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Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory, By Tod Bolsinger

Canoeing the Mountains

Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory

Expanded Edition

by Tod Bolsinger

Canoeing the Mountains
Hardback
$28.99
  • Length: 272 pages
  • Dimensions: 6 × 9 in
  • Published: April 24, 2018
  • Imprint: IVP
  • ISBN: 9780830841479
Other Formats:

Over 150,000 Copies Sold Worldwide!

Outreach Resource of the Year – Leadership

Learn to Scale the Mountains of Modern Ministry Leadership

Explorers Lewis and Clark hadto adapt to the unexpected. They set out prepared to chart a waterway to the Pacific Ocean, only to find themselves face-to-face with the Rocky Mountains. In many ways, leadership today feels much the same. You may find yourself navigating an unfamiliar cultural landscape, leading in contexts you never anticipated. Perhaps the skills and training you once relied on feel inadequate for the journey ahead, holding you back more often than propelling you forward.

Drawing from his extensive experience as a pastor and consultant, Tod Bolsinger brings decades of expertise in guiding churches and organizations through uncharted territory. In Canoeing the Mountains, Bolsinger provides a thoughtful and practical guide for leaders facing the unprecedented challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Canoeing the Mountains offers:

  • Fresh perspectives on the adaptive leadership needed to face today’s challenges
  • Practical strategies tohelp you rethink your approach to leading in unfamiliar and shifting environments
  • An expanded study guide to help you reflect, apply, and implement these lessons in your own leadership journey

If you’re ready to move beyond thetools that no longer serve you and embrace a new way of leading, Canoeing the Mountains will inspire and equip you to rise to the challenge. To scale the mountains of modern ministry, it’s time to set aside your canoes and new navigationaltools to give you confidence and courage to lead in places you never expected to find yourself.

REVIEWS

"I see many pastors and leaders of churches who are exhausted by the daunting task of leading churches in a culture that is changing faster than it ever has before. There are many books that tell us we need to change, and there are also many booksthat give a vision of what a new kind of church could look like. There are very few that address the difficult task of helping leaders navigate the complexities of leading that is necessary for a changing world. Tod Bolsinger's Canoeing the Mountains provides the right mixture of theological insight, leadership theory and relevant stories that will give the necessary principles to help leaders face unfamiliar terrain."Dana S. Allin, synod executive, ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians
"Contemporary pastors and church leaders face a daunting challenge. The world and the church have changed dramatically. Congregational expectations have never been higher or more complex. How can we lead our churches with wisdom and kingdom impactin the ever-changing world of today and tomorrow? Tod Bolsinger answers this pressing question in his timely book Canoeing the Mountains. Combining solid biblical theology, contemporary leadership theory and years of experience as a pastorand church consultant, Bolsinger offers a new vision of pastoral leadership as well as dozens of practical examples that bring this vision to life. All pastors and church leaders need to read this book, for their own sake, for the good of their churches and for the advance of God's kingdom in the world."Mark D. Roberts, executive director, Max De Pree Center for Leadership
"Do not canoe another stroke or portage another step without Canoeing the Mountains in hand. In today's post-Christian world, we are navigating uncharted waters where our churches demand innovation at every turn. How do we lead for transformation when the world is transforming even faster? For anyone committed to and dazed by the changing realities of today's church, Tod Bolsinger offers a needed vision."Meritt Lohr Sawyer, executive director, Paul Carlson Partnership, Evangelical Covenant Church
"Combining the mind of a scholar, the heart of a pastor and the experience of a consultant, Tod Bolsinger is the rare leader who can also teach. Using the example of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery, he also authentically shares from his own experience, both positive and negative, to make the most important concepts in organizational leadership accessible to pastors, nonprofit executives and Christians in the marketplace who are charged with giving leadership in a changing world. Canoeing the Mountains should be required reading in seminary classrooms and leadership seminars. I know it will be for the pastors and leaders we coach."Kevin Graham Ford, principal of TAG Consulting, author of The Secret Sauce
"As a committed practical theologian, Bolsinger blends the best insights from Scripture and leadership theory with an empathetic understanding of the most pressing questions of today's leaders. If you're like me, you're not only going to want to read this book, you're going to want to read it multiple times."Kara Powell, faculty member at Fuller Seminary, executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute
"Since the missional church discussion began to develop real momentum, the constant question has been how does this theological vision of the church after Christendom translate into the practice of real congregations struggling with enormous challenges? A great deal of excellent work has been done, and there are excellent resources for the community and leadership seriously committed to missional change. But Bolsinger's book is a major step forward. It is based on solid missional theology, rooted in concrete congregational experience, shaped by provocative research of many diverse voices and communicated energetically and creatively. Most importantly, it is shaped by theologically informed hope, not just optimism, and takes the risks that must be taken for the sake of faithful witness today. I strongly commend this book!"Darrell L. Guder, Henry Winters Luce Emeritus Professor of Missional and Ecumenical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary
"A superb book on the need for adaptive leadership in the twenty-first-century church. With imagination and insight formed through his experience as a pastor, church consultant and seminary leader, Tod Bolsinger challenges leaders in the Christiancommunity to recognize the unsettling reality of being 'off the map.' We have 'trained for a world that is disappearing.' Bolsinger offers fresh, practical advice that integrates the best of leadership theory with the realities of church leadership, illustrated with vivid metaphors and real-world examples, resulting in a seminal book on how to navigate this new world. A must-read for everyone interested in church leadership."Uli Chi, former board chair, Regent College Board of Governors
"Canoeing the Mountains is a must-read for pastors and church leaders who want to understand the precarious religious landscape in America today. Seasoned pastor Tod Bolsinger draws on his experience as a church consultant and student of contemporary leadership theory in order to tackle the most pressing ministry leadership issues of our day. Employing Lewis and Clark's experience of exploring the Louisiana Purchase as a driving metaphor for the leadership that is needed in the church, Bolsinger issues a bold challenge to contemporary pastors to learn how to lead all over again. With refreshing honesty and vulnerability about his own ministry, Tod does not allow the reader to wallow in discouragement over the fact that the worldin front of us is different than the world behind us. Instead, he insists that this time in history offers pastors and church leaders an unparalleled opportunity to discover a deeper capacity for leadership within ourselves than ever before. He issues a clarion call 'not to try harder, but to start a new adventure' by abandoning our 'canoes' to become risk-taking mountain climbers. I am going to recommend this book not only to the hundreds of pastors in the Macedonian Ministry program, but also to church leaders across the country. Canoeing the Mountains gave me hope for the future of the church of Jesus Christ. I pray that it will do the same for you!"Thomas K. Tewell, executive director, Macedonian Ministry
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Read an Excerpt

CONTENTS

Part 1: Understanding Uncharted Territory
1. Seminary Didn't Prepare Me for This
2. Adventure or Die
3. A Leadership Model for Uncharted Territory
Part 2: On-the-Map Skill Set
4. Competence and Credibility
5. Preparing for the Unknown
6. Eating Strategy for Breakfast
Part 3: Leading Off the Map
7. Navigating the "Geography of Reality"
8. My Italian Grandfather Was Killing Me
9. Don't Just Do Something, Stand There . . . Then Do Something
10. The Mission Trumps!
11. Take a Good Look into the Coffin
Part 4: Relationships and Resistance
12. Gus and Hal Go to Church
13. Et Tu, Church?
Part 5: Transformation
14. How a Nursing Mother Saved America
15. The End of Our Exploring
Epilogue: Taking the Hill with Grandma
Study Guide
Acknowledgments
Notes

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BONUS MATERIAL

This book has a corresponding video curriculum from the author available at
Seminary Now

Download the Press Kit.

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ABOUT Tod Bolsinger

Tod Bolsinger

Tod Bolsinger is the founder and principal at AE Sloan Leadership Inc., the executive director of the DePree Center Church Leadership Institute, and associate professor of leadership formation at Fuller Seminary. He is the author of Canoeing the Mountains and Tempered Resilience. Tod and his wife, Beth, split their time between Pasadena, California, and Ketchum, Idaho.

Outreach Resource of the Year

6 Session Study Guide Included

This practical tool will help you lead your church, organization, or company "off the map" and into uncharted territory.

This is the Leadership book the Church Needs Today

Join church leaders everywhere in learning to lead all over again in order to serve our changing culture.

Reorientation, Christian Leaders: You Were Trained for a World that is Disappearing

Throughout the book, you'll find "Reorientation" lessons to help you lead in uncharted territory with confidence and courage.

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