Historian and author Beth Allison Barr joins Thinking Christian to discuss her latest book, Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry. We explore the medieval redefinitions of masculinity that reshaped church leadership, the rise of clerical celibacy, and how the Protestant Reformation unwittingly birthed a new ecclesial role: the pastor’s wife. Along the way, we talk ordination, authority, embodiment, cultural expectations, and the invisible burdens placed on ministry families. Whether you're a pastor, a pastor's spouse, or just trying to make sense of biblical manhood and womanhood in the 21st century, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

🔗 For information about the upcoming German Reformation Tour visit thomastours.com.

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- Becoming the Pastor's Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman's Path to Ministry
- The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth

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Beth Allison Barr | From Pulpit to Parsonage: Gender, Ordination, and the Pastor’s Wife