When Fuller Seminary decided to launch out in our own uncharted terrain, we called on Tod Bolsinger to join our leadership team. When you read Canoeing the Mountains, you'll immediately understand why. Bolsinger's ability to translate the most important organizational leadership material into the day-to-day challenges of the Christian leader is without peer. His vulnerability and authenticity resonates as he shares his own leadership learning journey. This is the leadership book the church needs today."

Thom S. Rainer, “Six Reasons Your Pastor Is About to Quit,” Church Answers Featuring Thom Rainier, August 31, 2020, https://churchanswers.com/blog/six-reasons-your-pastor-is-about-to-quit/. When what you are doing isn't working, there are two things you cannot do: (1) Do what you have already done, (2) Do nothing." (108) In the summer of 1987 Ed Gillet achieved what no person has accomplished before or since, a solo crossing from California to Hawaii by kayak. Gillet, at the age of 36 an accomplished sailor and paddler, navigated by sextant and always knew his position within a few miles. Still, Gillet underestimated the abuse his body would take from the relentless, pounding, swells of the Pacific, and early into his voyage he was covered with salt water sores and found that he could find no comfortable position for sitting or sleeping. Along the way he endured a broken rudder, among other calamities, but at last reached Maui on his 63 rd day at sea, four days after his food had run out. Dave Shively brings Gillet’s remarkable story to life in this gripping narrative, based on exclusive access to Gillet’s logs as well as interviews with the legendary paddler himself.The real challenge though is recognizing and persisting through sabotage, which Bolsinger believes can be expected when leading in uncharted territory. That was an eye-opener. In this coming-of-middle-age memoir, Kim Heacox, writing in the tradition of Abbey, McPhee, and Thoreau, discovers an Alaska reborn from beneath a massive glacier, where flowers emerge from boulders, moose swim fjords, and bears cross crevasses with Homeric resolve. In such a place Heacox finds that people are reborn too, and their lives begin anew with incredible journeys, epiphanies, and successes. All in an America free of crass commercialism and overdevelopment. Seminary didn't train me for this." "Our church is dying and I have no clue what to do." Over and over, Tod Bolsinger encountered these statements in his consulting work. Pastors are trained in teaching, liturgics, and pastoral care, and often, those tools just don't seem enough in our changing world. Bolsinger likens this to the moment Lewis and Clark climbed the Lemhi Pass, having canoed up the Missouri River, and instead of expecting to find a river on the other side of the mountain that would carry them to the Pacific, they found...mountains. The needed to exchange canoes for horses, and adapt to an "off the map" situation. In this book, Bolsinger considers the adaptive leadership of Lewis and Clark, and applies it to Christian leaders often tempted to try to "canoe the mountains," because they don't know any other way to lead. Often, they may be the greatest obstacle to transformative change in their churches or organizations. The choice they face is between adventure and organizational death. All of this is part of understanding the "uncharted territory" that calls for a new kind of leadership.

First published in 1976, The Complete Book of Sea Kayaking is a comprehensive guide for the beginner and an invaluable reference book for the experienced sea kayaker. Originally penned by the late Derek C. Hutchinson, an international authority on sea kayaking, it describes equipment, basic and advanced techniques, weather and navigation, and is illustrated throughout by the author’s own drawings and color photographs. Inside this book, you’ll learn how to choose the right equipment, the essential strokes, maneuvers, and paddling techniques you need to know, information on capsize recoveries, paddling on the ocean, in surf zones, on rivers, on lakes, and in moving current. Plus, learn how to get the most out of your kayak, how to stay safe on the water, paddler’s first aid, and much more! Heading downstream you hardly need to paddle at all.A few mini rapids along the course provide the faintest rush of adrenaline for inexperienced canoers, otherwise it’s plain sailing. Generally, just dipping an oar in the water to steer is about as much effort as you’ll need to muster. It’s a relaxing journey through some of Britain’s finest countryside. Thanks to JK Jones for this recommendation. Took me a while to get to it. Wish I had read it earlier. Briefly interacting with the Lewis and Clark story, Bolsinger writes about leadership that actually transforms the organization (read: church, school, non-profit, etc). His principles are powerfully laid out. His insights are helpful and cause a number of light-bulb moments. Bolsinger says that ministry on the map is about solving “technical challenges.” Their solutions are based on best practices, offered by an expert. For example, how to lead a Bible study or set up a fund-raiser.Like swimming in the Thames, kayaking the Wye is a great way to embrace the beautiful outdoors of the UK. It’s also probably a lot easier than you think. Whether your interest in kayaking stems from the desire to get outside and exercise, spend time with your friends and family, or explore the endless waterways that surround you, this easy-to-read guide makes paddling fun and safe for both new and experienced paddlers looking to broaden their horizons. The following are questions from the book and from my own mind that are guiding a book study I'm leading on the final section. They may be helpful to you. I would have liked to see this leadership model rooted in scripture. Lewis and Clark certainly were singular leaders, and the book invokes good leadership theory. I can't help but wonder what one might draw from the leadership of Moses, of David, of Jesus, and of Paul, each who in some sense led in uncharted territory. The conflict situation of Acts 6 strikes me as a marvelous example of a system that wasn't working, and of leadership that exhibited relational, and spiritual competence linked to clear missional focus while adapting to problems associated with expansion, resulting in a transformed, rapidly growing church and an enlarged and diversified leadership nucleus.

Tags Absolution Anglican Ash Wednesday Baptism Bidding Prayer Body Book of Common Prayer Charlemagne Charles E. Hammond China Christology Church Collect for Purity Confession Creation Diaconate Dogmatic Theology Ecclesiology Einhard (775 – 840) Elizabeth I Tudor (1533 – 1603) Emmaus Ethics Eucharist Exegetical Sketch Filioque Formation Fraction Frank Senn (1943–) God the Father Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Trinity Invocation Jesus Christ John Calvin John Webster Just War Kingdom Lent Life Lutheran Lutheran Book of Worship Martin Luther Military Missio Dei Missions New Testament Palm Sunday Patristics Philip Melanchthon Prayers of the People Proper Preface Race Reformation Robert E. Webber Saints Sanctus Scripture Small Catechism St. Alcuin of York St. Augustine of Hippo St. Basil of Cæsarea St. Cyril of Jerusalem St. John Chrysostom St. Justin Martyr St. Thomas Aquinas Stations of the Cross Theology Theosis Thomas Cranmer Thomas I. Ball Triumphal Entry Word Words of Institution Worship Recent Comments If you are planning on canoeing in the upper Wye around Hay on Wye then Wye Valley Canoes offer a half-day trip from Glasbury to Hay on Wye or a full day from Glasbury to Whitney on Wye. The rather finely positioned River Inn Café in Glasbury is a great spot to begin and end. For multi-day camping adventures, Celtic Canoes will give you all you need for a 2- or 3-day trip to Hereford.

This new 40 th anniversary edition has been completely updated in line with the latest sea kayaking developments by Wayne Horodowich, a longtime friend of Hutchinson’s and the founder of University of Sea Kayaking.

This special edition of No Barriers introduces kids to the incredible true story of Erik’s most terrifying journey: solo kayaking the thunderous whitewater of the Grand Canyon. Erik and his friends form a courageous crew to do battle with some of the harshest elements nature has to offer. Along the course of Erik’s journey, he meets other trailblazers: adventurers, scientists, artists, and activists who show Erik the way forward and teach him the meaning of No Barriers―“What’s Within You is Stronger Than What’s in Your Way.” At the time Thoreau made this wilderness canoe trip he was forty years old. The record of the journey is the latter half of his The Maine Woods, which is perhaps the finest idyl of the forest ever written. It is particularly charming in its blending of meditative and poetic fancies with the minute description of the voyager’s experiences. The chief attraction that inspired Thoreau to make the trip was the primitiveness of the region. Here was a vast tract of almost virgin woodland, peopled only with a few loggers and pioneer farmers, Indians, and wild animals. No one could have been better fitted than Thoreau to enjoy such a region and to transmit his enjoyment of it to others. Downstream from here, the river becomes tidal meaning it can be shallow and dense with weeds. All in all, this section needs a bit of experience or a guide, but it’s a great adventure activity in the UK. Dissenters who ask the tough questions that need to be asked and responded to without defensiveness because it is not about the leader but the mission. Two illustrations: 1) We regularly use three words to talk about the people with whom we want to serve--character, chemistry and competency. Bolsinger uses the word capacity instead of competency. That subtle change is huge. It's the power of the right word. We use competency but that implies a set of skills. In our explanation we always say that we can teach what we want. Capacity captures that. 2) We're all familiar with Covey's "win-win" scenario. Bolsinger realistically and convincingly argues that win-win almost always causes us to maintain the status quo. If we are truly going to move people at a pace they can tolerate (paraphrase of his definition of leadership) then someone is going to lose something.

But “adaptive challenges” cannot be solved with one’s existing knowledge. They arise from a changing environment, and they have no ready answers. A superb book on the need for adaptive leadership in the twenty-first-century church. Bolsinger challenges leaders in the Christian community to recognize the unsettling reality of being 'off the map.' 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." If you are reading this in hopes of implementing somebody’s perfect model for building disciples, you might be disappointed.