The Stereotypical Minister's Wife

I recently read something that described the stereotyped minister's wife.

Like she still existed!

The term no longer describes anybody I know.

A little history:

When the Sexual Revolution, prompted by the advent of the birth control pill in the early 60s, got rolling - it affected all of us.

Minister's wives were able to go to work. Many of them earned more than their husbands. This caused issues. There were divorces.

Years ago, a bishop I know, concerned about the above, addressed a group of us minister's wives. His goal was to straighten us out. He said that MWs needed to get back home where they belonged. He said that ministers should never "baby sit." (I've never understood that term when it applies to your own children.) He said that, and I quote, "ministers think in intellectual terms, like writing a sermon. You (meaning us MWs) think in concrete terms, like baking a cake."

Sitting in front of me was a psychologist and a principal of an elite private school. Both minister's wives. I leaned forward and said, "You're not armed are you!"

One of the new inventions to help change the image of minister's wives - is minister's husbands. They just don't fit the stereotype at all.

And there are more and more of them because more than 50% of the people in seminaries are women.

In case you haven't noticed, women, who, years ago, had careers vicariously through their husbands, are now doing all sorts of professional things on their own.

And then, to complicate the stereotype even further, there are ministerial couples.

Wonder which one "babysits" their kids.



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