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When You’re Weary at the Start of a New Ministry Year

SUSAN TYNER | CONTRIBUTOR I thought I’d be ready. More rested. Eager to begin. Instead, as I look down the barrel of my calendar, I feel tired. In May I imagined the summer months would give me the rest and rejuvenation I needed after a hard spring. But, as I face August and the upcoming “kick offs” of ministry, my body is slow to move. My brain sputters as I start making lists. My heart questions once again if God will provide the volunteers. I focus on my present limitations much more than I remember God’s past help. But thankfully, God reminds me of a time His disciples felt the overwhelming ratio between a need and their ability to meet it. This story—found in all four gospels—gives me a template for facing a new year of ministry: the sack lunch approach. When Jesus and His disciples were chased down by the crowds in a remote area, and it was approaching dinnertime, He told the disciples to feed the crowd of 5,000. What did they have on hand? A first century Lunchables: a boy’s two fish and five loaves of bread...

When You’re Weary at the Start of a New Ministry Year2025-08-08T13:50:24+00:00

Eve: A Helper and Hope Bearer

MEAGHAN MAY | CONTRIBUTOR Ministry life can feel like a strange mix of beauty and burden. You might find yourself wearing multiple hats, holding sacred confidences, and offering wisdom to others while you are weary. You truly love the Lord and His Church, but some days isolation and confusion seem more pressing. As expectations swirl— both spoken and unspoken—you question your adequacy, your purpose, your place. You’re not alone. Eve was the first woman and ministry wife, but she also stood in a place of tension—called by God, yet wrestling with doubt. She struggled to trust His words, to wait for His timing, and to understand her place in His redemptive story. Eve’s life reminds us: we are not the first to waver, but also not the last to be sustained by grace. Her story, like ours, is complex, marked by beauty, brokenness, grace, and growth. And in her story, we find perspective for our own. Like Eve, we are learning to trust and are invited to listen again to the voice of God. His voice still beckons us out of hiding, clothes us, and sends us out with hope. Eve’s Calling, Struggle, and Growing Faith Eve was created with purpose: to live in relationship with God, to reflect His glory, to walk alongside her husband as a helper (ezer) and life-giver. Eve’s identity wasn’t an afterthought; it was intentional. Before God created her, He let Adam name the animals but among them, no suitable companion could be found. This is the first “not good” in all of creation (Gen. 2:18). Afterward, God caused Adam to sleep and took a rib from his side, fashioning it into the woman. When Adam saw her, he exclaimed with joy and recognition: “At last, this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!” (Gen. 2:23). She was an ezer—a strong helper—a word used of God Himself in Scripture (Deut. 33:26; Psalm 121:2). Yet Eve struggled. “She saw that the fruit was… desirable… so she took it and ate” (Gen. 3:6)....

Eve: A Helper and Hope Bearer2025-07-31T23:35:51+00:00

Cherish: Encouragement and Equipping for Ministry

HANNAH STARNES|GUEST Not quite two years into full time ministry, I attended my first WE (Wives of Elders) event at Women’s Leadership Training in Atlanta. WE was just getting off the ground and as a young pastor’s wife, I was thrilled there was a ministry specifically for the wives of elders. Though my husband had not been a TE (Teaching Elder) for long, we were already weary, and I found myself continuing to take on more than I should because I believed that was expected of me. A joke had been made more than once that when my husband was hired, they had gotten “two for the price of one” because I had a hard time saying no. Without a mentor to guide me, I burned out quickly. But at the WE meeting, I felt relief for the first time. I was pregnant and therefore already emotional, but as I left the room I cried as I recapped the experience to my mom, telling her that I had met and connected with women who understood what I was going through. I was no longer alone! It was a special time of sharing one another’s burdens as well as rejoicing with one another through the cheerful parts of ministry. I saw 1 Corinthians 12:26 working out before my eyes, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” I came away feeling refreshed. In early 2024, I joined the WE team to be a liaison for the new WE cohorts. I wanted others to feel the way I did after that first WE meeting—connected, cared for, understood. It is a privilege to be a part of a group that seeks to connect elders’ wives to one another to fight against the feelings of isolation, bitterness, and misunderstanding. These cohorts have changed and altered over time but still maintain the purpose of connecting both teaching and ruling elders’ wives together for the purpose of encouragement and glorifying God together...

Cherish: Encouragement and Equipping for Ministry2025-03-12T14:52:54+00:00

View from the Second Row: Perspective of a Pastor’s Wife

BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR When my husband and I started dating, he was not yet a pastor but was on staff with a college ministry praying through his vocational calling. A few months into dating, I began to question if I should marry a guy who was in the middle of a “vocational crisis.” Thankfully, some very close friends quickly talked me down off the ledge of my emotions and reminded me it was his character I was following, not his job. The more we got to know one another, I knew I could follow him anywhere. I didn’t know then that would mean, eight months into marriage, packing up our first apartment, leaving family, and moving to a city where I knew no one so he could go to seminary. Eight years later, I sit on the second row of our current church where he serves as the Assistant Pastor. We are still early in our ministry life, but over the years the Lord has begun to unfold this world of being a pastor's wife and teach me what it means to follow my husband as he serves in the local church. The Role of a Pastor’s Wife I love watching my husband be a pastor. The Lord has called him to it, and he loves and leads our church with care and wisdom. That is his job and his passion, but it is not mine. I am called to live the life the Lord has called me to. I am a wife to my husband, a mother to my children, and have my own ministry role within the PCA. I am a member of my church and serve as I am able, but there are times I need to say “no” to a ministry event to fulfill one of my other roles. I have often heard the joke that a pastor’s wife is unpaid staff of the church, but in reality, that is not the calling of many pastor’s wives, and that is okay. One of my favorite passages is 1 Corinthians 7:17, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.” I am thankful to be a helper to my husband as he serves on staff with the local church as I also live out the calling the Lord has placed on my life.   The Boundaries of a Pastor’s Wife...

View from the Second Row: Perspective of a Pastor’s Wife2025-03-12T14:44:52+00:00

Cherish: A Safe Place for Growth

KIM BARNES | CONTRIBUTOR A few years ago, my husband, a pastor, and I experienced a significant crisis in our ministry life. We were crushed. I went from being a pastor’s wife who loved the church and could imagine no better life, to being a pastor’s wife who thought it would be great if her husband found a different line of work. I went from viewing gathered worship as a place of ministry, hospitality, and joy to a place that my head knew was necessary and good, but that my heart struggled to be present for. I couldn’t imagine ever being able to truly love and trust a local church again. I’m thankful that during that season, I had access to counseling for pastor’s wives through Cherish. Connecting with Cherish I have a vivid memory from the summer of 2019. My husband had gone ahead of me to his new pastoral call while I stayed behind to finish the packing, house-selling, and other necessities. As I sat amongst boxes, I took a break and scrolled on my phone and saw a post on social media about a new program from the PCA: Cherish. It offered free and discounted professional counseling for PCA pastor’s wives. I’d seen this promoted online before, but it didn’t seem like the right time for me to pursue counseling. We were in the middle of a big move that was stressful; adding something else to my life seemed like a bad idea. Yet, in that moment, nudged by the Holy Spirit, I thought I should check it out...

Cherish: A Safe Place for Growth2025-02-24T16:05:10+00:00

Thriving in Women’s Ministry Leadership

KENDRA KAMMER|GUEST As I drove home from a women’s ministry meeting with a friend one evening, tears started running down my face. All my fears and frustrations burst forth in a torrent. I kept thinking: Does anyone think I can do this job? Am I going to get the hang of it? Why is it so much harder than when I served in women’s ministry previously? As the new Women’s Discipleship Director at my church, I craved wisdom. Suddenly, I understood why Solomon asked for wisdom above all riches when he took on the leadership of Israel. In 1 Kings 3:7-9, Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant Dad my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you… And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.” Solomon felt ill-equipped to fill his father’s shoes. His greatest concern was to be worthy of the great calling he had received. Two years ago, God called me to be his faithful servant in a job that was too big for me. Since I had served in women’s ministry leadership for over twenty years, I thought the job would be an easy fit. But instead, God had a challenge for me. By the third month on the job, I was already burned out. A surprising (but not unexpected) gift came in the form of a two-week sickness, which slowed me down enough to reorient my priorities and recommit to my calling...

Thriving in Women’s Ministry Leadership2025-02-12T16:58:30+00:00

Ambassador for Christ: An Occupation with No Early Retirement

ELIZABETH TURNAGE | CONTRIBUTOR Missionary Rose Marie Miller turned 100 years old on December 23, 2024. In an email update on January 1, 2025, she reflected on highlights of the previous year. Chief among them was a two-week trip to Southeast Asia, where she taught missionaries. In her teaching, she shared with the missionaries insights from Scripture, focusing on familiar characters like Adam and Eve, Sarah, and Hannah, demonstrating how “the gospel pervades all of Scripture.” After returning home to London, Rose Marie fought a chest infection for the next two months. She wrote, “I was weak in body and soul and wasn't sure I would make it to 100.” Describing this as a “time of testing,” she humbly explained, “I would not take credit for what God did.” Few of us will live to be 100 years old; even fewer 100-year-olds will have the energy to travel internationally to teach the gospel. Yet, we will always be ambassadors for Christ; this calling comes with no retirement age. The Role of Christ’s Ambassadors By definition, an ambassador represents a country or organization and is tasked with creating relationships with foreign entities, promoting the interests of the home entity, and engaging in diplomacy. In 2 Corinthians 5:20, the apostle Paul describes himself and his fellow believers “ambassador(s) for Christ.” As Christ’s ambassadors, we represent Christ’s kingdom, our heavenly homeland, to those outside it. As Christ’s ambassadors, we promote the interests of our heavenly country by sharing its beauty with citizens of the world. As Christ’s ambassadors, we engage in diplomacy to advance the purposes of our heavenly country...

Ambassador for Christ: An Occupation with No Early Retirement2025-01-28T19:05:22+00:00

Loving Single Women in the Church

AMY SANTARELLI |GUEST “I sit at the back of the church and look around at all the families and everyone looks like they are happy and have a great life. Church is a very hard place to be.” I have heard such words more than once from my friends who are single again, whether through death or divorce. Other single women have similar thoughts. These dear women of all ages often struggle with loneliness, financial challenges, feeling overwhelmed, and connecting with others. God’s care for the vulnerable is found all through Scripture. Deuteronomy 24:17-22 describes God’s provision for the immigrant, orphan, and widow. Psalm 68:8 declares God as Father to the fatherless and protector of widows.  In James we see true religion described as caring for the vulnerable among us. How can we reflect God’s provision and care for the single women in our fellowship? How can we help them feel loved and seen? 1. Anticipating needs.  There are often tasks involved with caring for a home that for one reason or another are difficult for a single woman to tackle on her own. This is true of car maintenance as well. When you are working on home or car maintenance tasks for your family, consider checking in with the single women of your church to help them as well...

Loving Single Women in the Church2024-12-19T18:13:55+00:00

Equipping You For A New Women’s Ministry Year

MARIA CURREY | CONTRIBUTOR With a new Women’s Ministry year peaking on the horizon, leaders’ minds are perking with everything from finalizing calendars, setting the fiscal year budget, and encouraging and recruiting existing and new team volunteers—just to name a few likely thoughts on your prayerful punch lists! Sometimes, facing new year expectations seems daunting, like scaling a ministry-Mt.-Everest. Fortunately, we have the best gear for whatever climb we face: God’s Word, prayer, and leaders before and behind us as “spiritual sherpas” of sorts. Jesus is first and always at the front as our guide and hems us in from behind, but it is also helpful to know the resources and relationships of trusted leaders who have climbed similar mountains. The Priority of Prayer The combination of God’s Word and prayer first informs our preparations. Pulled from God’s Word, prayer was the pacing of Jesus ministry from His baptism in Luke 3:21 to His final breath in Luke 23:46 and in His consummation of blessing and breaking bread with His disciples in Luke 24:30. As we follow in Jesus’ perfect footsteps, trusting established placement of our feet, He gives us the critical cues to pray without ceasing as we prepare. Jesus, who was perfect in every way, relied on prayer as the lifeline with God His Father; if it was critical for Him, it is even more essential for us...

Equipping You For A New Women’s Ministry Year2024-07-24T13:50:16+00:00

Her Name Was Nellie Smith: The Call to Intergenerational Discipleship

SHERRY KENDRICK |GUEST Her name was Nellie Smith, and she was one of my mother’s closest friends. Through the years, they became natural partners in multiple ministries. Nellie would teach and my mother would make sure there were snacks, crafts, and a welcoming space. And through this relationship, my mother learned how to disciple and encourage me in God’s Word. Deeply and faithfully, Nellie communicated God’s Word. She taught at the Good News Club, Sunday School, Children’s Church, and Vacation Bible School. She was a student of the Word, and those of us under her instruction learned the depth and breadth of Scripture. My love of the Old Testament and how it points to Jesus came from her. Though she was not formally educated, Nellie practiced the art of captivating storytelling and warm engaging lessons. It was never boring to hear her talk about the truths of Scripture. The gospel was present in every lesson, and it pierced my young heart. One day near Easter, she prayed with me to receive Jesus and she rejoiced with my family in my salvation. Nellie loved Jesus, His Word, and His church, and she loved me. Her influence in my life shaped the beginning of my spiritual formation. From Generation to Generation As the Family Ministry Director at my church, I constantly read and follow studies about faith formation and child discipleship. The Kingdom impact of Nellie’s initial investment in my life became clear to me as I learned about the development of lasting faith in children. The impact of meaningful relationships with older faithful believers, like Nellie, cannot be underestimated...

Her Name Was Nellie Smith: The Call to Intergenerational Discipleship2024-05-02T15:53:07+00:00
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