A Pastor’s Glory

Welcome to my new blog! I am thrilled you are here and pray we can learn from one another and be encouraged in our journeys. If we have never met, be sure to check out my “About” page so we can be formally introduced. If you blog, be sure to leave a note with a link to yours so I can meet you along the way!

The last few years God has truly birthed in me a desire to grow in my role as a Pastor’s wife. I dove into books written for women married to ministers and organized a monthly ministers’ wives fellowship. What I have found are differences in philosophy concerning this particular role. Two ditches exist and most pastors’ wives find themselves somewhere between the two. The ditch on the right represents the woman who openly acknowledges her name is absent from the church paycheck and is therefore not obligated to any church-related duties. The opposite ditch represents the woman who might as well have her own office next to her husband’s because nothing church-related can occur without her direct involvement. At the heart of my search, however, was to find the teachings in Scripture concerning my role in the ministry.

Overall, the Bible does not directly provide instruction or qualifications for women in this position. So by default, it seems logical to me that we should at the very least model virtuous character expected of all women! Want a short list?

1. Women, like men, are image-bearers of God and thus are called to fulfill that purpose.
2. Women find their identities in Christ and work in the spiritual gifts given as members of the body, the church.
3. Women are to be helpmates to their husbands, and minister as such.

After I sat under the weight of the above, a new desire was birthed that frankly, was more of a daunting task than searching out the qualifications for a minister’s wife. Put simply: I desired to learn about the biblical role of a woman and flesh that out in my home. Simple right? More like the role of a lifetime.

As I was sharing what I was learning with my husband over a year ago, I began to consider blogging about my journey. My husband quickly offered, “A Pastor’s Glory” as a title. At first, my reaction was less than satisfactory because it sounded like girl-power arrogance. But he then reminded me of 1 Corinthians 11:7, “For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.” Why is woman the glory of man? Because we were taken out of man to show how excellent he is! I then immediately thought of our family crest. Let me explain. A few years ago, our family was to design a crest and put on a shield for “Castle Day” at school. We decided the biblical themes central to our family’s unity and sanctification were love, discipleship, and servant leadership.

Love – Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matt 22:37).

Learn – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction (Prov 1:7).

Lead – Whoever would be great among you must be your servant…even as the Son of Man came not to serve, but to be served, and to give his life for a ransom to many (Matt 20:26, 28).

So as you can see above, our crest contains three Latin words: Amo, Disco, Duco (I love, I learn, I lead). On a personal level, these themes became a mission statement of sorts for me, a way to prayerfully filter personal decisions. As I continue in this journey as a Pastor’s wife for the days God allots, I pray the Spirit will guide me to love, learn, and lead within the biblical framework given for women, and in my case, a Pastor’s glory. I look forward to the walk!