Top Pastors' Wives Speak at Free to Soar Conference
Women from all 50 states and more than 20 nations gathered for the Free to Soar pastors' wives conference on Jan. 25-27 while thousands watched parts of the meeting at 80 satellite locations across the nation.
A capacity crowd of 1,800 pastors and wives from all 50 states and more than 20 nations gathered for the Free to Soar pastors' wives conference on Jan. 25-27 while thousands watched parts of the meeting at 80 satellite locations across the nation.
Organized by Global Pastors' Wives Network president Lois Evans and network founder Vonette Bright, last week’s Free to Soar pastors' wives conference was billed by as “the first-ever global event to help pastors' wives deal with a full-time job—typically unofficial and unpaid—that is often fraught with unrealistic expectations, constant demands and even loneliness,” according to the Associated Press.
The conference, which was held in West Palm Beach, Fla., featured messages from leading pastors' wives on topics such as marriage, leadership, church life, home life, specific skills and health. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), told the Associated Press that the conference marked the first broad-based effort crossing racial, cultural and denominational lines to reach out to pastors' wives.
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Among those speaking at the conference were Victoria Osteen, Serita Jakes and Beverly LaHaye—the wives of megachurch pastor Joel Osteen, televangelist and filmmaker Bishop T.D. Jakes, and best-selling author Tim LaHaye.
In total, 49 pastor wives spoke at the highly anticipated conference, each introduced by their husbands—unless the husband and wife are speaking together—with the exception of Vonette Bright whose late husband, Campus Crusade for Christ founder Bill Bright, passed away two years ago in July.
A two-day Pastors coaching summit also coincided with the three-day conference.
