Imagine having a cohort of pastors’ wives to learn from and share with. Imagine a anonymous safe space to say the things you could never voice in your community due to your husband's position.
These women discuss what they have learned, what made Circle scary and why they keep coming back.
To love the local church demands a level of care for church leaders. The pastor’s wife has a job without a description. She is observed during the most stressful minutes of her week as she single parents on Sunday mornings. She needs an anonymous cohort to share her deepest vulnerabilities without jeopardizing her friendships, her emotional wellbeing or her husband’s ministry.
Akin to a day at the spa, permission to be completely vulnerable, a space of utter safety to breath deeply, with the freedom to surrender through tears.
Some sweet words to describe their experiences in Circle.
Sharing hard things can be intimidating. And we are created to need community. We are both desperate to be seen and we are created without the ability to see our own face. Before we can feel safe and secure walking through a broken world, we have to name our felt experiences. We need trusted listeners to help us name and process our emotion for the purpose of living out our redemption and loving the Lord with our full selves.
The role of pastor’s wife is unlike any other. It is impossible to understand and sometimes awkward to try and explain. Even in healthy churches in the midst of thoughtful caring parishioners, this is a lonely position. You are both exposed and isolated. Many times in our Circles women express how liberating it is to have permission to express these challenges without having to explain the relational complexities that come with being a pastor’s wife.
Front Porchers come from all across the country and even other parts of the world. Their husbands serve in various capacities in the local church. Our organization is rooted in Biblical truth and not denomination specific. We focus our time on the pastor’s wife. On what she has experienced, what emotions she senses, what she needs to understand, what longing she needs to acknowledge and name so she can then respond to her emotion with grace. So she can respond with freedom without sin, judgement or contempt.
