I met Precious almost 20 years ago, back when she was helping wash the family dishes and singing hymns in harmony with her siblings. I knew her oldest sister, Rachel Wynn from Moody Bible Institute where we were both music majors. Rachel invited me to her home on college breaks where I enjoyed getting to know the Wynn family. I recently saw a video-interview Precious did (see end of interview for video) and knew I wanted to share her story with you all through Flowers for the Pastor’s Wife
1. Where did you grow up? How did where you grew up contribute to preparing you for life in small-town pastoral ministry?
Answer: I grew up outside a small farming community town called Pardeeville, WI about half an hour north of Madison, WI. Pardeeville was a great town to grow up in because it was like living in small town USA. The people from Pardeeville were very proud of where they were from and the rich heritage they had.
My family lived just outside of town on a 50 acre hobby farm. We were very involved with the local 4-H club in our area. My parents were both devout disciples of Jesus and taught us to be the same from a very early age by setting the example in our home. Family devotions happened early every morning around the breakfast table with scripture memorization at the forefront. My 10 siblings and I were homeschooled by my Mom for all 12 years of schooling. I came from a very musical family which meant we were asked to provide music for different events in our area.
Because of growing up in a small town, God gave me early on a love for the local church in small-towns across the US. I knew I was not a city girl after going to college at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, but loved the rural, country atmosphere with its peaceful nature and kind, generous people who lived among it.
2. Where have you served in ministry? Can you describe the particular culture in those areas and how that affected your ministry there?
Answer: From an early age I began serving locally in my home church, North Scott Baptist in Pardeeville which gave me many opportunities to minister whether it was through music, children’s ministry or youth ministry. It is a rather traditional/conservative Baptist Church with many farmers that attend. I enjoyed many summers in high school and college having the opportunity to teach a Sunday School class to elementary or high school aged kids.
Serving at my local church was very rewarding because most of the kids I worked with came from solid Christian homes and had a strong desire to grow deeply in their relationship with Christ. It was exciting to see these kids grow and mature in their faith as they took it personally for themselves.
When I became a teenager, I served for many years with an organization called Child Evangelism Fellowship teaching after school Good News Clubs in the local elementary schools and also backyard Bible clubs in the summer. CEF was excellent at teaching me how to share my faith and theology in a simple way with children. I spent all of my summers in high school and some in college working with CEF. Before I attended MBI, I went for a semester to CEF’s Children’s Ministry Institute in Warrenton, MO to be more fully trained as I thought God was calling me into full-time children’s ministry with CEF in WI. I then went to Moody Bible Institute in 2006 to receive more Bible/Theology training. Even at Moody, my PCM (Practical Christian Ministry) during the week was teaching Bible clubs through CEF.
3. How did God bring you to a place of serving in small-town/rural ministry? Did you have any sort of “calling” in this? If so, describe the circumstances.
Answer: I met my husband Jonathan Mast in the Moody Chorale at MBI. I remember our very first conversation being in the back of a 15 passenger van on Spring Tour. I thought I would be polite and make conversation with him because I didn’t really know him that well yet. It was pouring the rain out that morning as we drove to our concert and I asked him where he was from. His response, “Rainy River, Ontario, Canada.” Well, I thought he was joking with me because of the rain and I got annoyed so I just turned away. He then asked, “Where are you from?” I responded, “Pardeeville, WI.” He gave me a weird look and put back on his headphones, probably not realizing that I meant Pardeeville with a D not a T. We still laugh about it to this day. We soon became good friends and after dating for 7 months, we were engaged, and 5 months later married in May of 2009.
Four weeks after we were married we moved up to Dryden, Ontario, Canada where we had taken a summer position at a VERY REMOTE camp as directors. The closest town was 1 ½ hours away. This was a little too far out for me. The camp had been struggling with internal conflict before we got there and things were not getting better. It was the first time I struggled with the feeling of depression being so far away from civilization. By the end of that summer, God showed us that is not where we were supposed to be long term. Jonathan had put his resume on Moody’s referral site and a small Baptist Church in Paden City, WV had been wanting him to come be their Worship/Youth Pastor. They had contacted him before we even left for the summer camp, but we had already committed to serving up there. They said they would wait if the camp didn’t work out and to give them a call because they were very interested. After we left camp, we called the pastor of this church and within two weeks they flew us down to WV to candidate for the position at the church.
Two weeks later were packing up all of our belongings and saying goodbye to family to make our big move to a state Jonathan didn’t even know existed, let alone Paden City. We also had just found out we were expecting our first child.
Paden City is located along the great Ohio River in the valley. It is a beautiful little town, especially in the Spring, Summer and Fall. We learned quickly that the people of WV, in general, were extremely proud of where they are from and don’t look kindly on you if you make a not so nice comment about where they live. The culture in WV ranges from middle class blue collar workers to the poorest of the poor. Many people find their employment either in the coal mines or at the plants along the river. After going on a missions trip to Guatemala after living in WV a few years, we soon realized that a lot of WV is no different than Guatemala. The needs here can be extremely great as many families are getting caught up in the opioid crisis. The places you find that people are living in can break your heart. There are more people unemployed in this state than there are employed and many depend on the government to meet their needs.
Paden City would be considered in the upper part of the Bible Belt, yet after serving here for almost 9 years the reality is very sad when it comes to the church and spirituality. Many middle aged people were forced to go to church as a child, multiple times a week and the church was viewed as the teacher for their children spiritually. Because of this, little to no teaching was happening in the home, by the parents and the example many saw was very legalistic. When we first moved to the church, there was a whole generation of people missing from the church who had been turned off by it. Jonathan and I were the youngest ones by far and when they found out we were expecting, our first child Zoe was the only baby of the church and very spoiled.
Jonathan was hired as the Worship/Youth Pastor and it was sad to see that as soon as we arrived, it was like the parents and adults were relieved that someone else was finally here to teach the teens and they all stepped back from helping. When we asked how many of the teens saw their parents reading their Bibles daily or having family devotions with them, none of them could answer yes to those questions except for one.
We have thoroughly enjoyed living in Paden City and have become more determined to teach/train the parents in our church to set the example and lead their families well when it comes to reading their Bibles or having family devotions.
4. How did God bring you and your husband together to serve in this way?
Answer: After nine months of being at our church, the Senior Pastor was asked to resign on account of immoral accusations that were brought against him by those in the community. Immediately the Deacon Board looked to Jonathan, asking him to step up and fill the role as senior pastor. There was some hesitancy on Jonathan’s part because of being so young (22 at the time) and not having much experience, but even greater hesitancy on my part as his wife. I never wanted to be a pastor’s wife. A youth pastor’s wife was ok because that job was a little more fun and less stressful, but never in my life had I ever wanted to be a pastor’s wife. I mean, a pastor’s wife always needed to look like she had it together 24/7 right? I spent a good many weeks fighting God about it in my head, until I knew it was something I had to surrender. Many of my family members encouraged me that they always thought I would make a great pastor’s wife and it irritated me because it was something I never wanted. After much prayer, I released it to God and was able to fully support Jonathan as he took on this new role. He filled the position without the actual title for about 3 years and then was officially ordained and hired as the senior pastor.
5. Did you have any particular areas of ministry in which you served in your church and community and what led you to those decisions?
Answer: After the senior pastor was asked to resign it left an empty spot for the church administrative assistant because his wife had been filling that role. The board asked me if I would step in and take the job and being the super organized person that I am, I accepted it with no hesitations. Getting to work alongside Jonathan has been incredible. When we first came to the church the only pianist that was there left the Sunday after we arrived which meant I had to step up and take her place. It has been a joy to work with Jonathan in many different ways in our church whether it be through, youth group, music ministry, children’s ministry or as his administrative assistant. God has been good to us.
6. What has been one of your greatest challenges in this ministry context and how did you persevere in it? What did God teach you through it?
Answer: One of the things I get most frustrated with is when my husband is attacked as the pastor. Early on it seemed to be a constant battle that happened so much. I remember multiple Sundays coming home exhausted from serving in so many different areas of ministry, just to witness or hear of someone attacking Jonathan and being ready to throw in the towel and quit. Every time it was Jonathan who calmly would respond that in those moments of greatest frustration and conflict that God was working through them and giving up would never be the answer. If we gave up we would never get to witness the beauty of what was to come out of it. Jonathan is a strong man who constantly speaks truth into my life even when I don’t always want to hear or accept it. It still happens to this day that people send hateful messages or say mean things and yet I hear the voice in my head reminding me, it is all part of accomplishing God’s beautiful plan that I have to let unfold in its time. I may not enjoy the season that I am in, but I have always been able to look back and see His faithfulness to Jonathan and I in our ministry here.
At this season in our ministry, I have backed away from most responsibilities except for being Jonathan’s administrative assistant, learning to focus the time that I have right now on what matters most, and that is raising our four children to know and love Jesus with their whole heart.
7. What has been one of your greatest blessings in this ministry context and how has that affected your perspective of small-town and rural ministry?
Answer: The greatest blessing that I have seen happen since the beginning of our ministry here has happened in the last 1-2 years. Many young families have started attending our church now to the point that our children’s ministry is exploding, which is awesome! After years of being the only young couple in our church with the only child, learning to be faithful for years and not seeing much growth, only to now witness many new young couples who are new believers starting their families and raising them in the church, has been an incredible blessing that we are so grateful we get to witness.
As these young families are learning and growing, we are watching them spread the Gospel to those around them in our small community and it is amazing.
Another reminder that God is working while we wait, He only asks us to be faithful.
8. If you could give a piece of advice to other rural and small-town pastors’ wives, what would it be and why?
Answer: Don’t be discouraged with conflict, face it head-on knowing that God is working out something beautiful from it.
Remember that in those moments of waiting, when you feel like your ministry is accomplishing nothing, know that God is still working. He only asks us to be faithful. Jonathan and I did not see much growth happen for years and then all of a sudden out of nowhere, God started blessing.
We are not the ones who will build the church…GOD IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH!!! It is His work.
Church work is never done. I have learned not to be afraid to take the time to go out on a date night with Jonathan, getting a babysitter for the kids. I always tell young moms, your husband was there before you ever had children, don’t forget to invest quality time with him. Someday your children will leave home and move out on their own, and it will just be you and your husband, don’t allow him to become a stranger to you.
Don’t be afraid to turn off your phone at night. If it is a real emergency, they will come to your home and get you.
If the parsonage is beside the church, my advice would be don’t move into it. This not only causes you and your husband to never get away from work with church, but also does not allow you to buy your own home and build equity for later on in life.
9. Other info you might want to include:
Answer: I feel so unqualified to be in the position I am as a pastor’s wife, but I am thankful for a God who loves me despite my failures and considers me qualified to share His Gospel with those around me.
One of the greatest two words my Mom taught me growing up were, “Choose Joy.” I have a wall hanging in my home with those words on it that remind me in the hard times of ministry am I choosing to have joy with where God has me despite what I feel?
Jonathan and I have been blessed with four beautiful children that God has given us the privilege of raising, Zoe (8), Jesse (6), Addie (3) & Izzie Joy (born in June).