KATIE POLSKI | CONTRIBUTOR
I was twenty-three years old, had a two-year-old and a two-month-old, and my husband had just started a new position as a senior pastor at a church where I knew no one. Just weeks into our new calling, I snuck away for a few minutes of quiet while the kids played in my husband’s new office. Sitting in the pew of the quiet sanctuary, I took in my surroundings, reflecting on the weight and wonder of this new calling as “pastor’s wife.”
Fast forward nearly twenty-five years, when I found myself in a time of similar contemplation. Sitting in the pew of our church, the surroundings had changed—we were at a different church, and I was in a new life stage—but the emotions of carrying the title of “pastor’s wife” were as familiar and raw as they were so many years ago.
Whether you’re serving in a church you’ve known your whole life or one that’s completely new; whether ministry is part of your family’s legacy or something you’re the first to step into; or whether your congregation is overflowing with people or faithfully pressing on in small numbers—the role of pastor’s wife carries a common thread. In all these varied settings and differing seasons, every pastor’s wife can be encouraged by the same thing: Jesus’ kindness in the calling.
The Hidden Burden and the Beautiful Calling
In my own life, the burdens haven’t changed much through the years. Early in our ministry, I accompanied my husband to the home of grieving parents who had lost their child. As the mother practically collapsed in my arms, I had the thought, “Why am I here?” It felt almost intrusive to step into such tender grief when I barely knew the family. And yet, she wept in my arms.
Why am I here? Why am I sitting in a room for a memorial service in memory of a mother I did not know. Why am I invited to a wedding of a couple I only met once? Why am I here, bearing the weight from a difficult session meeting?…
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