The Minister's Wife

March 16, 2020
Stiller (Going Missional), senior editor of Faith Today magazine, wrestles with a role she didn’t expect to take on in this sharply funny memoir-in-essays. Stiller and her husband, Brent, had planned to help start a Bible college in Africa until Brent’s seminary training within the Anglican Church called for him to become a minister in rural Saskatchewan. Stiller speaks eloquently on friendship, the joy of newfound community, and the pleasures of Christmas: “I am the coach; Brent is the boxer; and the Christmas season is round after round of special services.” Stiller is also forthcoming about the struggles and rewards of being a minister’s wife, explaining the pain and joy of periodically moving along with her husband’s ministry. She also explores the triumphs (including affecting prayers she leads in her home with congregants, particularly after deaths or during large life changes) and disappointments (such as Brent not receiving a placement in New York) of church leadership. Christian readers will be particularly moved by Stiller’s deeply felt love for others and Jesus. Fans of Karen Swallow Prior will want to take a look.

April 15, 2020
Ministers and their families are objects of curiosity to many, and ministers' wives are often expected to be an additional (unpaid) staff member while entertaining guests and raising well-behaved children. Stiller humorously explodes such myths and expectations. She would like nothing better than if people removed their "clergy-tinted glasses" and saw her as a person, the same as themselves. She is devout, but not smug; she wishes for friendship and unwrinkled clothes. She loves her husband and children, but they are human beings, like everyone else, prone to outbursts and bad behavior. Stiller struggles with envy, disappointment, and the unkind things people say to a minister's wife (including being shushed by a congregant). Warm, likable, and genuine, Stiller comes across as the sort of person who would promise to pray for you, and you know without doubt that she'd follow through. She makes convincing arguments for the power of a community of faith and all the imperfect people who comprise it. Christians, and even former Christians, will find much to like in Stiller's book. Women in Focus: The 19th in 2020(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)