The Preacher’s Wife

Since the 1970s, an important new figure has appeared on the center stage of American evangelicalism — the celebrity preacher’s wife.

Although most evangelical traditions bar women from ordained ministry, many women have carved out unofficial positions of power in their husbands’ spiritual empires or their own ministries. The biggest stars — such as Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, and Victoria Osteen — write bestselling books, grab high ratings on Christian television, and even preach. In this engaging book, Kate Bowler, an acclaimed historian of religion and the author of the bestselling memoir Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved, offers a sympathetic and revealing portrait of megachurch women celebrities, showing how they must balance the demands of celebrity culture and conservative, maledominated faiths, according to a review on the Princeton University Press website. Despite their influence and wealth, these women are denied the most important symbol of spiritual power — the pulpit.