First Lady Conferences
About UsLois Evans gave herself up to the ministry when she was 15. She said, “God, I’ll do anything, but I won’t be a pastor’s wife.” When she met her husband, Tony Evans, he planned to be an evangelist.
Then, when he was attending Dallas Theological Seminary, he felt the Lord leading him to become a pastor. Being a pastor’s wife is difficult for many women, and the first couple of years were a struggle for Mrs. Evans. She told her husband she wasn’t sure she could make it.
“Tony was really convinced the Lord had called him,” she said, “so he looked at me and said, ‘You know, I don’t want you to be a pastor’s wife. I just want you to be you as my wife.’ ”
That proved to be a turning point for Mrs. Evans. Now their church, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, is one of the largest in Dallas, and her husband is regarded as one of the nation’s great preachers. But she hasn’t forgotten her struggles many years ago. She created the First Lady Ministry for pastors’ wives because her challenges were mirrored in the lives of many other women.
For the past 11 years, Lois Evans has grown the First Lady Ministry from a vision into a legacy. The mission and intent to educate and encourage pastors’ wives has remained the central focus of her ministry. Between the First Lady Conference and her Pastors’ Wives Online Network, she has touched the lives of thousands of pastors’ wives across the world.
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The Alban Institute of Washington, D.C., reported that pastors’ wives have as high a level of stress and burnout as pastors do. And in “What Pastors’ Wives Wish Their Husbands and Churches Knew About Them,” Pastornet.net reported in 2001:
- 60 percent desired more training to serve better.
- 56 percent had no close friends in the church.
- 25 percent saw husband’s work schedule as a source of conflict.
- 21 percent wanted more privacy.
- 19 percent wanted to be seen as an individual and not just as the pastor’s wife.
- 17 percent agreed their family lived in a fish bowl.
The late Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ and the Global Pastors Network, gleaned figures from various sources that show just how unique the needs of pastors’ wives:
- 80 percent of pastors and 84 percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their roles.
- 80 percent of pastors’ spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
- Almost 40 percent of pastors polled said they have had an extramarital affair since beginning their ministry.
- 50 percent of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce.
- 80 percent of pastors’ wives feel left out and unappreciated by the church members.
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