INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–“How to Love a Leader” will be the theme of the 53rd annual Ministers’ Wives Luncheon Tuesday, June 10, in Indianapolis.
Gary Chapman, author of “The Five Love Languages,” will be the guest speaker at the noon luncheon open to all women who are married to Southern Baptist ministers.
Liz Traylor, president of this year’s luncheon, said she chose the theme “because we’re in an election year to choose a leader for our nation, there are thousands of books on leadership out there, and when my husband is asked for suggestions for pastor search committees, they say, ‘We want a leader.'” Traylor’s husband Ted is pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla.
“I got to thinking that all of us as ministers’ wives are married to ministers who are leaders,” Liz Traylor told Baptist Press. “Those leaders have some unique needs, and they have such a huge burden that they carry as leaders.”
As she prayed about what needed to be discussed at the luncheon, Traylor said the idea of how to love a leader kept crossing her mind. Then she thought of Chapman, who is a leader in his own right at his church, Calvary Baptist in Winston-Salem, N.C., and through his speaking engagements across the country.
“I thought he might be the perfect person to teach us how to love a leader with his unique insight,” Traylor said, adding that Chapman will provide information that wives need to have as they face the spiritual and earthly battles that accompany most ministries.
“We need to be inspired and encouraged,” she said. “This is something that [ministers’ wives] will truly benefit from besides getting a great meal and a fun time visiting with fellow ministers’ wives.”
The SBC Ministers’ Wives’ Luncheon dates back to 1955, when two Georgia pastors’ wives realized the importance of their state’s ministers’ wives’ conference and decided that the national convention would benefit from such an organization. They made plans for a tea at the Muhlback Hotel in Kansas City during the 1956 convention and were overwhelmed by the response.
To purchase tickets at $10 each, visit www.olivebaptist.org or send a check to SBC Ministers’ Wives’ Luncheon, Olive Baptist Church, 1836 Olive Road, Pensacola, FL 32514. Checks should be made payable to Olive Baptist Church.
The deadline for online and mail-order ticket purchases is May 27, with the remaining tickets to be sold on a first come, first served basis at the luncheon, which will be held in Sagamore Ballrooms 1-5 at the Indiana Convention Center.
Always held on Tuesday during the SBC annual meeting, the luncheon is open to all wives of ministers — pastors, staff members, chaplains, missionaries and denominational workers.
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Compiled by Erin Roach, Baptist Press staff writer.
