I was a member of a Baptists church for over 2 years. The Pastor's Wife portrays a fairly accurate account of the women in my church who firmly believe that the men in the family have the final say. The wedding vows too are fairly accurate in as much as the 'love, honour and obey' that were originally 'standard' vows. The pastor (or minister) in my church, although young was not (to my knowledge) violent, nor abusive. However he had little or no knowledge of domestic abuse as he had been raised in a non-violent atmosphere. His views were outdated though, because he constantly informed me that no matter how I was treated (or ill-treated), my role as wife was to be submissive, understanding and non-judgemental. My ex treated me okay (in public) behind closed doors, I too was subjected to verbal abuse both by him and his parents. The minister in my church did inform me that if I chose to 'abandon' the marriage, I too would be ostracized by the church. I chose to leave and (as promised) was ostracized.
