The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry

by Mandy Smith

Often as pastors we feel like we need to project strength and competency in order to minister effectively. That's why we go to conferences and emulate the latest superstars. But we know we can never live up to those images. Deep down, we know our own limitations, our weaknesses, our faults. We fear that if people knew who we really are, we'd be disqualified from ministry. Not so. Mandy Smith unpacks the biblical paradox that God's strength is revealed through our human weakness. Transparently describing her pastoral journey, Smith shows how vulnerability shapes ministry, through our spiritual practices and relationships, influencing our preaching, teaching and even the nuts and bolts of the daily schedule. Understanding our human constraints makes our ministry more sustainable and guards us against disillusionment and burnout. We don't have to have it all together. Recognizing our weakness makes us rely on God, so our weakness can become a ministry resource. God has called you to lead not as a demigod, but as a human, so the world can see that the church is a place for humans like them.

Genres: Leadership, Church, Religion, Nonfiction, Christian, Christianity

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2015

About the author

Originally from Australia, Mandy Smith is a pastor, speaker and the author of "The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry" and "Unfettered: Imagining a Childlike Faith Beyond the Baggage of Western Culture." Her next book, "Confessions of an Amateur Saint: The Christian Leader’s Journey from Self-Suffiency to Reliance on God" will release October, 2024. Mandy and her husband, a New Testament professor, live in the parsonage where the teapot is always warm.

Reviews

[Christopher Maier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often in the Christian life we are given books and articles that give us solutions in overcoming our weakness and shortcomings so we can work from a place of strength and success- but what would it look for us to see God using those seemingly broken things in our lives to minister to others? That’s the premise of Mandy Smith’s book.

Smith shares the extraordinary stories of a God moving despite human frailties, often using that very frailty as a vehicle for grace. I appreciated her humor, wit, and ability to look at herself honestly as she sifted through the highs and lows of working as a lead pastor in a challenging city. Within the pages of her book are instances of how God has used her and people in her church community despite their doubts and limitations to offer a beautiful picture of a God who speaks not in abstract theological doctrines, but in the language of humanity to draw people forth.

Although the title might sound like it is only applicable for those who are in church ministry, it’s a book that is useful to all. Smith’s vantage point is from the place of pastoral ministry, but it is easily translatable to whatever vocation one puts their hands to.

I loved this book so much and felt encouraged to know that in times of both strength and weakness, God was faithfully at work and inviting me into the process of working for his kingdom.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always had an odd fit in ministry, and frankly said to hell with just about every ministry book/program I ever encountered, because I couldn't fit into them - honestly, I have questions about how Jesus and the apostles fit into them...

The Vulnerable Pastor was a breath of fresh air, because it gave me a place to see my self in the church as a church leader. There aren't any talks of budgets and mission statements and programs, but a refreshing (and sadly unique) a call to let God be enough.

But it was also a dangerous book. If I take it seriously, things are going to get up-ended, both in my personal life and my ministry. I wonder how vulnerable a pastor people are ready for. But, that's really sort of immaterial. Because this book rings so true - true to scripture, true to experience - it's a clarion call to move out of the CEO model of leadership and towards something very ancient and very strange. I have no idea if I'll be able to do that, but I very much appreciate the map.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

No kidding: If I could make one new book magically appear on the bedside table of every minister, priest, deacon, and elder in North America, THE VULNERABLE PASTOR would be it. Mandy Smith's wise and hopeful book is timely, a much-needed antidote to the influence of macho-leadership-run-amok, which has wrecked so many pastors and churches. It is also timeless, an important reminder that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. If you are a pastor, please read this book; if you have a pastor, please read it with them.

[Chris Perrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strongly recommend for every minister. We often talk about 'power in weakness' but what does it really look like to be vulnerable? Smith works from the ideas of Brené Brown, Henry Nouwen, and others to present a real model of pastoral vulnerability.

[Ben Fike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a powerful book. Rather than blowing through it trying to "mine all the information" from it, I took a little more time to read slowly and reflectively. I'm glad I did. Smith offers honest and challenging insights from her own life and ministry that challenge dominate (almost automatic?) notions of "success" and "power" as it relates to ministry. Smith clings to a Christ-shaped leadership ethic that places weakness, vulnerability, and trust in God at the center of the Pastoral vocation. She advocates for pastoral leadership that is profoundly "human-centric" and also God trusting. This is a good read for ministry leaders of all stripes. But be warned - it's pretty well guaranteed to make you squirm.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every pastor should read this book. My culture (White Evangelical US American) promotes strength, power, confidence as the way to lead. But God calls us to remember that we are sinners who are broken, desperate, and in need of God. Mandy hits the nail on the head with this book, calling pastors who lead the flock to lead with vulnerability. I highly recommend this book, especially for those young in ministry.

[Marty Solomon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book that was full of much-needed truth and honesty. In a world that very naturally (and fortunately) offers us so much wisdom and insight, this book was full of a little post-conventional wisdom that reminds us of the beauty of accepting our true selves — failures and limitations especially.

For anyone that loves the work of Brene Brown, this book was like a little focused extension of some of those ideas about the power of vulnerability as it applies to those of us in vocational ministry. It was like a gentle reminder from a wise leader to be wise leaders ourselves. To not get lost in all of the demand and lose ourselves, for then, how will we be a leader to anyone.

Lastly, I would say I greatly appreciated Mandy's voice as a woman who leads well from a place of what I would call "authoritative vulnerability." Even through conversations that I have had with Mandy in person, I have felt a depth that one longs to respect and a maturity that is a gift to many of us. I am glad to have leaders like her in the church. This is a great read for ANY pastor who struggles with the idea that they aren't or have never been "perfect."

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, open, honest, challenging, helpful... Mandy Smith has provided a wonderful resource here as a spur on for pastoral ministry. Read it!

[Shaun Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

The tone and vocabulary of the book are spot on for the target audience; pastors, even those without a theological education, would fine it easy to follow Smith's train of thoughts. In the opening chapter of the book, Smith states that she did not want the book to seem to be centered on her, and that it not be simply a book for women pastors. Unfortunately those are two attributes that I feel would aptly describe the book. This is not to say that it is entirely not useful to non-women pastors/ministers, but it would appeal to better to women pastors, especially those from a charismatic/pentecostal background. Indeed, if there was a woman lead pastor I wanted to bless, this book would be high on my list of books to consider as gifts.

Having read to the end of the book, I was disappointed that the authentic-oozing title (which was what prompted me to request this title for review) did not quite aptly describe the contents. Other issues I have with the book would be her scarce quotation of Scripture, and when she did, it was usually with the eisegetical lenses (i.e. putting a meaning contrary to what the original biblical author had intended). An example of Smith's eisegesis would be the application of Revelation 3 on page 190.

A suggestion of improvement (which would persuade me to give it 4 stars) would be to reword the book's title to something along the lines of "The Woman Pastor" or "A Woman in God's Service" and to market it for the charismatic/pentecostal audience (not just woman lead pastors, but women serving in their local churches). For readers looking for a book on the topic of serving in ministry (especially pastoring) through great difficulty/feelings of inadequacy/hurts, see Gary Preston's Pastors in pain, which unfortunately is out of print.

I received this book from InterVarsity Press for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book on true pastoral leadership. Like many millennials, I am sick of the CEO-model of Christian church leadership. Smith does a wonderful job describing her own journey in discovering vulnerable ministry. Readers familiar with Curt Thompson and Brené Brown will see familiar themes throughout The Vulnerable Pastor, only this time it is applied to pastoral ministry.

The book is part-memoir, part-spiritual formation. Smith describes her own experiences without becoming long-winded and sprinkles reflection questions throughout her chapters liberally. A single criticism is her tendency toward self-deprecation. She even encourages preachers to be self-deprecating from the pulpit. Granted, she states this in contrast to pointing fingers at others, but I still found it a bit too self-critical and pessimistic of oneself. If we are Christian pastors, we preach grace even to ourselves, right? I understand her point about unearthing our own failures so that others are more comfortable with their own failures, but it seemed heavy-handed.

Aside from that, I found The Vulnerable Pastor refreshing. I, too, struggle with what it means to be a Christian leader as a woman and as someone who despises CEO models of leadership. Bottom line, Smith says, "Be who God created and called you to be, and he will work in and through your limitations." Ultimately, it is the Spirit who works for his good in all of ministry, and that reminder takes a load off of any Christian leader.

[Scott Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing about this book that sets it apart is that it is true to itself. It is vulnerable and honest. There are a few suggestions or examples from her own ministry to encourage a new way of looking at something. But those examples are not given as a prescription to solve your own issues in ministry. I love that. I know that I am not alone in my exhaustion with solutions based ministry books. “How to grow your church” or “How to evangelize your neighborhood” or “How to be a church that people want to stay at”. All of that is just noise at this point. My heart longs for catharsis and understanding. My heart longs for someone to say “the Word and the Spirit are enough for the church and the world” and believe it. My heart longs for someone to talk about the struggles and the failures that come with following Jesus. And to talk about that them, not as a preamble to their new found success (that you can have too, if you just implement this strategy), but as an ongoing reality in the call to love broken people and to be one yourself. This book accomplishes that. I am grateful for it.

[David Meldrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course, this book isn't a best-seller. I'd never heard of the author before; I'd be surprised if she gets lots of conference speaking engagements, but that's the point. This is the voice of a female church leader who's learning the lessons of vulnerability and weakness in church leadership, and the gifts they represent. Which is in direct opposition to the wearisome alpha-male models we grow sick off, see leaders fall from yet we still aspire to and elevate. We badly need more books like this one.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many books are out there by female lead pastors? If you are one, you need this book as a companion on your journey. We can't all be B. B. T.
Mandy offers a dose of reality as she unpacks her personal limitations to suggest we embrace those as our new gifted way forward. Along the way vulnerability is the thread woven through questions around leadership, self-care, and preaching. Scattered throughout are sidebar quotes and reflection questions. Male church leaders will find this book helpful for their leadership as well.

[Mitchell Keys · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a strange experience to find out that a friend you made recently is also a published author, and stranger still to read one of their books without any input from them. As I read, I could easily imagine Mandy as she talks about her struggles with integrating her personal life and her ministry life.

Which, in many ways, is the point of the book. When ministers allow themselves to be seen as small, as weak, as fully reliant on God, it also allows them to present the full strength, ability, and love of God through them.

(P.S. If you're reading this Mandy, let's get coffee!)

[Anieta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vulnerable Pastor is at times humorous. Early on it also becomes clear that The Vulnerable Pastor is in part memoir, the story of a pastor who figured out how and is figuring out how to leave from the realization that she is human, as all of use are.
The Vulnerable Pastor also is a coaching tool, with lessons and exercises that can help a pastor ease off the kingly throne, and ease into servant leadership along the community and congregation served.

[Byron Fike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mandy Smith is authentic. She has learned to embrace her humanity and is willing to speak of her weaknesses and desperate need for God. Her book is not just for pastors, but for every Christian who is tired of pretending they have got life figured out. Her book is an inside look at one pastor whose life seems to model the beatitudes. She shows us how honesty, openness and humility open our lives and ministries to the wonder working power of the Holy Spirit.

[K Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read many of Brene Brown's book on vulnerability. But upon reading Mandy's book and hearing her lectures for 2 days, her embodiment of true vulnerability shows me true power can come from a very vulnerable place. Brene's book sounds shallow in comparison -- probably because vulnerability and humanness by themselves have nothing powerful. They are powerful when they lead to Someone whose Strength is manifested in our vulnerability and our weaknesses.

[Emily Abernathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Inviting pastors into a more authentic way to lead is something that the church needs. MS gives us permission to be upfront with our humanity, even when we’re the ones leading churches. An unsung resource of the book is all the reflection questions! One may skim over these little breaks in the prose but these questions add layers of meaning onto the book! I’m tempted to make a list of every reflection question and let those guide my journaling for years to come.

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 3 out of 5]

A meditation on 2 Corinthians as it pertains to pastoring. I think there are a number of insights, but my favorite concerned her congregational. Do we have a human-scaled vision of pastoral ministry and ecclesiology? This seems like one of the most important questions for "normal-sized" churches going forward which mega-churches cannot quite cultivate.

The encouragement toward rest that is actual, visible, and cessation is countercultural.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some chapters were incredibly thought provoking while others were simply readable. Each chapter contains reflective questions that are good to answer independently or with a small group as you read together.

[Pam Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a long or involved book but one that needs courage and commitment to read it in depth - courage to admit we are not perfect and commitment to share this journey of vulnerability with those we pastor.

[Michael Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book very much. Smith's book reminds me that pastors are human, and we need to remember that. She also reminds me that ministry is about God's strength, and not our strength.

[Rayna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is for ANYONE-staff ministers and lay ministers alike. Such a valuable call to wisely minister from a place of radical dependence on God rather than self.

[Matt George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that helps us realise God is calling for the church to be vulnerable.

[Ali]

Was reading an e-book version. May try a physical copy someday. Also was reading for research and I no longer need it for that purpose.

[Chris Woznicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vulnerable. Not the first word that comes to mind when you think about strong leaders. Yet, this word, “Vulnerable,” is what Mandy Smith, lead pastor of University Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, suggests should characterize strong Christian leaders.

In The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry Smith attempts to debunk current leadership wisdom as not only being harmful, but impossible. The image of somebody who is always strong, always has their stuff together, is never wrong, never wavers, and is extremely self-confident is the exact opposite of what Smith suggest Christian leaders should be like. Instead a Christian leader should be marked by vulnerability. Specifically, this vulnerability should recognize and understand our human constraints. Recognizing these constraints makes our ministry more sustainable “and guards us against disillusionment and burnout.”

As the former director of a college ministry in a large church in the LA area I knew I could benefit from reading Smith’s book. I sort of live in the “mega-church” world, which is mostly characterized by the leadership images Smith decries. I constantly struggled, despite pressing on in ministry, with the notion that I didn’t fit the “pastor-mold.” I still struggle with it! Even though its never expressed, it is implicitly there. I’m just not one of those pastors. I’m shy, introverted, intellectual, liturgical. Again, not your typical mega-church type leader. Throughout the book Smith shares her struggles with not fitting the mold. Told mostly in story form, she expresses how difficult it was to be herself as leader, when the world (i.e. CHURCH WORLD) told her that wasn’t enough. It was only when she was bold enough to admit that she didn’t have what the world asked of her, and she didn’t need to have it, that she began to find joy in her ministry.

Here are some helpful quotes from her book:

When we’re at our desks preparing our sermons and something snags our hearts, can we set aside our work long enough to be worked upon? Can we trust that the teaching of our congregations is not primarily our work but God’s work, which he wants to being with us? (92)

What if we began with our human limitations and shaped a ministry from that? Like a child pouring pennies on a candy store counter, asking, “How much candy can I get with that?” we can look at the time, gifts, energy, and ideas we have and ask, “How much church can we get with that?” (105)

If it’s right for me to be here (and I beliee it its) and it’s alright for me to be limited (and I believe it its), I have to trust that there’s a way to do this job without it destroying me. If he gave the church to humans, he must have a way for humans to do church. (105)

One way I equip my leaders is to remind them it’s their job to equip others. We’re not soloists; we’re choirmasters. Its not our job to do the work but to give the direction: to pick the note, choose when to start and wait for the community to shape the fullness of the song. (108)

All in all, I found this book quite helpful. There were so many positive messages in it that I needed to hear once again. Being a pastor, or any kind of Christian leader, is not about being enough…. Its about being willing to revel in our own weakness and in God’s strength.

Note: I received this book from IVP in exchange for an impartial review.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had actually read all but the last chapter when I wrote this review at Patheos:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/workcite...

I had skimmed the last chapter, never fear, but now have truly finished the book. Its tone is a bit touchy-feely for me, but some excellent advice.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've heard Mandy speak a number of times and have had conversations with her personally, and I must say that she is a heroine of mine. <3

Mandy writes about preaching and leadership in a way I have longed to hear about it - from a female perspective. Growing up in a culture where women were not allowed to have leadership opportunities (and clearly being called as a leader myself) I was at a loss of how to proceed.

This is not a fluffy "women leadership" book. This book reminds us that pastoring/leadership is not about power, but allowing God to fully indwell in us, to invite him into our broken spaces, and that - that is where true ministry and shaping of a congregation/group happens. We are the pearl being polished, not our sermons/words.

I cried a lot because Mandy (who I assume is a fellow MBTI NF) spoke of things deep within in my heart I had always wanted to articulate, but wasn't sure how. Through her own vulnerability and weakness (appropriately shared), she shares important lessons that she has learned in her own ministry journey, and I could look at my own and get a glimpse of the struggles I will have when I do start preaching...but I'll know that I'm not alone.

That being said, I don't think this book is only for pastors. I think this book is excellent for both layleaders and those called to any sort of ministry. I'd recommend this book to anyone who feels called to or has a desire for leadership - women especially, since there are so few books like this written by women, but men would absolutely benefit from her words as well.

When I re-read (hoping to read this one about once a year) I hope to add some more details, but I can honestly say that this book changed my life and the way I look at leadership and proclamation.