Are You Ready for It?

Becoming the Pastor's Wife is coming, and you are the first to know!

Aug 10, 2024

I never imagined how the story I tell in Becoming The Pastor’s Wife would unfold, much less that I would get a chance to tell it.

I never imagined I would love a book cover as much as I love the cover of The Making of Biblical Womanhood.

I never imagined a subtitle that encapsulatses my argument as well as the subtitle does for The Making of Biblical Womanhood, either.

But here we are, with me announcing that pre-orders are open for Becoming The Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry and showing you the beautiful cover that captures the historical breadth of the story I tell.

(Let me tell you, too, before I forget, that preorder gifts are coming, and those who order now will be eligible when they are announced.)

As I said in my previous post, The Making of Biblical Womanhood tells the history I have been teaching in my European Women upper level courses at Baylor for many years.

Becoming The Pastor’s Wife tells a parallel but different story.

It strengthens my argument that the subjugation of women is a product of human culture even while showing you the strength of women who have served in ministry throughout Christian history—married and not married, in the pulpit and behind it, as church leaders, evangelists, missionaries, teachers, and wives holding their families together.

It brings together evidence from the ancient, medieval, and modern world to show you that the work women do in the church doesn’t change. Women have always done the work of God. What changes is how the church recognizes, defines, and compensates the work women do….

Becoming the Pastor’s Wife will tell you a story I didn’t know until I uncovered it. It will tell you about women I didn’t know before meeting them in the archives. It will tell you about a clergy sex abuse case that had remained buried in a box of letters until I stumbled on it and followed the clues all the way to Canada. It will tell you the story of my own ministry role in which I have served for 25 years—as an evangelical pastor’s wife.

Most importantly, it will show you why the pastor’s wife role is more important (for better and for worse) than we have yet imagined it to be.

Y’all, I’m so excited to release this book into the world! It is the product of two years of research, 150 pastor’s wife books, and 5 archival research trips. I fervently pray that Becoming the Pastor’s Wife—like The Making of Biblical Womanhood—will bring us one step closer to ending Christian patriarchy.

Join me in sharing the good news because it is time, far past time, for women to be free!

and more at my newly updated website http://bethallisonbarr.com

Thank you for reading and supporting me.

I couldn’t do any of this without you.

As an update, after I released this post to paid subscribers yesterday, I was shocked to see how quickly Becoming The Pastor’s Wife rose on Amazon charts (see below) despite still being several months out from release. All I can say is thank you for trusting me to tell this story! I will announce the book on social media Monday, August 12, and would love your help in spreading the word!

Beth Allison Barr

P.S.—as promised, I am releasing news such as this first to paid subscribers, then all subscribers, and then opening it up to the public. This means you will get first news about preorders, preorder gifts, and joining the launch team.