Canoeing the Mountains


Book Description

Do you ever feel that you are leading in uncharted territory? Pastor and consultant Tod Bolsinger draws on decades of expertise guiding churches and organizations in this expanded practical leadership resource, offering illuminating insights and practical tools to help you reimagine what effective church leadership looks like in our rapidly changing world.




Tempered Resilience


Book Description

What type of leadership is needed in a moment that demands adaptive change? Exploring the qualities of adaptive leadership within churches and nonprofit organizations, Tod Bolsinger deftly examines both the external challenges we face and the internal resistance that holds us back, showing how leaders can become both stronger and more flexible.




River of Mountains


Book Description

Lourie completed his trip. It took him three weeks and marked the first time anyone has traveled from the source of the Hudson to the mouth in a single vessel. The Hudson proved to be a very changeable river. It includes seven locks and nine power dams. The northern half is a true river with strong current, but the lower half is tidal, a sunken river from the days of glaciers. In its first 165 miles, it drops more than 4,000 feet to Albany. The second half falls no more than a foot. Lourie's account of his trip is a fresh look at one of America's great and complex waterways, one of the few, in fact, that still contains its his­torical and biological species of fish. It is also the longest inland estuary in the world. Henry Hudson called it the "great river of the moun­tains." Nowadays, too often the Hudson is stereotyped as a ruined, polluted industrial river. Its glorious past is compared to its present neglect. In River of Mountains, Peter Lourie combines the Hudson's rich history and descriptions of some of the region's most impressive landscape with the residents of its mill towns, the loggers, commercial fishermen, and barge pilots-all of whom are proof that the river is still a thriving, vital waterway. So, come with Peter Lourie on his trip, come explore with him from a canoe one of this coun­try's great rivers, join him in his wonderful adventure.




Leadership for a Time of Pandemic


Book Description

In just a few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. What does ministry require now? Drawing from Tod Bolsinger's books Canoeing the Mountains and Tempered Resilience, this brief, timely book is an ideal resource for applying some of his key leadership insights to the current global crisis.




It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian


Book Description

Rediscover the triune nature of God to reawaken and nourish a communal spirit in our individualist times.




Canoe for Change


Book Description

Imagine taking on the challenge of a cross-Canada canoe adventure: to live outdoors for months at a time, to embark on your destination knowing you have 8,515 kilometres ahead of you to paddle. Canoe for Change is the story of husband-and-wife team Glenn Green and Carol VandenEngel who took on this gift and privilege to see Canada from thousand-year-old water trails and form connections to nature that many have lost. Traversing through oceans, rivers, lakes and creeks, the couple completed a three-year paddle across Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. Manoeuvring tidal currents, high winds and waves, pulling their canoe over the Rocky Mountains, paddling through badlands, seeing wolves and bears on remote shorelines, they experienced Canada's natural beauty from the water's edge. Along the way, they found perseverance, companionship and self-discovery. In exploring this great land full of amazing diversity, one of their most remarkable memories is of the friendliness, kindness and generosity bestowed upon them by their fellow Canadians. Listen to the sound the paddle makes as it dips into the water and taste true freedom...after all, it is not a race but a retirement cruise. Outdoor enthusiasts and adventurers will find fascination and inspiration in Canoe for Change, while travellers and paddlers looking for a new way to see Canada will find helpful information about routes, equipment and logistics.




Canoeing the Adirondacks with Nessmuk


Book Description

"She's all my fancy painted her, she's lovely, she is light. She waltzes on the waves by day, and rests with me at night. But I had nothing to do with her painting. The man who built her did that. And I commence with the canoe because that is about the first thing you need on entering the Northern Wilderness. "—Nessmuk Thus opened Nessmuk's first commissioned "letter" for Forest and Stream in 1880. For years thereafter, George Washington Sears, under the penname Nessmuk, contributed a glorious series of pieces on canoeing the Adirondacks, exploring rivers and streams, climbing the many mountains and peaks, and chronicling his long relationship with one of the greatest canoe builders, J. Henry Rushton. These letters brought Nessmuk fame and served to increase the magazine's circulation tremendously. They hold a special place in wilderness writing and unfold in vivid detail the pageantry of the waterways from a bygone era.




Into the Mountains


Book Description

The armchair dreamer's companion -- a graceful and fascinating history of New England's fifteen most celebrated mountains, with information on people, places legends, and lore.




The Sun Is a Compass


Book Description

For fans of Cheryl Strayed, the gripping story of a biologist's human-powered journey from the Pacific Northwest to the Arctic to rediscover her love of birds, nature, and adventure. During graduate school, as she conducted experiments on the peculiarly misshapen beaks of chickadees, ornithologist Caroline Van Hemert began to feel stifled in the isolated, sterile environment of the lab. Worried that she was losing her passion for the scientific research she once loved, she was compelled to experience wildness again, to be guided by the sounds of birds and to follow the trails of animals. In March of 2012, she and her husband set off on a 4,000-mile wilderness journey from the Pacific rainforest to the Alaskan Arctic, traveling by rowboat, ski, foot, raft, and canoe. Together, they survived harrowing dangers while also experiencing incredible moments of joy and grace -- migrating birds silhouetted against the moon, the steamy breath of caribou, and the bond that comes from sharing such experiences. A unique blend of science, adventure, and personal narrative, The Sun is a Compass explores the bounds of the physical body and the tenuousness of life in the company of the creatures who make their homes in the wildest places left in North America. Inspiring and beautifully written, this love letter to nature is a lyrical testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Winner of the 2019 Banff Mountain Book Competition: Adventure Travel




Canoeing & Kayaking West Virginia


Book Description

Began as a collective effort by members of the West Virginia Wildwater Association in 1965, Wildwater West Virginia emerged as the preeminent guide to whitewater in West Virginia. Now part of a new series and a new name to boot, A Canoeing Guide to West Virginia continues this legacy, guiding boaters of all abilities to over 120 of West VirginiaÕs rivers, creeks and streams. The result of combined knowledge of hundreds of paddlers, this book gives paddlers all the information they need to paddle rivers safely and confidently: At a glance information helps boaters pick rivers to match their ability and current weather conditions, while river descriptions, gauge and shuttle route information provide additional critical information. More than an encyclopedia of mountain rivers and hydrologic data, Whitewater West Virginia is also a collection of experiences and an introduction to some of the most amazing geography in the east. Destined to ride in the dry bags and glove compartments of paddlers nationwide, this book continues to set the standard for all paddling guidebooks. Some of the rivers profiled include: Gauley River, North Branch of the Potomac, New River, Cheat River, Tygart River, Waites Run, Red Run, Roaring Creek, and Keeney Creek.