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

Edwards and Mathews (2002:27) describe the postmodern, 21 non-
Christian woman as one who wants transformation. These women are
described as “daughters of feminism”, now left behind. They may attend
church searching for authentic community and family. This, according to
Edwards and Matthews, is evidence that they want to fulfil their basic and
fundamental roles. Wives of pastors who were called to ministry later in life 22
tend to struggle more with the pressures and expectations placed on them
(Dobson, 2004:19, 23), questioning not only the traditional mindset of a
church but also within the home.
Some churches assign specific responsibilities to the wife of the pastor
simply because she is married to the pastor. A classic example is that of
Chairman of the Women’s Ministry. This may or may not be within the spiritual
gifting of the pastor’s wife. Dobson (2004:23) indicates that not every pastor’s
wife is pressured to fulfil certain responsibilities. She points out that
predominantly non-traditional churches allow wives to be free to serve within
their gifting and as the Lord leads them while the more traditional churches
are focused on their intended expectations and very rarely waver. Dobson
(2004:31) goes on to say that, those wives who are not called to full-time
ministry but have resolved to live a life that pleases the Lord will seek to
honour their husbands, making him their ‘ministry’. Thus, they allow their
outward expectations to be reflective of God’s love, regardless of whether
21 postmodernism, term used to designate a multitude of trends in the arts, philosophy,
religion, technology, and many other areas that come after and deviate from the many 20thcent.
movements that constituted modernism. … In general, the postmodern view is cool,
ironic, and accepting of the fragmentation of contemporary existence. It tends to concentrate
on surfaces rather than depths, to blur the distinctions between high and low culture, and as a
whole to challenge a wide variety of traditional cultural values. "Postmodernism." Columbia
Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. 30 Jun. 2007. . Accessed 30 Jun 2007.
22 A common trend is occurring with regard to ‘second career’ clergy entering into ministry.
Often realising a call to ministry later in life these pastors will change their career to seek a
more fulfilling vocation. Pulpit & Pew indicate that 56% of current senior or sole pastors of
congregations in the US are in their second career. Second-career clergy include all clergy
who reported working in another occupation for more than five years before deciding to
become a pastor (Carroll, 2002:1). Two wives indicated that their husband was a secondcareer
pastor and were supportive of his decision to enter into ministry. They did not indicate
difficult in the transition but felt confident of their role as they were more experienced in life
and confident of who they were as people.
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