Editor’s Note: Tricia Werry sat down with Tim Patterson in a recent episode of “Punching Holes in the Darkness”. To hear her conversation about ministering to Pastor’s wives click here.
CLINTON TOWNSHIP – Recently the question I often get asked is “why are you so passionate about helping pastors’ wives?” Well, the obvious answer would be because I AM a pastor’s wife myself! However, there is a bigger reason. Being a pastor’s wife has allowed me to see how important support and fellowship are.
For example, there are times when pastors’ wives feel very alone and overwhelmed. When these times come, it is not easy to be open about these feelings with your church family. I became very aware of this myself last year when my husband started having heart issues. His primary care doctor had been listening to a murmur in his heart caused by a bad valve for years and was monitoring it.
In March of last year his valve decided it had worked hard enough; that started our journey to my husband’s open-heart surgery in May of 2022. Praise God for the support of my good friend Laura who is also a pastor’s wife who traveled the journey with me.
After that journey last May, I really began to feel God laying upon my heart to help find a way to build a better network of pastors' wives here in Michigan. Who better to get support from than other pastors’ wives?
The first step in building that network has been on social media. In August of 2022 a group of Michigan pastors’ wives attended an event made possible by our state office. At this event we unanimously decided we needed a way to communicate, share burdens, and post helpful information. A private group page for senior pastor’s wives on Facebook was born! You can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unitedinhope
While the social media page is a great start, we still need in-person fellowship. The next step in this process of building a network of pastors’ wives is to get some face-to-face meetings in place.
As I have prayed and wrestled with how to make this happen, God has opened my eyes to the same words I often find myself repeating to my daughter when she struggles with a project. Start. Where. You. Are. I am inviting pastors’ wives to Black Cat Coffee Shop at 55 Macomb Place, Mount Clemens, MI 48043 on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 1pm to join me in a time of coffee, prayer, and fellowship.
My prayer as we start gathering here in southeast Michigan, is that the network will begin to grow. From that growth other pastors’ wives across the state will start to have their own meetings. As we begin to grow and network, we can then start seeing other things grow from that; like churches partnering together for women’s Bible studies, or to have worship nights and events. There is already an event on March 17th at Lakeside church at 7pm. Hosted by New Life and Lakeside. You can find more information here: go.bscm.org/womensevent
As I look at this vision for pastors’ wives Titus 2:3-5 comes to mind.
“In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to much wine. They are to teach what is good so they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, to be self-controlled, pure, homemakers, kind, and submissive to their husbands, so that God’s message will not be slandered.”
Let’s start with building up our pastors’ wives so we can then better mentor together to women in our churches.
If you would like to talk to me more about this, please contact the state office. Come and be part of the network.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tricia Werry is the women's ministry leader at New Life, Fraser. She is also the Administrative Assistant at Audio Sentry, a security firm in Fraser. Tricia and her husband Art live in Clinton Township with their daughter, Hannah, and their dog, Luna.