Read by Coralie Bywater

Confession Is Good for the Soul . . . and for Your Leadership Why are so many Christian leaders burning out, losing faith, and abusing power? Rather than relying on our self-sufficiency and toughing our way through the tension, Mandy Smith invites us to confess it. As a pastor who also equips and encourages other pastors, Mandy feels the pain. Instead of offering more strategies to fix our problems, she reminds us of the call that first captured our imagination, directing our passions back to God and God's people. In her book you will: - experience the surprising freedom of grappling with a loving God - be released from illusions of control into a lifestyle of healing hope - rediscover your passion for ministry and your love for God and God's people. Confessions of an Amateur Saint is a different kind of leadership book for a different kind of leader. And different is what we need these days―spiritual leadership refined by fire rather than burned out by it, a leadership unencumbered by unrealistic expectations, a leadership reconnected to the God who receives our confession with love and restores our soul for the task ahead. In a time where all Christian leaders are required to be pioneers, let Mandy skillfully guide you to a fresh, spiritually-fueled integrity, not weighted by false expectations but leading your people as your faith is increasingly shaped like Christ. Dr Mandy Smith is a pastor, award-winning author and speaker. She is the author of: - The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry, - Unfettered: Imagining a Childlike Faith Beyond the Baggage of Western Culture and - Confessions of an Amateur Saint: The Christian Leader's Journey from Self-Sufficiency to Reliance on God (Oct 2024). Mandy's books have been named best of the year by Missio Alliance, Leadership Journal, Missio Alliance, Leadership Journal, The Englewood Review, and Hearts and Minds Bookstore, and short-listed for the Australian Christian Book of the Year. She teaches DMin students at both Fuller Seminary and The Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination. Mandy and her husband Jamie, a New Testament professor, live in their parsonage where the teapot is always warm

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