Beside Every Calling

Send us Fan Mail Beside Every Calling | Episode 22: When Your Wife Is the Pastor — The Male Ministry Spouse What is it like to be the ministry spouse when your wife is the pastor? This week, Jill and Debbie sit down with Trey and Noah—two male ministry spouses with very different stories. One works outside the church and is happiest supporting from behind the scenes. The other serves on church sta...

Send us Fan Mail When Ministry Marriage Is Hard... Where Is the Line? Marriage can be hard. Ministry can be hard. And when the two are woven together, the pressures can be especially complicated. After watching the Netflix documentary Death of the Pastor’s Wife, Debbie and Jill knew they wanted to have a thoughtful conversation about marriage, ministry, and what happens when “hard” crosses a line....

Send us Fan Mail Beside Every Calling | Episode 20: You Are Enough. Keep Becoming. You are enough. And you’re still becoming. In this episode of Beside Every Calling, Debbie and Jill have an honest conversation about what it looks like to become the healthiest version of yourself—in your marriage, your ministry, your relationships, and even the way you use social media. Comparison can quietly conv...

Send us Fan Mail Sometimes you love God. You love your spouse. You believe in the calling. But you just don’t love the assignment. In this episode of Beside Every Calling, Debbie Daniels and Jill Barber have an honest conversation about ministry seasons that simply don’t feel like a good fit. They share personal stories from some of their hardest assignments—seasons marked by difficult relationshi...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 18: Protecting Your Marriage: Boundaries With the Opposite Sex in Ministry What boundaries actually protect a marriage in ministry? In this episode of Beside Every Calling, Debbie Daniels and Jill Barber are joined by David Nicola—a ministry spouse and the podcast’s editor—for an honest conversation about navigating opposite-sex relationships in ministry. This isn’t about...

Send us Fan Mail Beside Every Calling | Episode 17: When Comparison Creeps Into Ministry Have you ever looked at another ministry spouse, another church, another family—or even someone else's social media—and wondered why they seem to be doing it better than you? Comparison has a way of quietly creeping in. In this episode of Beside Every Calling, Debbie Daniels and Jill Barber sit down for a...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when ministry becomes more than what you do and starts shaping who you are? In this episode of Beside Every Calling, Debbie and Jill sit down with psychologist Dr. Chris Adams for an honest conversation about the unique pressures ministry spouses carry — often without a job description, compensation, or even acknowledgement. Dr. Adams helps us put words to some of the...

Send us Fan Mail Beside Every Calling | Episode 15 When God Changes Your Assignment: Lessons From Becoming a District Superintendent Spouse What happens when God calls you into a ministry assignment you never expected? For many ministry spouses, stepping into a new season brings excitement, uncertainty, and plenty of questions. In this episode, Debbie Daniels and Jill Barber are joined by Dawn Est...

Send us Fan Mail Beside Every Calling | Episode 14: Ministry Marriage Lessons After 36 Years After more than 36 years of marriage and ministry, we've experienced incredible joys, made some difficult mistakes, and learned lessons we wish someone had shared with us much earlier. In this special episode, Debbie and Scott Daniels join Jill and Sam Barber for an honest conversation about ministry...

Send us Fan Mail Beside Every Calling | Season 2, Episode 13 What Has Kept Us Positive After 30+ Years of Ministry After more than three decades in ministry, how do you stay positive, avoid burnout, and continue loving the life God has called you to? In our Season 2 premiere, we share the lessons, habits, and perspectives that have helped us protect our joy through more than 30 years of ministry....

Send us Fan Mail Episode 12: You Won’t Believe This Happened.  Episode 12: Only in Ministry: Season 1 Finale!  Debbie and Jill celebrate by sharing some of the funniest, most unbelievable moments they've experienced in ministry.  We all need to laugh! This is a space for those walking beside a calling—where identity is formed beside it, not lost within it. In this lighthearted Season 1 finale...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 11: Leaving Well — When God Calls You to Move On This is a space for those walking beside a calling—where identity is formed beside it, not lost within it. In this heartfelt conversation, Debbie and Jill talk honestly about one of the hardest parts of ministry life—knowing when it’s time to leave and step into a new season. They share personal stories about difficult trans...

Send us Fan Mail This is a space for those walking beside a calling—where identity is formed beside it, not lost within it. In this honest and deeply personal conversation, Debbie and Jill talk about one of the hardest realities of ministry life—painful and complicated relationships within the church. Drawing from decades of ministry experience, they share personal stories of betrayal, bullying, i...

Send us Fan Mail This is a space for those walking beside a calling—where identity is formed beside it, not lost within it. Why is friendship in ministry life often harder than people expect? In this honest and heartfelt conversation, Debbie and Jill talk about one of the most quietly painful realities of ministry life—the challenge of finding genuine, safe friendship while living in the unique pr...

Send us Fan Mail In this deeply personal and honest conversation, Debbie and Jill talk about something many in ministry quietly experience but rarely say out loud—loneliness.  This is a space for those walking beside a calling—where identity is formed beside it, not lost within it. They share from their own current seasons, navigating roles filled with purpose yet often lacking people who fully un...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 7: From Staff Spouse to Lead Pastor Spouse In this honest and heartfelt conversation... Debbie and Jill are joined by Dana Hustko and Bethany Jack to talk about one of the most significant transitions in ministry life—moving from being a staff pastor’s spouse to a lead pastor’s spouse.  This is a space for those walking beside a calling—where identity is formed beside it,...

Send us Fan Mail Beside Every Calling | Episode 06: Staff Spouse Life — What No One Tells You 📩 Connect With Us: If this episode encouraged you, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at besideeverycalling@gmail.com In this episode, Debbie and Jill sit down with Dana Hutsko and Bethany Jack for an honest conversation about the real experience of ministry spouse life on a church staff. From the earl...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 05: Family & Ministry Beside Every Calling with Debbie & Jill In this episode, we talk about the real-life tension of balancing family and ministry—especially in the early parenting years, through busy church seasons, and into the empty nest. We share personal stories, practical rhythms that helped our families, and honest conversations about expectations, boundari...

Send us Fan Mail In this honest and deeply relatable conversation, Debbie and Jill reflect on the realities of being married to a ministry leader. From the early years of burnout to learning healthy boundaries and discovering their own calling within ministry, they share the lessons they wish someone had told them sooner. Together they explore the central question many ministry spouses quietly wre...

Send us Fan Mail In this first episode of Beside Every Calling, we introduce ourselves and share a little of our story walking beside our husbands in ministry.  We talk about how long we've been in ministry, what life beside the calling has looked like for us, and our hope for this space. Beside Every Calling is meant to be a place of encouragement for spouses walking beside the call- a safe...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 2 of Beside Every Calling , we talk about discipleship across every season of life.  Early in our faith we often have someone pouring into us.  But as years pass and leadership grows, many quietly lose the voices who once discipled them.  In this conversation we explore what it means to always be "in the middle" being shaped by someone ahead of us while encour...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 3: Male Spouses in Ministry In this meaningful conversation, Debbie and Jill sit down with Chuck Sunburg and David Nicola—two men who share the unique experience of supporting their wives’ call to ministry. As more women step into pastoral leadership, their husbands are navigating a role that few people talk about. Chuck and David share honestly about identity, sacrifice,...