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Dear Father Paul

Dear Father Paul: What do you think about a husband and wife ministering together?

— Bonnie, Fayetteville.

Dear Bonnie: I think it is great if both are called to minister. Sometimes only the husband is called into full-time ministry...say pastoring a church, and the wife is not. Maybe God wants her to be a mom or a lawyer, but not a preacher. If she tries to minister without God's calling she (or he if the roles were reversed) will find herself in a world of problems in a hurry because calling is an absolute key in ministry.

A few large denominations today have made some husbands and wives what they call "co-pastors," and from what I hear, this can work out fine. Others have not gone that route. Again, I believe a lot of the success that husbands and wives can expect in ministering together revolves around their "calling." Judy and I minister together a great deal at Church Of The Holy Cross. She has a strong calling from God on her life. She has giftings that I, frankly, do not have and vice versa, so we tend to compliment each other. Churches where both husband and wife minister together get "two for the price of one," as the saying goes. What a deal!

The Bible gives an excellent example of a husband and wife ministering together in the early church. Their names were Aquila and Priscilla. They were a great help to the apostle Paul in his ministry in the Greek city of Corinth and later at Ephesus and even in Rome. At one time they had a "house church" in their home. You can read about them in Acts 18, Romans 16, I Corinthians 16 and II Timothy 4.

Dear Father Paul: My wife is the most "social" person I know. She'd have people over almost every night if I'd let her. She says that practicing hospitality is in the Bible. Is it?

— Lorren, Peachtree City.

Dear Lorren: I'm afraid she's got you there, my friend. The practice of hospitality IS mentioned in the Bible in several places. But the word which Bible translators translate as "hospitality" comes from the Greek Bible text word "philoxenia" which literally means "loving a stranger." In our culture, however, hospitality has come to mean entertaining friends, not strangers, and many people spend tons of money having friends over for everything from informal cookouts to formal sit-down dinners and from trips to the lake to Super Bowl parties. All of these things are good and again, hospitality is mentioned in the Bible; see II Timothy 3, Romans 12 and I Peter 4. But it sounds like your wife is going a little overboard. She probably has some inner need for acceptance and friends that she is not otherwise able to meet. Loving acceptance and understanding of her need and helping her meet it in ways that are acceptable to BOTH of you will go a long way toward easing the strain that her socializing is causing.

I really impressed with all of the "real Biblical hospitality" I have seen in the media since Hurricane Katrina. You've probably seen the stories too...about Georgia families taking entire families of Katrina evacuees (strangers) into their homes to live for a time. Wow!  Now that's what the Bible is talking about when it mentions hospitality.

The sermon at Church Of The Holy Cross for Sunday, Sept. 18, will be on the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20.

Father Paul Massey will answer your question in the newspaper. Write him at P.O. Box 510, Fayetteville, GA 30214 or paulmassey@earthlink.net.

[Father Paul Massey is vicar of Church Of The Holy Cross Episcopal, C.E.C. in Fayetteville. The church meets Sundays at 10:30 a.m. for a charismatic Mass including prayer for the sick. Services are held in the Chapel of the Church Of God Of Prophecy at 1000 Gs. Highway 54 west (one block west on left past the Eckerd at Gingercake Road). All are cordially invited. For more information call 678-457-3050 or visit www.chccec.org.]