In Leading God's People, Richard Bondi discusses the risky business of exercising true pastoral leadership. He recognizes that leaders who live only at the edge of a community can become detached from their community and unable to lead, while those who commandeer the center can end up protecting its interests from dangerous opportunities at the edge. Bondi thus engages in critical reflection on the church's mission to increase love for God and neighbor, without the leader becoming paralyzed at either extreme. Vivid stories of men and women in real-life situations are interwoven throughout, to demonstrate the temptation to "play it safe" at the risk of faithful leadership. These stories provide a language for facing morally difficult pastoral situations and offer thought-provoking ethical reflection instead of supplying easy answers. Bondi draws from current work in narrative theology and character ethics to help develop an ethics for the practice of ministry. Among Bondi's examples of transforming and transforma- tive leadership are the apostle Paul, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Alan Boesak. Such leaders call us to become different kinds of people in order to embody the truth of the Christian story. In addition to telling other great stories, they all told the story of Christ and gave a destination to restless hearts. How they did so, and how others might do so as well, is the story of the moral leader, the leader who stands at the edge of the community where change and challenge occur. RICHARD BONDI is assistant professor of Christian ethics at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He