Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory

by Tod Bolsinger

For church leaders facing this missional moment, the reframing of church strategy from a sanctuary-centered, membership-based, religious- and life-service provider to a local mission outpost for furthering the kingdom of God enables our congregations to discover a faithful expression of our corporate identity in a changing world. No longer will we be the center of or have a monopoly on cultural conversations regarding moral life and spiritual values. No longer do social structures support church life or give preferences to Christian tradition. But, in a more pluralistic public square, where there were many different voices and perspectives offered, we have an opportunity closer to Paul’s at Mars Hill (Acts 17), engaging the philosophies of the day, or to the early Christians’, whose movement gained credibility (and converts!) at least in part because of the way Christians cared for people during some of the worst epidemics.