36. The Vulnerable Pastor, with Mandy Smith

Mandy Smith, Lead Pastor of University Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, has written a wonderful book titled, The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry, in which she shares about the ways our humanity and our weakness are actually a source of strength in our ministries.   Too often, we think we have to fit a particular ministry stereotype in order to experience success in our ministries. Mandy exposes that stereotype for what it is, and gives us permission to be who we are so that God can work through our true selves—not the false selves we want the world to see.

THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Mandy Smith is the Lead Pastor of University Christian Church in Cincinnati and the author of The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry.
• Mandy shares the story of her call to ministry.
• Mandy felt like she needed to include a lot of her story in her book because the idea of a vulnerable pastor had to be embodied in a real person.
• The way Mandy uses the word “vulnerability” is not limited to the way Brene Brown uses it. For Mandy, vulnerability is about the experience of being human.
• Mandy shares about the way she experienced weakness early in her ministry. In the midst of that, she heard God say, “In your weakness, I am strong.”
• Mandy and Markus reflect on Enneagram types that may have a harder time with vulnerability.
• We can help people in our ministries live out healthy vulnerability by modeling it for them.
• Mandy Smith writes for both Missio Alliance and Christianity Today.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS

• Mandy Smith: 
  • Twitter: @uccmandy
• University Christian Church: 
  • Website: http://www.universitychristianchurch.net/
• Books mentioned: 
  • The Vulnerable Pastor by Mandy Smith
  • A Little Manual for Knowing by Esther Lightcap Meek

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