I recently finished the book Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory by Tod Bolsinger. The author shares how Lewis and Clark had to adapt their leadership strategy to accomplish the mission they had been given from President Thomas Jefferson. Hoping to find a water way to use from the Mississippi to the Pacific they instead ran into the Rocky Mountains causing them to change how they travel. Bolsinger extracts several leadership principles that we as Christian leaders can learn from. We have been called to carry out a noble and lofty mission as leaders of Christ’s church. Yet today we find ourselves living in a rapidly changing world and radically different culture. While the mission has not changed, how we carry it out has. It requires adapting as leaders to discover and learn what is needed and necessary to effectively accomplish the call to take the gospel into all the world. With this in mind, beginning Monday, May 9, I am launching a pastor’s cohort. We will be reading through the book: Canoeing the Mountains by Bolsinger to learn together the principles of adaptive leadership. This will be a six-session cohort that will meet on Mondays from noon to 1:30 pm every two weeks. Cost is $10.00 for the initial lunch and book. If interested, please contact the CPBA office at cpba@clayplatteba.org. This is a great opportunity to gather with peers, to learn and encourage one another, and one I hope you will take advantage of. – Dr. Gary Mathes