On January 25, Kath Paterson was moved to find herself back in the pulpit of Trinity Road Chapel, Tooting, addressing a church full of pastors’ wives from 70 different churches across the London area.
34 years ago she had stood in the same spot, promising ‘I will…’ to Andy. The subject for this year’s London Ministry Wives conference was… marriage! The subject was not only fitting, it was necessary, as participants were soberly reminded that at least one seat amongst us was vacant through marriage break-up.
Kath highlighted Jesus’s words in Matthew: ‘I am humble and gentle in heart’. Humility and gentleness puts others first. Here are a few choice morsels, from what she shared: ‘Pride loves to talk – it doesn’t need a husband, just an audience.’/‘Busy is bad if it makes us too tired for intimacy. Sometimes we need to say no to other people, so that we can say yes to our spouse.’/ ‘Satan condemns. Let’s make sure we are not helping him, by talking in a prejudiced way to our husbands’.
Prayer life
In her second session, Kath challenged the wives to realise that no-one knows their husbands better than them – his mood, weaknesses, heart and diary. They are uniquely placed to pray intelligently and specifically for the man God has given them.
The day closed with Q and A on areas such as: What about when one person does-n’t want intimacy? How do we overcome the temptation to adultery?
Let’s pray there won’t be a seat empty next year where a minister’s wife once sat.
