God has put you in this special place in this special season,” speaker Jennifer Mathewson-Speer told ministers’ wives gathered Nov. 8 for the annual IBSA Ministers’ Wives’ Conference and Luncheon at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur.
“I love pastors’ wives,” Mathewson-Speer, herself a pastor’s wife, said. “I think there is a pressure on us to be all ‘together,’ a pressure on us to look the part.
“There is hope for the present. There is hope for the future. If you are breathing, there is hope for you.”
Mathewson-Speer is the wife of Allen Speer, who served on the IBSA Board of Directors and pastored churches in Golconda and Cobden before moving with his family to Florida to head up a Christian aviation ministry. She is the mother of two and widow of pastor Dana Mathewson, who was killed in a car accident. She later married Speer, a widower with three children. Mathewson-Speer is the founder of Word of Joy Ministries.
From the perspective of Mary Magdalene, she shared how Jesus is our hope for the past, present, and future. She pointed out that Mary was one of the women who traveled with Jesus. “Mary, from whom seven demons had been cast out.…Her life shone so brilliantly as she was traveling with Jesus. It was the sweetest, most wonderful thing when she was traveling with Jesus and she never wants that season to end but it does. We see Jesus on the cross and she watches that hope die.”
When Mary went to the tomb with the anointing spices, she saw it was empty. She ran to Peter and John to tell them the news and they went back together. After the men left, Mary stood outside “wailing with a sobbing that cannot be consoled,” Mathewson-Speer said.
But then Mary saw Jesus resurrected. She heard a man’s voice telling her Jesus was not there, and not to look for the living among the dead. “Jesus is going to give her hope for the future as well,” said Matthewson-Speer. “He says, ‘Mary, stop clinging to me. It’s not going to go back. I have a new purpose for you. A new future for you. You go back and tell my disciples.’”
No matter what has happened in our past or is happening in our present, the speaker reminded her listeners, “Romans 8:28 says, ‘All things work together for good. He can take our past and he can even take the consequences of our past and use them for hope and for good.”
In other business:
- Illinois Woman’s Missionary Union President Jill McNicol gave a presentation at the luncheon, and Erin Falloon led in worship.
- Ministers’ Wives’ Conference officers for 2018 are: Stevi Smith, president; Emily Emery, vice president; and Brianna Trowbridge, secretary-treasurer.
- The 2018 Ministers’ Wives’ Conference and Luncheon will be held Nov. 7 in Maryville.