Now I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but there are some things I don’t understand about certain phraseology in the typical (and I emphasize typical) Black (or perhaps I should use the phrase African American) church. One of them is the title given to the wife of the pastor.
Why is the pastor’s wife called the first lady? The implications of this title seem immense, but I have yet to hear anyone give any indication they recognize or object to them.
Can there be more than one first of any particular class of things?
For instance, in racing, unless there is a tie, only one person finishes first. Everybody else is second or less. In other words, only one person wins, everybody else loses. Or, as one very successful stock car racer once said: “Second place is the the first loser.” The winner finished first and all of the losers finished after him, or her.
With the title “Fist Lady” comes the implication (if not the outright assumptions) that all of the other women in the congregation are either a) not ladies or b) inferior in some way to the pastor’s wife (i.e. losers).
To suggest that all the other women are in some way not ladies seems awfully presumptuous and down right cattie. Not exactly the attitude you want to promot in a church filled with Christtians.
To suggest that she is the first lady compared to all the other wives even gets into insults of the men who attend. What? The pastor’s wife is the best lady and my wife is second rate? It seems awfully bad for a relationship to call my wife second best every time we go to church or when we talk about the pastor’s wife.
Is there a pecking order in a church? Perhpas the pastor’s wife gets first choice of parking spots if she drives in without the pastor. Or maybe, if the church is really crowded, she gets to sit down in the sanctuary while all the lesser ladies sit where ever they can hustle a seat.
The only other institution I know of that uses the title “First Lady” is the President of the United States. So what are we saying here? That the pastor of a church is to viewed as distinct from the rest of the congregation as the president is from the rest of us? But how could that be. Isn’t that very concept foreign to the idea of equality and humility within the Body of Christ?
First Baptist Church of Glenarden (and some other church organizations) has taken this First Lady thing to a whole new level. No only is Mrs. Jenkns “affectionately” called “First Lady” (second paragraph on her
And just out of curiousity, why is the pastor’s wife delivery a sermon during a SUnday service? IF you look at her itinerary, she’s preaching at Hope Christian Center (for Women’s Day) and at Greater St. John’s Church for morning worship. Wasn’t there something in the BIble about women not teaching men in the church? And why do I get the feeling the folks at First Baptist are being set up to have their “First Lady” become their “Co-pastor”?
I wonder what Deaon Lawrence Lee Lee (second column, third from the bottom) will do when that happens?
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