Written by: Sara Taylor Lattimore on October 26, 2023

Postmodernism and the history of thought could seem like a distant discussion from leadership, a more critical look is a reminder that our history and our development of identity and thought play a role in many parts of society including leadership.

Questions

As I picked up this book by Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism, I thought to myself why in my Doctor of leadership class would I be reading this book. Then I remembered a question I had asked while visiting my exchange sister in Berlin, Germany. How are you taught history in school in a country with a heavy and hard history. Her response was we learn more and more about it year after year in school. We visit the concentration camps a students. We know our history. I then asked her a harder question, How could a leader like Hitler come into power and be given power? As we discussed the environments surrounding this part of German history I began to find parallel through out history and modern day.

As I looked at this book through the lease of these questions, I began to see that knowing and learning from history is critical for understanding leadership context and how thought and power develops.

Context Matters

According to ChatGBT Hick’s “suggests that postmodernism is not just an abstract intellectual movement but a pervasive cultural force that challenges traditional notions of truth, reason, and objectivity. Hicks asserts that postmodernism’s skepticism towards objective truth and its emphasis on subjective experience and power dynamics have led to a shift in how society views knowledge and reality.” Hicks argues that our current cultural context has been influenced by these thought patterns and some of the current social issues are related to this shift in thought and even the budding rejection of this shift.

Understanding how things have shifted can lead to a deeper understanding of how things function now. A less philosophical example of this process would be when entering into a new church context as a new pastor. It is important to spend the first few days and weeks gathering information on the history, the previous leadership, the sentiments of the congregation, etc.. This is critical to understand before making any changes because changes could quickly turn into battles not worth fighting. Understanding the cultural context of the church will be critical to the success of the new pastor/leader. We can not change or develop what we do not understand.

1. Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, 1. ed, expanded ed (Roscoe, Ill.: Ockham’s Razor, 2011).
2. ChatGBT https://chat.openai.com/c/11f337e4-f566-40d0-a8c9-d1ba6ad6914a

About the Author

Sara Taylor Lattimore

Sara is adopted, a wife of 17 years, a mother to 2 amazing children who give her opportunities to be a cheerleader, dress up like a princess, play soccer in the mud, and go on amazing adventures. With a Bachelors in political science and sociology, Sara worked for Child Protective Services as a legal caseworker before following a call into full-time ministry in 2008. During her time in full-time ministry Sara has served in medium to large size local congregations, as well as camp ministry. Sara has a passion for serving others, writing, and speaking. In 2016 Sara worked on a joint publication as a Curriculum Writer. Sara wrote the Intergenerational/Family & Day Camp Resources in “Beyond Belief” for InsideOut Christian Resources for Outdoor Ministry- Published by Chalice Press- Release Date 2018. Sara is looking forward to writing her own book next. Sara completed her MDiv from Iliff School of Theology in 2019 and is currently working on her Doctorate in Leadership and Global Perspectives from Portland Seminary. Sara currently serves as Lead Pastor of a local church in Southwestern Montana. She has previously served in ministry positions leading congregations in engaging globally in healthy mission and outreach partnerships, living life missionally, building innovative programs, and building relationships as the Director of Missions and Outreach, College Ministry Coordinator, Family and Children’s Ministry Director, Director of Christian Education, and Camp Program Director. She is an innovator and visionary who looks to find empowering and dignity restoring ways of building communities of belonging, while listening and partnering with others to find ways to also address the needs of the communities she is planted in. Beyond her work, Sara dreams of growing her family through adoption, kayaking with Orcas, going on pilgrimage on the Camino De Santiago in Spain, traveling in an RV across North America, and traveling internationally.

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