Manse Life

The aim of Manse Life is to raise the profile of what personal life is like for a minister, and ground it in reality. We are doing this because ministry life is unique. There are incredible joys, amazing privileges, and inspiring times. These are all brilliant. There is also heartache; fear, frustration, loss, relocation to name a few and there is often no recourse for these feelings.  By providing an outlet for people to write constructively about their personal experiences at home and church and share these in a positive environment we believe will bring hope and a sense of perspective. It will help people feel less isolated, to find common ground, to reflect, provoke thought, spur faith, share ideas and best practice, and to raise a smile.  

Manse Life is totally inclusive whatever your personal and family circumstance and whether you live in a manse or not. For those who do have immediate family around them, they too are very welcome to contribute.

Thrive encourages networking among the spouses of UK Baptist ministers at all stages of ministry or mission, from training through to retirement.

To contribute an article, please send it to manselife@baptist.org.uk. If you want to share anonymously, we will ensure no names are mentioned.

Do also look at the Manse Life resources page

Reflections

Reflection on the BUGB Pre-retirement conference A reflection by ministers who attended the BUGB Ministers’ Preparation for Retirement Conference More ... Reflections on retirement part two - Unexpected Issues There are a number of things you look forward to as you approach the end of your working life and the start of what you dreamily regard as a time of rest and recreation or maybe the start of a new sort of ministry. More ... Reflections on retirement part one - Life after the Manse One of the things I look forward to every two years is the ministers’ spouses’ conference (now run by Thrive). I have made many friends there through the years, as well as seeing those I have come to know throughout our time in ministry. More ... No-one would believe a minister hits his wife. As the old saying goes “no-one knows what goes on behind closed doors.” It’s true, and even more so when those doors are the doors of a manse. More ... Churches need to learn how to appreciate and take care of their minister You can’t spend more than three decades in ministry, as I did, without witnessing the best and the worst in people. More ... Being Manse Moggies is a huge responsibility, as well as lots of fun May we introduce ourselves? Sophie (tabby and white) and her daughter Sasha (white with a grey ear and tail) are Manse Moggies in a third floor flat in Glasgow, which we share with a single, women minister More ... Looking through the round window When we wanted to offer safe house accommodation to a single mum and her two young girls, because they were in danger of her violent and abusive father when he escaped from prison, we could do this without a second thought More ... Moving to a new place can be hugely challenging whatever stage of life you’re in, but it also has it My situation may not chime with yours. You may have small children or teenagers, or you may be a single minister making a move alone. At every stage of life, for every person involved, resettlement holds its own peculiar battles. More ... Because we are the family of a minister doesn’t mean that we have no voice Because we are the family of a minister doesn’t mean that we have no voice and must acquiesce to the expectations of the church More ... The Ministerial Family is at the heart of church life If we’re not careful, making time for each other in ministerial life can become an added chore, because if we make plans, and they are broken, hard feeling creeps in. More ...