Gathering for a time of fellowship around the tables, more than 100 pastors’ wives listen to Jeanne Davis (on stage), wife of Tennessee Baptist Mission Board president and executive director Randy C. Davis. — Photos by Zoe Watkins
JACKSON — Many ministers’ wives help carry the weight of ministry, but they can often be overlooked and overwhelmed.
So the focus of Tuesday’s Ministers’ Wives Luncheon at West Jackson Baptist Church during the 2025 Tennessee Baptist Convention Summit was finding intimacy with Jesus and how to set healthy boundaries.
“We’re all in the thick of life together. We’ve gone through these different seasons, and if you think about it, nothing will zap my joy faster than stress or being overwhelmed,” said keynote speaker Kandi Gallaty, wife of Robby Gallaty, pastor of Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville.
Gallaty addressed the pressures of ministry life and offered practical guidance for maintaining spiritual vitality during the event, organized by Jeanne Davis, wife of Randy C. Davis, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board president and executive director. The luncheon also featured worship led by Konnie Easley, wife of Terry Easley, worship pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Bartlett.
Davis, in introducing Gallaty, acknowledged the unique calling of ministry wives.
“I think we can all say that most of the time we feel the same way. We love being a pastor’s wife most of the time,” Davis said.
Drawing from John 15:11, Gallaty emphasized that joy in ministry flows from two essential practices: abiding in Christ and obeying his word.
“If we’re doing these two things, we are going to have the joy of Jesus in our heart and it is going to overflow in our life,” Gallaty said.
Kandi Gallaty, wife of Robby Gallaty, pastor of Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville, was the keynote speaker at the pastors wives’ gathering.
“It’s this relational joy, and the environment that you’re in right now, you’re either in an environment that is contributing to your spiritual growth or you’re in an environment that is constricting it,” she said.
Gallaty shared her own experience with burnout that began during a church trip to Turkey last year. She developed severe pneumonia and COVID-19 while traveling, though she didn’t know the extent of her illness until returning home.
After spending a week in the hospital and four weeks recovering at home, she realized she could no longer maintain her previous pace of ministry commitments.
“What had been my normal was no longer going to be my normal,” she said. “I was completely burned out.”
The experience led Gallaty to implement a significant boundary: committing to no more than one ministry-related activity per day beyond her regular family responsibilities.
“If I don’t live by the priorities that I have for my life, I’m going to live by the pressures that the world has for me, that the church has for me, that other people have for me,” Gallaty said. “I do not want to live that way.”
She described the past year under this new structure as “the best year of my life,” allowing her to be more present with God and with people rather than constantly pulled in multiple directions.
Gallaty also addressed the transformational nature of joy that emerges from sorrow, citing Jesus’ words to his disciples in John 16:20-22.
She noted that experiencing deep hurt actually equips ministry wives to better serve others.
“I would not be able to minister to other people if I had not hurt deeply,” she said. “God has allowed something like that in your life so that eventually at some point he’s going to use that.”
The luncheon opened with worship from Easley, who shared her own recent experience of loss — her father passed away after decades in ministry.
Konnie Easley, wife of Terry Easley, worship pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Bartlett, led congregational singing at the luncheon.
“I don’t know what you’re going through today in your ministries with your husbands, but I want to encourage you to keep on keeping on,” Easley said. “Stay strong and finish well because Jesus is up in the grandstands and he’s wanting to cheer you on to encourage you to keep on believing, keep trusting, keep serving, and finish well and finish strong.”
Gallaty is the author of “Disciple Her: Using the Word, the Work and the Wonder of God to Invest in Women” and co-hosts “The Forgotten Jesus Podcast” with her husband. She and Robby lead the Replicate Ministry and serve together at Long Hollow Baptist Church. They have two sons, ages 17 and 15. B&R
