Book excerpt: This isn’t your average book about pastoral care – it is a no-nonsense exploration of the knowledge base that excellent pastoral practitioners, be they aspiring, new, or experienced, need to excel in their roles. Written for teaching and non-teaching pastoral leaders alike, this book combines theory, evidence, and research with best practice and on-the-job experience to help you on the way to becoming the very best pastoral leader that you can be. It is written for pastoral leaders by a current pastoral leader, reflecting the reality of our roles – the extraordinary pressures and challenges that we face, sometimes in just getting through the day.