Why "Canoeing the Mountains" Is the Best Book on Organizational Change in the Church (Pt. 2)

Following THE Guy

Ray Perkins isn't a household name for many, but Alabama Football fans know him as infamous. After the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant retired from coaching, the question on everyone's mind was: who will succeed him? Better yet, who'd be crazy enough to try?

Ray had played football at Alabama for Coach Bryant and seemed like the perfect candidate. There was only one problem: as soon as he arrived on campus, he began changing things. He changed well-loved coaches, shifted away from the wishbone offense, and even took down Coach Bryant's famed tower overlooking the practice field. Though Perkins was relatively successful in his four seasons at the helm, his name became synonymous with "the guy who followed THE guy."

A Similar Challenge

When God called Courtney and me to Fellowship Bible Church in February 2021, we arrived in the middle of a pandemic, historically low housing inventory, racial and cultural unrest, and endless debates on Critical Race Theory. We were excited.

But I was following THE guy.

My predecessor is a spiritual giant—humble, kind, brilliant, and one of the most prayerful people I've ever met. He faithfully pastored our church for 16 years and left it better than he found it.

Then I showed up and realized that while we must honor the past and what God had done, we couldn't get stuck there. When I looked around, I saw the need to shift some things. Not because the leaders before me didn't do a good job, and not because there were inherent things being done "wrong." It was a new day, a new time. God was doing a new thing, which required our church to move in a new direction.

Underestimating Grief

We underestimated how much change—even the smallest amount—would deeply affect people in that season. At times we were caught off guard by the level of indignation at small decisions. Long-time members left the church, and faithful servants found themselves living between what they were seeing and what their friends were interpreting. Churches across town thrived from the wave of people who left our church. It confused me.

As an unashamed optimist, I'd been told to preach the Bible and pastor people, and your church would grow. That didn't happen.

A friend recommended Canoeing The Mountains, and after the first chapter, it was clear that my expectations needed recalibration. Here are six major lessons I learned and applied:

1. Courage Required

Fear isn't the enemy—it's an opportunity. An opportunity to press through the fear and move in the direction needed. This is courage. Courage isn't the absence of fear; it's the presence of faithfulness despite the fear.

2. Curate Grieving Spaces

Our folks were hurting, and it was clear that no amount of optimism, vision, or grand scheming would help them. They needed to grieve together and tell their pastor how they felt. So we curated spaces where congregants could say whatever they wanted or needed to say to me. I stood there and absorbed it all—patiently, lovingly, kindly—for as long as they needed.

Little did I know this would prove to be a turning point in my leadership. Once I could be trusted with emotion, people gave me more of their hearts.

3. Lead Well On The Map

There was one voice for 16 years. Now there was a new one: mine. But I was still learning who I was as a first-time senior pastor. When everything felt like it was falling apart around me, the one place of constancy was preaching. It was the one part of the job that didn't feel like a slog.

Only through later reflection did I come to see just how crucial preaching was. People saw and heard me handle Scripture every week. They watched how I handled failure in front of people. They noticed the ways I made time for everyone after a sermon. They noticed.

Bolsinger tells us in Canoeing The Mountains that if people can't trust you on the map, they won't be able to trust you off the map. Preaching, for me, was the one common value we all shared together—our agreed-upon location and destination.

4. Lead With Team Off The Map

Preaching was "on the map" leadership. At the same time, we needed to shift away from the church identity and ministry practices that served us well before COVID-19. After 2020, the rules changed, but the church never did.

I was blessed to walk into a team of risk-takers who were willing to get clear on our identity as a church so we'd know where we were headed. Vision doesn't clarify identity—identity clarifies vision. For nearly two years we prayed, planned, organized, strategized, and stumbled our way into a clearer identity for our church. All of this "off the map" leading was possible because of team.

5. Keep Going

My predecessor once told me, "Jason, many young pastors overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish in five." He was right. Looking back, my first three years were the preamble to what God is doing now. I'm so thankful I didn't quit—though I wanted to. I was close to walking away from it all.

When walking away seemed like the easier option, I would sense the Holy Spirit speaking into my soul: "Keep going!" Don't stop. Don't quit. Don't let discouragement win. Keep going.

The Verdict

Ray Perkins' name became synonymous with failing to meet the expectations of your predecessor. Have I avoided being the Ray Perkins of my church? Only time will tell. But one thing I'm committed to is sticking it out and enduring—trusting that God's timeline is longer than our immediate expectations and that faithfulness in the wilderness often precedes breakthrough in the promised land.