The Ministry Wives and Women Podcast with Andrea Griffith

Andrea Griffith
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Christianity

Ministry Wives & Women is a podcast for ministry wives and women seeking encouragement, spiritual depth, and honest conversation for the journey of faith. everyday life, and the challenges of church leadership. Hosted by Andrea Griffith, each episode offers thoughtful wisdom, real stories, and gospel-centered hope to help women live with greater resilience, authenticity, and grace in every season.

  1. 5d ago

    Tools That Keep Ministry Wives Anchored

    What if the gospel you preached to yourself at conversion isn't just the door in — but the daily water your ministry-weary soul needs to drink from again and again? In this second conversation with Luchrysta Caswell and Ashley Bennett, we open up the actual tools Parakaleo has put in our hands — the verdict is in, the gospel dance of repent, believe, love, the two-rail fence that keeps what we know from slipping out of what we experience. Luchrysta tells on herself about taunting a second grader at field day the weekend after speaking at a women's retreat, and walks us straight into God's courtroom where Jesus stands beside her. Ashley shares this morning's struggle with people-pleasing and the picture she drew to preach truth back to her own heart. If you're a ministry wife hesitant to jump in anywhere, donate a little trust and give it a click. You are not alone, and Jesus is still the anchor. I'll be praying you experience the nearness of Jesus.

  2. Aug 13

    Ministry Wives Don't Have to Do This Alone

    What if the isolation you feel in ministry isn't proof that something's wrong with you—but proof that you were never meant to carry this alone? In this episode, Andrea sits down with Luchrysta Caswell and Ashley Bennett, two longtime pastors' wives and Parakaleo leaders, to talk honestly about the ambiguity of being married to a church planter, the crushing weight of expectations we place on ourselves, and how the gospel becomes slippery even when we say we believe it. They open up about their own rescues—stories of feeling seen at the bottom of a cliff, of eyes that never look away, of friends who count "3, 2, 1" until you can jump. You'll hear why relational space, safety, and time are where healing actually happens, and why no one arrives—not the host, not the guests, not you. Wherever you're standing today, you are not alone, and Jesus is still the guardian of your soul.

  3. Aug 6

    I Can't Do Any More: Honest Conversation on Burnout for Ministry Wives

    Have you ever dragged yourself into another Sunday morning with a knotted stomach, a shorter fuse, and the quiet suspicion that you should be able to handle this? What if those symptoms aren't proof you're failing — but an invitation to stop performing and come home to Jesus? In this conversation, Ashley Bennett joins Andrea to talk honestly about burnout in ministry — the physical warning signs, the shame spiral of "everyone else could do this better," and the exhausting work of trying to be everyone's little-s savior. Ashley shares how learning boundaries as a way of loving, resting in the omniscience and omnipresence of God, and doing the internal heart work (not just calendar work) has slowly reshaped how she carries the weight of loving her church. If you're burned out, barely holding on, or somewhere in between, you are not alone. Come sit with us as we point one another back to the only One whose yoke is easy and whose rest is real. I'll be praying that you experience the nearness of Jesus.

  4. Jul 30

    Give and Take: Honest Marriage Rhythms for Pastors and Their Wives

    What if the most spiritual thing you did this week was take a walk, laugh with a friend, or tell your husband, "I can't hear that right now"? For ministry wives running on empty, self-care isn't self-indulgence—it's stewardship of the person God actually made you to be. In part two with Hollie Mendenhall, Andrea and Hollie get honest about the ditches on both sides of self-care, the exhaustion of trying to be someone you're not, and why Psalm 139 changes how you show up on Sunday. They swap real stories—hiding a mannequin head around the church, Styrofoam-peanut pranks on staff, Costco pizza run-ins with families who just left—because laughter and friendship are part of how the Lord sustains us. But the anchor holds deeper than any rhythm. Hollie names it plainly: resilience comes from prayer, from worship that breaks chains, from remembering that Jesus loves your people more than you do. If you're barely holding on, you are not alone. We'll be praying you experience the nearness of Jesus.

  5. Jul 23

    When the Pastor's Wife Breaks Down in the Back Pew

    What if the pressure you feel to be everywhere, do everything, and hold it all together isn't actually coming from Jesus? What if it's coming from an image of "the pastor's wife" that no one ever asked you to carry? In this conversation, Andrea sits down with her longtime friend Hollie Mendenhall — 27 years of marriage, 23 addresses, children's ministry, executive pastor's wife, Air Force chaplain's wife, and now an operations specialist — to talk honestly about resiliency, priorities, and the day Holly sat in a church service and wept through the whole thing because she had nothing left. You'll hear how she learned to advocate for herself, protect her home as a safe place, and let her husband speak wisdom into what she says yes and no to. Whether you're thriving, barely holding on, or somewhere in between, you are not alone. Shepherd your heart, run to Jesus first, and remember that you can't pour from an empty cup — but he never runs dry.

  6. Jul 16

    Letting Go of the Pressure to Hold It All Together

    What if the very things that make you feel like you're failing in ministry — the sullen teenager handing out bulletins, the elder critiquing your husband's jeans, the text from a family leaving the church — are the exact places Jesus wants to meet you? In this conversation, Denine Blevins returns to talk honestly about the unique vulnerabilities of ministry wives: the relentlessness of Sunday mornings, the loneliness of conflict inside the very community meant to be your safe place, and the lie that we have to be omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent for our people. Denine names her own near-burnout a year ago and the slow, ordinary work of counseling, safe friends, and gospel reminders that brought her back. The invitation isn't a how-to. It's an operating system shift — repenting of the omnis, embracing our limits, and trusting that God can work in, around, despite, or without us. You are not alone, and Jesus is enough.

  7. Jul 9

    Church Planting Is Hard: Why Wives Need Their Own Lifeline

    What if the very ministry you're pouring yourself into is quietly draining the life out of you—and you've convinced yourself that's just the cost of being faithful? In this episode, Andrea sits down with Denine Blevins, Executive Director of Parakaleo, to talk honestly about the unique weight women carry in church planting. Denine shares her own story of nearly burning out while building beautiful Sunday experiences she didn't even want to attend, and how Parakaleo didn't hand her better ministry tactics—it handed her a mirror to see her own heart through the lens of the gospel. If you're a church planter's wife, a woman on a planting team, or a sister in ministry who feels forgotten in the resource pile, this conversation names the chaos, the loneliness, and the identity questions you've been carrying. You are not alone. Your heart matters to Jesus more than the institution—and there's a community ready to point you back to Him.

  8. Jul 2

    When Suffering Knocks You Down: Building Resilience as a Ministry Wife

    What if resilience isn't about being tough — but about being curious? What if the very moments that knock you flat are the ones God is using to write a story better than the one you'd hold the pen for yourself? In this conversation, Angela Davis is back with us to unpack the misconceptions that keep us stuck — stuffing emotions, isolating, distracting, and white-knuckling control. As a counselor and pastor's wife, Angela walks us through Romans 5 and Curt Thompson's work on suffering, helping us see perseverance as the long road and resilience as the strength to get back up inside the hard thing. She shares honestly about a two-year lawsuit in the middle of a church exodus, and what it looked like to keep trusting Jesus through it. You are not alone, friend. Whether you're persevering or just trying to get back up today, we want to point you to the Author who is writing a good story, and to the names of God that meet you right where you are. I'll be praying that you experience the nearness of Jesus.

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About

Ministry Wives & Women is a podcast for ministry wives and women seeking encouragement, spiritual depth, and honest conversation for the journey of faith. everyday life, and the challenges of church leadership. Hosted by Andrea Griffith, each episode offers thoughtful wisdom, real stories, and gospel-centered hope to help women live with greater resilience, authenticity, and grace in every season.

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