PCNSW Ministry Wives Survey 2024

INTRODUCTION:

Over the years, the Women’s Ministry Taskforce and now the Women’s Ministry Committee have understood the importance of supporting ministry wives, as a key part of the broader work of sustainable and healthy ministry practices within the PCNSW. Ministry wives are vital and necessary allies in the ministry life of the churches their husbands lead. Resourcing and pastorally caring for ministry wives is not only a strategic practice, but arguably an area of responsibility which the PCNSW could and should embrace.

The Women’s Ministry Committee is committed to better serving the unique needs of ministry wives. There are currently close to 200 ministry wives in the PCNSW and unmet opportunities to provide much needed support to them. One of our current goals is to employ a part time worker, specifically tasked with supporting ministry wives.

This could take the form of providing pastoral support and facilitating involvement in pastoral supervision, mentoring and accessible, relevant training. We envisage these initiatives could include both individual and group support for ministry wives.

We would be grateful for some feedback about your experience to help us inform our application for funding for this position. It will be helpful for us to have more understanding about your current needs, and types of support that you feel would be helpful.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Please complete only ONE feedback questionnaire, by Sunday 15 September.

This survey should take between 15 to 20 minutes to complete, and you will need to complete it in one sitting.

Confidentiality assured: All surveys will be sent to Church Offices for processing, and aggregated and reported anonymously. No responses will be cross-linked so as to identify individuals.

If you have any questions please contact Jenny Allan from the Women’s Ministry Committee: sparklej3@gmail.com

Your feedback is appreciated, and we look forward to receiving your responses.

Question Title

* 1. What Presbytery are you part of?

Canberra

Central Coast

Central Tablelands

Central West

Hunter

Illawarra

Mid North Coast

Northern Inland

Northern Rivers

Southern Rivers

Sydney East

Sydney Inner West

Sydney North

Sydney South

Western Sydney

Rather not say

Question Title

* 2. What is your current age?

Less than 35 years

35 to less than 50 years

50 to less than 65 years

65 years or more

Question Title

* 3. Do you live in a:

Capital city

Other metropolitan centre (population >100,000)

Large rural centre (population 25,000-99,999)

Small rural centre (population 5,000-24,999)

Remote rural area (population <5,000)

Question Title

* 4a) Do you have children?

Yes

Question Title

* 4b) If Yes, how many?

5 or more

Question Title

* 4c) What are their ages? (Select all that apply)

Infant

Toddler

Preschool age

Primary age

High school age

Adult

Question Title

* 4d) Do any of them have additional needs?

Yes

Question Title

* 5. What are your current living arrangements?

Own home

Manse attached to/beside the church building

Manse away from the church building, includes signage to indicate

Manse away from the church building, no signage

Rental

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 6. How many years has your husband been in a paid ministry role?

Less than 5 years

5 to less than 10 years

10 to less than 20 years

20 years or more

Question Title

* 7. How many times has your husband changed pastoral charges or ministry roles?

1-3 times

4-6 times

7 times or more

Page1 / 3