Leadership for a Time of Pandemic

In just a few weeks, everything changed. Hopes that we would soon return to normal quickly faded as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world. Christian leaders have been forced to deal with the loss of in-person gatherings, devastating financial hits, and the heightened anxiety of facing a future with no clear understanding of what it may look like. What does ministry require now? And how can those who feel the burden of leading in this unprecedented context be equipped for their calling? For decades, Tod Bolsinger has helped leaders learn to adapt to a rapidly changing world that seminary training had not prepared them for. Now he has provided a unique resource applying some of his key insights to the current global crisis. Leadership for a Time of Pandemic draws from Tod's popular book Canoeing the Mountains to describe the basics of adaptive leadership in uncharted territory. Then, in a preview of his forthcoming book Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change, he focuses on how to create a rule of life in order to stay resilient. This brief, timely book is an ideal resource for leadership teams to explore together. Christian leaders in any context will find wisdom and encouragement to provide the kind of resilient leadership that has never been so necessary.

Tod Bolsinger (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a speaker, executive coach, former pastor, and author who serves as associate professor of leadership formation and senior fellow for the De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary. He is the author of Canoeing the Mountains, which was named Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year in Pastoral Leadership, as well as the Christianity Today Award of Merit recipient It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian. For seventeen years, he was the senior pastor of San Clemente Presbyterian Church in San Clemente, California. A frequent speaker and consultant, he serves as an executive coach in transformational leadership.