Please pray for me and DH. I think he is kidding himself. He's in a denom. that pretty much operates by "anything goes." Practically any preacher who says he/she's been called can get ordained. They don't offer any serious theological training, and I for one think that the parishioners are suffering immensely because of this. I know I am! Before I married him, I'd been affiliated with very progressive churches, and I feel like I'm regressing terribly.
DH has not had one single soul come to Christ or baptized anyone (except for baptizing his son) since he started as a senior past 6-7 years ago. He does not put a great deal of time in studying. He demonstrates little to no real compassion for the people under his leadership, and the areas that he needs the most help, he won't listen to me. I asked before we got married if we could make a point to go sit under another strong preacher when DH is not preaching. He agreed to it, but I soon found that he was not serious about it. And I believe this is one of the reasons why his ministry growth is stunted. He reads very little. He refuses to take time to "get fed" by a strong, veteran preacher that could help mentor him.
Truth is, he's not really a "people person." I don't like to question whether he's truly called, and I certainly don't like the thought that maybe I married the wrong man - considering my own strong values and standards in this area - but sometimes I do wonder. It's like a bunch of older preachers told him God was gonna use him to preach and he ran with it. What happened to preachers getting TRAINING! DH needs speech therapy and some serious work on pronunciation and subject-verb agreement. Yet, me being a Speech/Theatre major with great strengths in language arts and he won't even hear my suggestions...no matter how lovingly and gently I approach him. He just keeps mispronouncing the same stuff over and over. Sometimes it's REALLY embarrassing.
I don't know if I was wrong for marrying him in the first place, knowing that the speech issue was huge for me...or if I'm wrong for being embarrassed about how his gaffes reflect on his ministry and our marriage. I mean, some of them are AWFUL! And he's in a church where they have elders and bishops, yet no one - except me - seems to care enough to point this stuff out to him. I KNOW people can see it! I've noticed them grimmacing and squirming in their seats, as though they're embarrassed FOR him.
What else can I do. Granted he's in a back woods country church right now, but I fear that's where he'll always be if he refuses to seek help in his weak areas. He just seems to operate under this Lone Ranger mentality where he has to look like he has it all together at all times. And I for one think it's causing his advancement to suffer GREATLY. How can you be a good helper when your DH is too prideful or fearful to accept or receive your help! I dunno...maybe I need a new approach, but I feel like I've tried everything!
I just don't know what else to do! Any advice?
DH has not had one single soul come to Christ or baptized anyone (except for baptizing his son) since he started as a senior past 6-7 years ago. He does not put a great deal of time in studying. He demonstrates little to no real compassion for the people under his leadership, and the areas that he needs the most help, he won't listen to me. I asked before we got married if we could make a point to go sit under another strong preacher when DH is not preaching. He agreed to it, but I soon found that he was not serious about it. And I believe this is one of the reasons why his ministry growth is stunted. He reads very little. He refuses to take time to "get fed" by a strong, veteran preacher that could help mentor him.
Truth is, he's not really a "people person." I don't like to question whether he's truly called, and I certainly don't like the thought that maybe I married the wrong man - considering my own strong values and standards in this area - but sometimes I do wonder. It's like a bunch of older preachers told him God was gonna use him to preach and he ran with it. What happened to preachers getting TRAINING! DH needs speech therapy and some serious work on pronunciation and subject-verb agreement. Yet, me being a Speech/Theatre major with great strengths in language arts and he won't even hear my suggestions...no matter how lovingly and gently I approach him. He just keeps mispronouncing the same stuff over and over. Sometimes it's REALLY embarrassing.
I don't know if I was wrong for marrying him in the first place, knowing that the speech issue was huge for me...or if I'm wrong for being embarrassed about how his gaffes reflect on his ministry and our marriage. I mean, some of them are AWFUL! And he's in a church where they have elders and bishops, yet no one - except me - seems to care enough to point this stuff out to him. I KNOW people can see it! I've noticed them grimmacing and squirming in their seats, as though they're embarrassed FOR him.
What else can I do. Granted he's in a back woods country church right now, but I fear that's where he'll always be if he refuses to seek help in his weak areas. He just seems to operate under this Lone Ranger mentality where he has to look like he has it all together at all times. And I for one think it's causing his advancement to suffer GREATLY. How can you be a good helper when your DH is too prideful or fearful to accept or receive your help! I dunno...maybe I need a new approach, but I feel like I've tried everything!
I just don't know what else to do! Any advice?
