministry network multiple times. In her book Leading Pentecostally, she addresses questions that will help Pentecostal leaders impact their world with the gospel. This is not a book about tactics and skills, it is about what's genuinely in the heart of a Pentecostal leader, and that's critical.

Dr. Donald E. Ross, Northwest Ministry Network Leader and author of Turnaround Pastor

In a culture where leadership authority can sometimes be abused, even in the church, that misuse is deconstructed and proactively combatted by Dr. Tennant's concepts expressed in this book. The author addresses "followership" at its best, and the One we are to follow is the Holy Spirit. We are most fit to lead others only after the Holy Spirit leads us and we learn to yield and follow well. The image I get from this book is that of a horse with blinders on that follows well with full trust, using its gifts and strengths to benefit its master. More than just another book on leadership, Leading Pentecostally is a real game changer for the reader who absorbs its content.

Donna Barrett, General Secretary of the Assemblies of God (USA)

Tennant brings a clarion call to make haste and for the Church and her leaders to put Christ back in the center of it all. Her passion for Pentecostal leaders is convincing and found in His presence. She reminds us of the journey to leadership and that it is not a destination, but an intimacy. This book searches my heart.

Dr. Joseph S. Girdler, Superintendent (2004-present), Kentucky Ministry Network, Assemblies of God - USA

Publishing Information

Publisher: Carolyn Tennant
Pub date: 2025-10-10
Length: 272 pages

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