Church on the Street: Burnley's Pastor Mick Fleming writes follow-up book to his 'best-selling' memoir
Not all stories have a “happy ending” – but the next chapter can be full of hope if we write it together.
That is the premise of a Burnley pastor’s new book, which tells the “real” and “remarkable” stories of people he’s met while building Church on the Street, a ministry that supports people facing poverty and addiction.
Walk in My Shoes by Pastor Mick Fleming is the follow-up to his memoir, Blown Away: From Drug Dealer to Life Bringer.
He launched his second book in London on Tuesday and is gearing up to introduce it to the Burnley community with a celebratory event at Church on the Street (COTS) tonight. He says the book has also been launched in America today.
“This book has my life and other people’s stories intertwined. They’re real, remarkable stories but don’t have a happy ever after,” said Pastor Mick.
He says the tales range from one about “a guy with no shoes” to whom he gave his pair to a prostitute he met in his 20s who went on to become a megastar.
Heart-breaking stories include that of a mum with drug and alcohol addiction who was on the road to recovery when she lost her baby. Another is about a former debt collector who turned his life around with the help of the COTS and was preparing to emigrate to Australia with his wife before she collapsed and suffered a bleed on the brain aged 39.
A third explores the “injustice” of people like Thomas serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences. It means such prisoners can be kept in jail for a potentially unlimited period until the person can prove that they are no longer a threat to the public. Mick says Thomas is serving an IPP sentence for stealing a mobile phone.
The pastor also covers spirituality, addiction recovery, and his mental health battle. While the book is about “the realities of life” and “people’s struggles and the injustice they have faced,” it also “has a message of hope."
He added: “It speaks about mental health and how we can cope with pain without avoiding it through drugs and alcohol, and how we build a community together.”