Ministry can be wearing and draining for the best of us. It’s people-intensive and problem-pervasive. How many pastors are ready to quit every Monday morning? Virginia Todd Holeman and Stephen L. Martyn call it “losing your soul for ministry” in their new book Inside the Leader’s Head: Unraveling Personal Obstacles to Ministry (Abingdon, 2008).

The last 30 years have brought unprecedented expansion of the kinds of people who plan and lead worship. For centuries worship services in most traditions were led exclusively by ordained priests or pastors, along with a lead cantor or musician.