The Biblical Role of the Pastor's wife - South African Theological ...

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namely, “Who you are; What you can do; The marriage relationship in the parsonage; Looking at the ministry through the wives’ eyes and speaking about the different seasons of one’s life”. Such guidance is valuable and important to note. I believe wives are interested in learning something that is relevant to their situation, including skills that will assist them as they grow into their ministry as a pastor’s wife. Basic and practical skills such as counselling, developing Bible studies or time management may prove to be worthy lessons. Upon identifying particular topics I would focus a potential curriculum on the following five areas as indicated in Chapter 4: 1) Identity awareness, 2) Marriage relationship, 3) Focusing on the Spiritual life, 4) Developing ministry skills and 5) Nurturing friendships and mentorship. Those wives who had been pastors’ wives for a longer period of time felt confident in their role and were more aware of their needs. Wives who had formal education also expressed a confidence in their role as a pastor’s wife. Any expressed need for education or training was mostly limited to specific skills. Younger pastors’ wives expressed a greater need with regard to understanding their role and ministry in the church. 5.2.3. Conclusions regarding Educating the Church Most wives felt that the church needed to be educated regarding their role within the church. Very little literature exists regarding educating the church on the role of the pastor’s wife in the local church. Most books tackle this issue from the perspective of supporting one’s pastoral family, through prayer and various encouraging activities. Scripture does give guidelines as to the education of its members with regard to respecting and obeying church leaders. It would be beneficial for churches or church leadership to take the opportunity and present the church with effective ways in which they can look after the pastoral families entrusted to them. Development of a curriculum for church education, with regard to care of leaders within the church specifically, may be an area in need of development. It is unknown as to how many churches in South Africa have implemented a care programme for their pastors. 128
Roberts (1995) and Dobson (2001) offer good advice to churches with regard to supporting the pastor and his family. Both authors are of the opinion that church members need to be told about how to look after their pastoral families and when to seek help for overburdened pastors. Although their focus is specifically on the pastor awareness can be extended to incorporate care of the pastor’s wife as well. 5.3. Recommendations of Further Research Several options exist for future research in the field of pastoral family care. One may investigate care programmes for churches to implement that will help congregants to show value for the work pastors and pastors’ wives do within the church. It would be advantageous to establish whether this is seen to be a problem in local churches so that this issue may be addressed. One definite need for further research exists amongst black African pastors’ wives in order to identify their role in the local black African church. It is necessary to understand the needs of black African pastors’ wives in their local communities as their role may or may not differ from the role and needs of their white counterparts. It is recommended that research be conducted to establish a suitable educational programme be found for new pastors’ wives or wives of pastor’sto-be. An evaluation of existing, often dated, materials should be undertaken in order to produce useful and realistic education for up and coming pastors’ wives. 5.4. Summary: Significance of Findings At the outset of this research I anticipated that ‘a clearly defined role of the pastor’s wife will enable correct expectations to be maintained by all concerned’ (pg. 12). As this study comes to a close and further research is pursued I am convinced that a clear understanding of the role of the pastor’s wife will both help and improve the influence of the pastor’s wife in the local church and will develop a clear understanding of the role of the pastor’s wife with realistic expectations and defined goals in the church. As the pastor’s 129
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THE BIBLICAL ROLE OF THE PASTOR’S
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ACKOWLEDGEMENTS To my wonderful hus
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TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTROD
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2.4.3 Do you enjoy your role as the
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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 5.1 Review of
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wife reveals that her role is poorl
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Whether through particular need or
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local church, with special referenc
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1.2.3. Methodology for Chapter 3: A
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CHAPTER 2 Situation Analysis: The P
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This chart indicates that the major
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The wives interviewed for this rese
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identifies some key issues with reg
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not specifically selected; they wer
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200 congregants were nominally invo
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2.3.5 How many years have you been
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Two wives indicated that they were
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congregational members could be rai
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ecause their husbands were in essen
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2.3.13 Do you believe Scripture tea
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and yet were called upon to fulfil
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needs also to be clear as to what s
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It should be noted that an informal
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suitable to each wife could be impo
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eason or another must work but inev
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23B3w: I feel better now as I have
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23C2y: Developing relationships wit
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ecause certain things are left undo
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2.4.7 Have you established any boun
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2.4.8 To what extent is the church
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22B3q: Yes, I believe the church do
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2.4.11 What message would you wish
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as a church member or Christian and
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immediate family requirements, this
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22B3q: I do regret not having the t
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ministry and afford all time and ev
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2.5 Identifying the Role of the Pas
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CHAPTER 3 A Biblical Perspective on
Page 77 and 78: everything was very good. Sailhamer
Page 79 and 80: helper has often brought the connot
Page 81 and 82: elationship. For the purpose of thi
Page 83 and 84: Patterson’s article (1991:369) pr
Page 85 and 86: creatures and therefore find it nat
Page 87 and 88: church so that a foundation for the
Page 89 and 90: teaching began to create conflict a
Page 91 and 92: 3.4.2 1 Timothy 3:11: The Female De
Page 93 and 94: office. Fitzmyer’s understanding
Page 95 and 96: feminist theology, women in leaders
Page 97 and 98: public duty than any Christian woma
Page 99 and 100: Edwards and Mathews (2002:27) descr
Page 101 and 102: move outward to help future pastors
Page 103 and 104: The majority of pastors’ wives wh
Page 105 and 106: 4.2.1. Directives to the Body of Ch
Page 107 and 108: within a job portfolio of a deacon.
Page 109 and 110: within the church as God enables th
Page 111 and 112: Events of encouragement may differ
Page 113 and 114: Bare (a pastor’s wife herself) ev
Page 115 and 116: can place her trust. It is vital th
Page 117 and 118: Two books of exceptional value rega
Page 119 and 120: maintain your spiritual self must b
Page 121 and 122: 4.4.5. Mentoring 28 A mentoring pro
Page 123 and 124: consistent encouragement. Pastors
Page 125 and 126: wives and to what extent wives unde
Page 127: perceived limitations of this role.
Page 131 and 132: Works Cited Adams, Jay E. 1984. She
Page 133 and 134: Fitzpatrick, Elyse M. 2003. Helper
Page 135 and 136: Women in the Early Church: Christia
Page 137 and 138: Roberts, Wes. 1995. Support your lo
Page 139 and 140: IL: Christianity Today, Inc. Online
Page 141 and 142: Appendix 2 Additional reading regar
Page 143 and 144: Grade 12 3,351 14.99 4,684 20.95 8,
Page 145 and 146: HOUSING PROFILE Type of Dwelling, O
Page 147 and 148: N.G. Church Somerset- West C/O Dirk
Page 149 and 150: 11. Describe your role in the local
Page 151 and 152: 8. Would you consider yourself the
Page 153 and 154: 1962: The Role of the Minister’s
Page 155 and 156: Appendix 8: Online Support for Past
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