„…ki találhat bölcs asszonyt?” Némi betekintés a 16–17. századi papnék műveltségébe

“Who Can Find a Wise Woman?” Some Insights into the Education of the Wives of 16th-17th-Century Calvinist Priests. The paper examines the literacy of pastors’ wives during the 16th-17th centuries. For a long time, the opportunity for women to acquire literacy was only the privilege of the upper social strata, but literacy was not widespread among them either. This trend came to an end in the 17th century, for which period we also found examples of the literacy of urban citizens. The daughters of the lower social strata were prepared primarily to be good wives, housewives, and good mothers in the family, especially next to their mothers. Examining the preachers’ wives as a well-defined social group is a problem due to the scarcity of resources. In most cases, we know nothing but the name of the preacher’s wife, and we do not have information about their origins and families; if we do, however, then their social situation and the occupation of their parents provide a basis for research into their education. The conclusion of the research is that even if they did not receive a formal education, the 16th-17th-century Calvinist pastors’ wives were educated women. In many cases, this knowledge – primarily wisdom, life experience, and piety – and the virtues necessary for the roles of housewife, mother, and wife were the main aspects of choice for their husband. Keywords: pastor’s wife, Protestantism, literacy, 16th-17th century

The Third Shift

Chapter 5 presents dual expectations women pastors face in relation to their pastoral responsibilities at work as well as how they go about being a wife and mother, commonly referred to as the “second shift.” Women pastors are often expected to take on the lion’s share of household responsibilities. Therefore, congregants assume that they are pulled more between home and work than men, thus resulting in congregants doubting their ability to do it all. Finally, Chapter 5 demonstrates the traditional role of pastor’s wife and how some congregants implicitly assume that the work of pastors will be complemented by the unpaid work of their spouses. Pastors’ wives typically face more congregational expectations than pastors’ husbands, often leaving women pastors in heteronormative relationships to pick up some of the traditional pastor’s wife responsibilities in addition to their own responsibilities both at home and work; I refer to this phenomenon as the “third shift.”

‘I And My Family We Shall Serve The Lord’: Reflections on the Identity of the Pastor’s Wife in Ghanaian Charismatic Ministries

Pastor’s wives in Charismatic ministries in Ghana face similar challenges like what happened to the Zipporah, the wife of Moses. All these women feel less secure within the worship space and are easily demeaned. These pastor’s wives find themselves caught between substance and liminal identities, acceptance and rejection. Such attitudes towards them is similar to the way Ghanaians treat ntwema (“red clay”) used to maintain, beautify and protect the home. It is very useful yet kept in homes as if it is insignificant or unwanted. This paper uses an ideological reading of Exodus 4:18-26 and 18:1-27 to highlight the life and challenges of Zipporah and uses the findings to reflect on the experiences of the pastor’s wife in Ghanaian charismatic tradition. It presents views of two focus-groups of pastors’ wives in Accra and Kumasi, made up of ten (10) women each. All the twenty women are wives of founders of charismatic ministries and are ordained. It proposes that the pastors must always be grateful to their spouses. The Church should also not downplay the role of in-laws, mediators and wise counsellors who intervene when there are problems. More so, pastors’ wives must draw from their inner strength to affirm their own personality, worth and dignity. Keywords: Zipporah, Moses, pastor’s wife, Charismatic ministries, liminality

‘Not a Feminist, but …’: Elizabeth von Arnim and Female Resistance

This essay explores von Arnim’s systematic representation of the ways in which her female characters encounter, come to understand, and often seek to challenge patterns of male control and suppression of girls and women. Focussing chiefly on Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther (1907), The Pastor’s Wife (1914), Expiation (1929) and Father (1931), the essay addresses male silencing of women, emotional manipulation, and various forms of sexual intimidation and violence (including marital rape), and analyses the growth of self-knowledge and resistance in von Arnim’s female protagonists. Although von Arnim’s characters show little, if any, awareness of the feminist debates and arguments swirling around them in the world beyond the narrow confines of their own lives, many of them eventually come to voice, and act upon, the emerging demands of the contemporary women’s movement. They may not be feminists, but. …

Beverly LaHaye Defies Feminism

In 1979, Beverly LaHaye founded Concerned Women for America (CWA), which would quickly become the nation’s largest lobbying group for conservative women. With chapters across the country, CWA has been responsible for mobilizing hundreds of thousands of conservative women to become active for conservative causes at the local, state, and federal levels. LaHaye began her career as a megachurch pastor’s wife and the author of marital and spiritual advice for evangelical women. When she turned her attention to politics, she used the language and networks of evangelical women’s culture to mobilize others. Her story demonstrates how even women who took on definitive political leadership roles had to negotiate persistent ambivalence within conservative evangelical communities, both about politics in general and about women’s roles within it. LaHaye’s relationship with Catholic activist Phyllis Schlafly also highlights the limits of ecumenical cooperation within the New Christian Right, even as that movement was defined by new alliances between conservative Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and Jews.