The first question to ask and answer is, “Who is this woman’s husband?” Next we must ask many subsidiary questions. Is she fulfilling her ministry to him? Is he her priority? Is she helping him? Is her house in order? Is he leading her in this ministry? Is her identity as a Christian woman centered around her relationship to her husband? If the answer to any of these is “no,” then her ministry is likely independent of her husband, and it is much like a separate career; but because it is “Christian,” it is somehow seen as a valid ministry. In contrast, because Scripture clearly teaches that the husband is the head of the wife, a Christian woman in ministry should clearly be seen as under her husband’s visible headship. Scripture teaches that a wife is specially created by God to be a helper to her husband. When a woman in ministry becomes successful, independent of her husband, many temptations will accompany such success.... Then comes the temptation to accept more and more speaking engagements, to like the financial independence, to work harder outside the home, get used to being successful apart from her husband, and to become more independent of him. In some cases, husbands’ careers are considered inferior because they are not as lucrative, so the husbands quit their jobs to manage their wives’ “ministries.” This is so backwards. How can we expect God to bless a ministry that is in essence run by wives and supported by husbands?
Nancy Wilson, “Women in Ministry,” Credenda/Agenda, Vol. 7, Issue 5.