Youth Ministry for the Long Run

Feeding Your Forgotten Soul: Spiritual Growth for Youth Workers by Paul Borthwick, Zondervan, $12.95

Reviewed by David L. Goetz, associate pastor, Mountain Christian Fellowship, Golden, Colorado

What do youth workers and minor league baseball players have in common? Neither feel like they're in the big leagues.

What youth pastor hasn't felt like a minor leaguer? "The church's impression of youth workers is like that of a league-leading hitter in the minor leagues," insists Paul Borthwick, author of Feeding Your Forgotten Soul, in a recent telephone conversation. "You're good, but you haven't made it in the majors."

That attitude drives capable men and women out of youth ministry. Often they cycle back to the marketplace, pursuing "real jobs."

The church's misperceptions and the peculiar demands of youth ministry inflict heavy casualties on youth workers. Feeding Your Forgotten Soul is about maintaining the spiritual vitality of youth ministers, keeping them in ...