Recently, I had a great conversation with a missionary wife about the ministry. We discussed how it seems that everyone in a church has certain ideas of what a pastor’s wife, or PW for short, should be. Some think the pastor’s wife should be heavily involved in all things church. Others think an involved PW is trying to lead too much! Some think the PW should simply show up and look pretty, maybe play the piano. Then again, others find this type of PW to be lazy. There is no “Pastor’s wife” job description in the Bible, per se. I did, however, come across this job description, written tongue-in-cheek, of course! 🙂

HELP WANTED: Pastor’s wife. Must sing, play music, lead children’s groups, raise seraphic children, entertain church notables, minister to other wives, have ability to recite Bible backward and choreograph Christmas pageant. Must keep pastor sated, peaceful and out of trouble. Difficult colleagues, demanding customers, erratic hours. Pay: $0.

I got a kick out of that! I came across another humorous PW job description  in a book my Mother-in-law gave me called Ministerial Hang-Ups by Joyce Vick,originally written by Norma Gilming from You’re the Pastor’s Wife, published by Baptist Bible Fellowship, Springfield, MO.

She should be a wonderful wife.
She should be an outstanding mother.
A great cook.
A fastidious housekeeper
Very attractive.
And well groomed.
A superb Sunday School teacher.
An executive with organizational ability.
Modest, shy and unassuming.
Friendly, talkative, an all-round jolly type.
She should be able to play the piano.
And sing.
And speak.
And be always in the shadows, never taking the spotlight.
She should be nice.
She should not be too nice.
She should be well dressed.
She should not be too well dressed.
She should have a keen sense of humor.
But she shouldn’t try to top the deacon’s jokes.
She needs to be a secretary.
But with no salary.
She should be influential.
But with no real authority.
She should be everybody’s friend.
But not too friendly with anybody.

The bottom line is that I want to be the wife that is described in Titus 2: 4-5, whether my husband is a pastor or a banker. I want to please my husband. In doing this, I will please the Lord. And yes, I still have a very long way to go in reaching this goal! I do hope others are pleased with me also, but, if not, I’ve done the best I can. 🙂

A work-in-progress-PW,