Preacher's Kids

Dear Cristy, Angel, D’Ann, April, Shelly,

What do Orville and Wilbur Wright have in common with Martin Luther King Jr. and with the writer of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe and you?  All of these share a common link.  You are all preacher’s kids or as you have been nick-named, “P.K.’s”!

There are other famous P.K.’s.  Sir Laurence Olivier and Agnes Moorhead both were famous in theater.  Albert Swietzer and Paul Tillick were great thinkers and were notable in religion and philosophy.  Walter Mondale became a famous politician and Waymon Tisdale became a professional basketball player.  All were preachers kids and grew up in the shadow of the church.

Most preacher’s kids grow up and lead a quiet unassuming life.  Many will look back on their years in church and thank God for the protection of the churches invisible walls.  A few resent the claustrophobic atmosphere of the church life.  It’s not easy being the pastor’s children.  The standards seem to be higher, the parents stricter, the limitations of social involvements greater, and the ever watching eyes of members more intense.   “I could never get away with anything.”, one P.K. admitted.  “But the church was always there as a second family to give me fellowship and support.”  “Our life and the church life were so intertwined that I scarcely knew when I was at home.”, another reported.  “We knew the church would block certain things like movies, dances, and parties with alcohol.”  Most say in reflection, these were good protections that may have skirted them away from future sufferings.

Now, older, wiser and with children of their own, many pastor’s children concede the good out weighed the bad.  I am a pastor and I look at my children today with great affection and pride.  I know they refer to me in the same way.  We still maintain family closeness and much of our conversations revolve around church life.  Evidence shows that many of our life-long friendships have been tied to the good people we met in church.

As it all sets in the scales divided between the pros and cons of P.K. - hood, the scales tip continually toward the good experiences of being in the pastor’s home.  It is the focus on God at home and church that must be sought out in any home but much more the pastor’s home.  There certainly are pressures from without but there are blessings within.  No, we aren’t stereo-typing P.K.’s.  You are individuals but you can’t escape your roots or your present affiliation.  Thank God for P.K.’s, they indeed are a special group of people.

October 9, 1997