"Rosaria, by the standards of many, was living a very good life. She had a tenured position at a large university in a field for which she cared deeply. She owned two homes with her partner, in which they provided hospitality to students and activists that were looking to make a difference in the world. In the community, Rosaria was involved in volunteer work. At the university, she was a respected advisor of students and her department's curriculum. And then, in her late 30s, Rosaria encountered something that turned her world upside down -- the idea that Christianity, a religion that she had regarded as problematic and sometimes downright damaging, might be right about who God was. That idea seemed to fly in the face of the people and causes that she most loved. What follows is a story of what she describes as a train wreck at the hand of the supernatural. These are her secret thoughts about those events, written as only a reflective English professor could."--Back cover.

What’s it like when the man you married is already married to God? asks Pastors’ Wives, an often surprising yet always emotionally true first novel set in a world most of us know only from the outside. Lisa Takeuchi Cullen’s debut novel Pastors’ Wives follows three women whose lives converge and intertwine at a Southern evangelical megachurch. Ruthie follows her Wall Street husband from New York to Magnolia, a fictional suburb of Atlanta, when he hears a calling to serve at a megachurch called Greenleaf. Reeling from the death of her mother, Ruthie suffers a crisis of faith—in God, in her marriage, and in herself. Candace is Greenleaf’s “First Lady,” a force of nature who’ll stop at nothing to protect her church and her superstar husband. Ginger, married to Candace’s son, struggles to play dutiful wife and mother while burying her calamitous past. All their roads collide in one chaotic event that exposes their true selves. Inspired by Cullen’s reporting as a staff writer for Time magazine, Pastors’ Wives is a dramatic portrayal of the private lives of pastors’ wives, caught between the demands of faith, marriage, duty, and love.

“In Secrets of the Pastor’s Wife, Claypool delicately and beautifully shares a fictional story about the power of forgiveness. Having been an Inspirational Book Club leader, I believe this novel would be an incredible fit for discussion, because it covers so many important issues...” — Mandy Woodward, Former Discussion Leader, Just a Little Inspiration Book Club Milton-Union Public Library Wherever Cassandra Martin goes, her secrets go with her. And hiding her past is beginning to take a toll. Cassie lives in a small white parsonage in the village of Maple Grove. For 15 years, the beautiful and talented artist has appeared to be the perfect wife for Rev. John Martin, the new pastor at Maple Avenue Community Church. The couple has moved frequently, and Pastor John is too busy with other people’s problems to notice Cassie’s distress. She has no close friends to confide in, fearing her secrets could jeopardize her husband’s position. That’s until Maple Grove coffee shop owner Katherine “Katie” Montague embraces Cassie as if she were the daughter she never had. Sensing her pastor’s wife is haunted by something tragic, the caring widow begins praying for her. Will Cassie trust Katie with the pain of her past or will she let the secrets destroy her? Secrets of the Pastor’s Wife features discussion questions for women’s book clubs, church small groups, and recovery ministries. Entertaining and inspiring fiction, this compelling storyline will encourage emotional healing, forgiveness, and restored faith.

The definitive biography of Susannah Spurgeon. While many Christians recognize the name of Charles H. Spurgeon, the beloved preacher and writer, few are familiar with the life and legacy of his wife, Susie. Yet Susannah Spurgeon was an accomplished and devout woman of God who had a tremendous ministry in her own right, as well as in support of her husband. Even while dealing with serious health issues, she administered a book fund for poor pastors, edited and published her husband’s sermons and other writings, led a pastor’s aid ministry, wrote five books, made her home a hub of hospitality, and was instrumental in planting a church. And as her own writing attests, she was also a warm, charming, and fascinating woman. Now, for the first time, Susie brings this vibrant woman’s story to modern readers. Ray Rhodes Jr. examines Susannah’s life, showing that she was not only the wife of London’s most famous preacher, but also a woman who gave all she had in grateful service to the Lord. Susie is an inspiring and encouraging account of a truly remarkable woman of faith that will delight Spurgeon devotees and fans of Christian biographies alike. “I am writing in my husband’s study, where he thought, and prayed, and wrote. Every inch of the place is sacred ground. Everything remains precisely as he left it. His books (now my most precious possessions), stand in shining rows upon the shelves, in exactly the order in which he placed them, and one might almost fancy the room was ready and waiting for its master. But oh! That empty chair! That great portrait over the door! The strange, solemn silence, which pervades the place now that he is no longer on earth! I kneel sometimes by his chair, and laying my head on the cushioned arms, which so long supported his dear form, I pour out my grief before the Lord, and tell Him again that though I am left alone, yet I know that ‘He hath done all things well’…”

When Pastor Matthew Winkler was found dead at his Fourth Street Church of Christ parsonage in Selmer, Tennessee, both police investigators and parishioners were shaken and mystified: How could evil strike this cradle of faith? Meanwhile, Mrs. Winkler and her three daughters were still missing... A frantic search for Mary Winkler and the girls ensued. Once they were found, on a beach in Alabama, Mary was charged with murdering her husband in cold blood. But why did Mary pull the trigger? What sexual and psychological abuses did she allege she had suffered? In the months that followed, the crime—and the Winkler's marriage—would be exposed by the national media; Mary herself even appeared on Oprah. Set in a world of domineering men, obedient wives, and unshakable faith, this is the true story about what happened to Matthew Winkler and THE PASTOR'S WIFE

My sincere hope is that every person in an abusive relationship will get out, and that the abuser will be changed by realizing the pain and suffering they cause. When I prayed that God would allow me to marry a preacher, somewhere in my mind I thought it would guarantee me a life of love, peace, and happiness. Nothing was further from the truth. After all, preachers are men too, clothed in nice suits, shoes, and fancy robes. All my life, I had been around marriages that should have ended years ago. I wanted to be different; I wanted to help people change. I wanted to see men love and cherish their wives. We all know for the most part at least on the surface that preachers' wives seem to be more than happy. Some wear the designer suits and hats with fancy matching shoes. On occasion, I did too. However, I soon found out, at least in my life, it was all superficial. I was all smiles and encouraging words outside the door, but most days, behind closed doors, my life was a living hell. Three months into my marriage, I began living in a nightmare. I told myself I would never tell anyone. I would help the world believe we had the ideal marriage. Even before the I-do's, I knew there were some problems. Before long Shirley became a "preacher's wife with a secret life," and everything in her told her that she's not the only one!