MEAGHAN MAY|GUEST

I admit navigating the busyness of my own ministry life felt like its own frazzling challenge. And adding to that the task of getting out the door with an infant-necessity-packed car and my two tiny children to drive forty-five minutes “off island” in south Florida felt like an almost insurmountable challenge. In the beginning, I questioned if it was really necessary that I go to all the trouble. Yet each week, the seat I found waiting for me, and the greeting, “Good morning, Meaghan!” reminded me that I wasn’t alone.

Not Made to do Ministry Alone

We all have stories of isolation and even frustration in ministry. Ministry can be hard. We have full plates and limited time. During this now-and-not-yet in the biblical story of redemption, the Fall impacts our own hearts, our homes, and our churches. It makes it hard to connect. This is why the gift of a seat next to Sherry Kendrick was so inviting for me. She saw me and encouraged me. I really didn’t know I needed it, but she did.

Ephesians 4:15-16 encourages us, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

As a veteran teaching elder’s wife, Sherry did what she knew. In love, she sought to strengthen the body of Christ. She knew this took intentionality and sacrifice, and seeing a need, she shared her gifts and graces. She poured into my life the way that Susan Hunt and Barbara Thompson had poured into hers. She offered herself. She drove me in the large church van to Orlando to attend my first PCA Women’s Ministry conference, Grace 360. Her enthusiasm was contagious.

Maybe it wasn’t necessarily flashy, but Sherry went to great lengths to arrange a Bible study in her church fellowship hall complete with wonderful childcare and warm casseroles, and then Sherry personally invited all the young ministry wives in the presbytery to attend! These connections were nourishment for my tender soul. She took me in as I was. She listened, she prayed, she reminded me of the goodness of our God of hesed. She was safe, and always had a favorite book on hand and a warm smile. I can still recount the ministry stories, real life anecdotes, laughs, and crazy shenanigans of those precious mornings.

Sherry gave me eyes to see what ministry looked like further down the road. Then, she introduced me to her friends. Never missing a beat, these friends introduced me to their friends, and before I knew it, I had a community of care and support. We were not made to live life alone. We were not made to do ministry alone.

A New Ministry to Elders’ Wives 

WE is a new ministry initiative that will come alongside the ruling and teaching elders’ wives of the PCA. This ministry will connect, serve, and strengthen ministry wives who faithfully care for the church alongside their husbands. WE trust that as these women are encouraged and equipped, marriages will be strengthened, and prayerfully, churches will be built up as well. WE will offer you connection and support to serve in your context tethered to our shared hope and source of life, Jesus Christ. WE will provide ministry connections to other people and organizations in the PCA as well as resources that enable you to serve with more tools, skills, and understanding.

Making time for connections outside of your own church setting can feel difficult, but WE really are stronger together. WE want to help the church grow up into a fully functioning body united to Christ, our head.

In Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 we read, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”

I want to encourage you to value these relationships with other ministry wives as essential and not just an added benefit. WE all need Sherry’s in our lives, but WE also have the opportunity to intentionally build each other up like she did with me. Years later, I know that this table is much bigger and more welcoming than I could have imagined. The fellowship found among elders’ wives is deep and life-giving. Wherever you are in life and ministry, WE will be holding a seat at the table for you.

To find out more information about the new ministry, visit http://www.pcacdm.org/WE

About the Author:

Meaghan May

Meaghan currently serves as the Elders’ Wives Liaison for the PCA with the support of CDM. She is also a trainer with Parakaleo and leads the local network with the Potomac Presbytery. She has been in ministry for two decades: serving in children’s ministry, youth ministry, special needs ministry, women’s ministry, conference planning, retreat speaking, coaching, and church planting.

Meaghan and her husband, Reverend Paul May, planted King’s Cross Church in Ashburn, VA with their five children. Meaghan loves to invest in the lives of women, listen to podcasts, hike with her family, read books, laugh, go on road trips, and experiment with new recipes. To connect to WE, the new ministry initiative for Teaching and Ruling Elders’ Wives in the PCA, please visit http://www.pcacdm.org/WE