Beth Allison Barr | From Pulpit to Parsonage: Gender, Ordination, and the Pastor’s Wife
Historian and author Beth Allison Barr joins Thinking Christian to discuss her latest book, Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry. We explore the medieval redefinitions of masculinity that reshaped church leadership, the rise of clerical celibacy, and how the Protestant Reformation unwittingly birthed a new ecclesial role: the pastor’s wife. Along the way, we talk ordination, authority, embodiment, cultural expectations, and the invisible burdens placed on ministry families. Whether you're a pastor, a pastor's spouse, or just trying to make sense of biblical manhood and womanhood in the 21st century, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.
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In addition to being a regular contributor to Christianity.com and Washingtontimes.com, James has published multiple works, including Christian Resistance: Learnign to Defy the World and Follow Christ, Useful to God: Eight Lessons from the Life of D.L. Moody, Thinking Christian: Essays on Testimony, Accountability, and the Christian Mind, and Trajectories: A Gospel-Centered Introduction to Old Testament Theology.
James currently serves as president of the D. L. Moody Center, an adjunct instructor at Wheaton College Graduate School, and faculty member at Right On Mission.
You can find out more about James at his personal website www.jamesspencer.com.