The following are web site links and descriptions of resources designed to benefit Pastors and Spouses in how you relate to each other within your marriage. We pray they will minister to your marital relationship as you use them to help you to reflect the love of God to each other in the mission of your marriage:

• Parsonage.org: As they say about their ministry: “Every Moses needs an Aaron… and every pastor needs support — a companion on the journey — someone to say, ‘I’m on your side. I’ve been there.’ That’s why Focus on the Family has established this special ministry for pastors and their families. We are here to come alongside each of you as you endeavor to serve the Lord in these most difficult days. Our mission is to facilitate spiritual restoration and renewal for ministry families through resources and services that will assist in bringing balance to their personal and professional lives.”

• Caregivers Forum: This is a network of like-minded people concerned about supporting each other in “ministering to ministers.” They have a great Resource Directory of Ministries available for your use. The ministries represented at the Forum provide a wide variety of services ranging from rest and relaxation to spiritual retreats to intensive counseling and everything in between. This voluntary listing is provided as a resource to those seeking help as well as those providing referrals.

• www.christianrecovery.com: Christian Recovery International is a coalition of ministries dedicated to helping the Christian community become a safe and helpful place for people recovering from addiction, abuse or trauma. This is the best overall Christian recovery site on the Net with a broad focus on all recovery issues.

• Clergy Care Network: Ministry is a high calling, but it’s not for the faint of heart! Inherent in this line of work can be long hours, expectations of others, self-sacrifice and incredible times of joy. The Clergy Care Network and Focus on the Family Canada are here to help provide guidance when life is challenging - and to rejoice with you when things are going well.

• www.clergyrecovery.com: The Clergy Recovery Network exists to support, encourage and provide resources to religious professionals in recovery. If you are a pastor, missionary, religious professional —or a spouse of one —this may be a place where you will find help for the struggles you are experiencing. For the last 10 years they have been providing mentoring services to clergy and their families and their web site represents some of the things they are learning. They encourage you to “reach out for all the grace you may need.” All of the categorized articles “are deliberately interactive like Blogs so you may participate.”

• www.crown.org: For Biblically based help on financial matters from investment advice to everyday financial and budgeting questions you can visit this very helpful web site to obtain just about anything you could need to help you manage God’s money to the best of your ability. They even have an international outreach. Plus they have a section called “Pastors Finances” in their articles section. You can read what they have in this section by clicking HERE.

• Galatians 6:6 Retreats: These are two-day retreats designed to provide enrichment to ministry couples. They are a time to “freely receive.” Quite often, couples in the ministry become so involved in “giving to others” that their personal lives are neglected. They miss out on the first part of the biblical principle found in Matthew 10:8b, “Freely you have received, freely give.” In the spirit of ministry leaders freely receiving, the apostle Paul challenged the church with this message in Galatians 6:6. “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.”

Galatians 6:6 retreats are held in various locations in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere and are an attempt to communicate that the “worker is worthy.” “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.” (1 Timothy 5:17 NKJV) (Pastors can also find sermon downloads on this web site.)

• Heart of America Ministry Women: Here’s what they say about their ministry: Are you facing spiritual burnout? Not sure of your role? Feeling hurts because of the behavior of others? We are here for you! We are devoted to meeting the needs of ministry wives and women in ministry.

• Just Between Us: This is a magazine published to provide encouragement, inspiration, spiritual support and practical insights for ministry wives and women in church, para-church and missions leadership.

• Leadership Journal.net: This ministry which is a division of Christianity Today has a number of articles and testimonies that are targeted specifically for pastors and their families. A few of the articles are free for you to read and others give you a preview of what they make available and then have a yearly fee for you to have access to the rest of the articles as well as other “helps.” This link takes you directly to their articles, however, from there you can see what else this ministry makes available for you to use.

• Lifefaithfusion.com: This ministry is committed to providing creatively designed, Biblically solid, cutting-edge resources for Christian pastors, missionaries, and Bible teachers, seeking to equip them with sermons, Bible studies, devotionals, and other practical leadership tools for Christian ministry. Free sermons, free podcasts, and free devotionals will enhance your walk with God and your ability to minister effectively.

• www.loisevans.org: is a web site for Pastor’s wives. They have a section, “Get Connected Heart-to-Heart,” where they have the opportunity to connect with pastor’s wives from around the world to connect with one another. They also have the opportunity to leave prayer requests and to pray for others who have left requests. And they can read articles in a section titled, “The Reading Room.”

• www.marriageresourcesforclergy.com: This web site is designed to assist pastors in strengthening marriages. It provides sermon resources, articles on marriage, American community marriage initiatives and policies and training resources so that churches can support marriage.

• www.maninthemirror.org: This is a ministry serving pastors and leaders who reach men.

• Nehemiah Ministries: They provide caregiving resources and services for pastors, missionaries and others in vocational ministry at their lovely guest house located on 160 wooded acres in Michigan’s Maple River valley. They also provide counseling and church relations resources at no cost for those in need.

• Pastorsforpurity.com: This simple web site exists for one reason: to encourage pastors who embody the courage of Christ to proclaim the truth — primarily the truth about God’s call to sexual purity. This forum is where pastors are praised for their courage and where visitors can find pastors and churches who represent a safe place for dealing with real life struggles with purity issues.

• PastorCare Southwest: This ministry encourages, coaches, and mentors pastors and their spouses and provides practical support for them, like matching pastors with ministry team members and referring them to health care and counseling professionals. This ministry also works with pastors and their spouses by stepping into their lives in the midst of turmoil, even initiating contact with hurting pastors when it’s needed. They help wounded pastors avoid wounding actions and educate congregations in pastor care.

• www.peacemaker.net: The mission of Peacemaker Ministries is to equip and assist Christians and their churches to respond to conflict biblically. In a more expanded version, their mission is to equip and assist Christians and their churches to respond to conflict biblically by developing and delivering outstanding, life-changing resources, training, and services to a multitude of receptive churches throughout the world. They prepare church leaders, adults, and children for peacemaking through educational resources, seminars, and training. They also provide conflict coaching, mediation, and arbitration services to resolve church and ministry disputes, lawsuits, family divisions, and business conflicts. They have several articles to help pastors.

• http://priscillasfriends.org: As they say about their web site: “We in John Mark Ministries have been concerned for many years about the ‘least-pastored’ group in the church - pastors’ spouses. These people, mostly women, are the focus of this website. Using the ministering team of the Biblical couple Aquila and Priscilla as a model, we at JMM hope to provide encouragement, hope, and many resources for this specific and unique group of people.”

• www.pureintimacy.org: This web site, which is put together by the ministry of Focus on the Family, deals with intimacy and sexual addiction issues. It also houses a section which is dedicated to help Pastors and ministry leaders in particular. As you visit this web site, you will find insightful articles, testimonies, suggested resources and further information that could help you deal with intimacy issues.

• www.rev.org: This is a gateway for pastor-focused items from Rev! Magazine and Group. Here you’ll find helpful information about pastor-oriented resources, upcoming training events, and links to other cool sites. It’s their mission to bring pastors a fun and useful landing spot for inspiration, assistance, and community.

• www.sarahstent.com: This is: “A ministry devoted to gathering together God’s silent warriors, the wives of pastors and ministers of all denominations and cultural backgrounds, as well as their families, for fellowship, support, laughter and prayer.” They have a Pastor’s Wives Network which helps pastor’s wives to connect into web sites which could benefit them.

• FOR THOSE IN CONTINENTAL U.S.: The Pastoral Care Line: When a member of a pastor’s family needs someone to whom he or she can talk about personal, family or church issues, it seems there is always a risk that the “wrong” person may find out. Thus, too many of these valued servants say nothing and suffer in silence until it is too late. There is a safe place for you! Focus on the Family’s toll-free Pastoral Care Line is available to all pastoral family members from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (Mountain) every Monday through Friday.

Staffed by current and former pastors, it offers you a listening ear, a word of gentle advice, an appropriate resource or a simple time of prayer — whatever you need!. You may not need them today, but when you do, please do not hesitate to call: (877) 233-4455 They really do care about you! For more information, visit their “home page for ministers and their families” at: www.parsonage.org.

RESOURCE DESCRIPTIONS:

• CHOOSING TO CHEAT- Who Wins When Family and Work Collide, by Andy Stanley, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, www.thomasnelson.com. This book presents a strategic plan for resolving the tension between work and home. Written by a pastor himself, you’ll find ways to deal with the busyness that wreaks havoc with the relationships you consider most important.

As Dr John Maxwell says about this book [which we agree]: “This is a life-changing book and extremely relevant to our modern way of life. Author Andy Stanley confronts us with truth and transparency. Just as he had made a commitment in his own life to balance his family time with his work, he encourages us to make similar commitments. One of the main reasons it is life changing is because a godly man who makes choices in his own life to never sacrifice his family for success has written it. If he wins the world but loses his family, what has he gained? Every couple, every parent, and every leader needs to read this book and consider the question: Who wins when my family and work collide?” Buy this book now.

• COUNSEL FOR PASTORS WIVES -by Diane Langberg, published by Zondervan. This book could have been titled, “14 Frequently Asked Questions by Pastors’ Wives” because it is based on 14 letters written by the concerned wives of pastors to Christian counselor, Diane Langberg. In this book, Dr Langberg provides prayerful and sound counsel that addresses the hurts of pastors’ wives.

“For many pastoral couples, the challenge of pastoring is one of survival. High expectations about the opportunity to provide pastoral leadership and Christian ministry in a congregational setting too often turns to disillusionment and discouragement. Can the experiences really be changed into a positive ministry with real fulfillment?” Dr Langberg believes that it is possible to to turn that around in her book, she addresses how to accomplish that goal.

• HEART OF A GREAT PASTOR… How to Grow Strong and Thrive Wherever God Has Planted You -by H.B. London and Neil B Wiseman, published by Regal Books. This book is a book that focuses on encouraging pastors and helping them to flourish in the ministry God has given them. As they say, “The measure of a great pastor isn’t found in how big the church is, but rather how readily available that pastor is for ministry —regardless of how humble the circumstance.” This book helps you as pastors to discover strength in having a mentor, learning how to overcome obstacles and finding yourself “pushed to take risks. God wants your ministry to blossom right where you’ve been planted.” Buy this book now.

• SEVEN PRACTICES OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY -by Andy Stanley, Lane Jones, and Reggie Joiner, published by Multnomah. This insightful book speaks to every church leader who yearns for a simpler, more effective approach to ministry. It contains a parable about one overwhelmed pastor which is followed by an overview of seven successful team practices, each one developed and applied in a ministry setting. The points are reinforced by discussion questions which are relevant, clear and easy. The strategic practices are aimed to turn any ministry into a “winning team.” Buy this book now.

• WHY GREAT MEN FALL -by Wayde Goodall, published by New Leaf Press. Being a pastor and mentor, Goodall points to easily identifiable signposts that have trapped men and eventually caused them to fall from grace either morally, ethically, or criminally. His thousands of hours of counseling also provide unique insights into character flaws that contribute to “falls from grace.” Some of the topics covered are: Why Great Leaders Fall, Entitlement, Entrepreneurs without Balance, Compartmentalization, Expectation of Silence, The Sex Issue, Integrity, Anger, Accountability, Conscience, Mentors and Coaches, Ethics, Stress and Pressure, Money, Depression and Moods, and more. Buy this book now.

 

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