The second in our new series on Orthodox sisterhoods!
In 2018 the Orthodox Church in America conducted a survey of clergy wives, directed by Cindy Heise, LMSW. The results were heartening--wives had positive feelings about their ministry and their lives. But they also described significant challenges such as worrisome financial instability, isolation, and the distress of seeing their husbands constantly deal with difficult situations and strong personalities.
Responding to those challenges was the impetus for the creation of the Clergy Wives Advisory Group, or CWAG. His Grace Bishop Alexis, then chair of the Office of Pastoral Life under which a clergy wives' group would operate, called together interested matushki (clergy wives) to discuss what a group might do. Eventually, six women (Mki. Wendy Cwiklinski, Miho Ealy, Jennifer Levine, Elizabeth Powell, Alexandra Safchuk, and Valerie Zahirsky) formed the Clergy Wives Advisory Group, which took its name from Bishop Alexis' charge that it not only serve clergy wives but also advise the OCA administration on those wives' needs and hopes.
CWAG sponsors quarterly Zoom retreats, not only giving clergy wives a connection but offering various kinds of information and support. Monastics, parish clergy, and lay people have spoken on topics ranging from prayer and forgiveness to nutrition, managing personal relationships, financial planning, stress, and self-care. A recent retreat had clergy wives tell about their experiences serving in other countries, including Norway, Korea, Germany, Albania, and Japan.
In addition to the retreats, CWAG offers clergy wives the chance to put their names and information into an online directory. Some women, through the directory, have reconnected with wives they knew in seminary days, while others have continued online friendships they formed by attending the retreats. Another source of connection--an initiative suggested by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon--is the distribution of a list of matushki who are in need of prayer.
CWAG's quarterly newsletter contains feature articles, timely information, book reviews, and the indispensable Orthodox section of recipes. The newsletter also tells what's happening with clergy wives in various dioceses. This information is given to CWAG by the Diocesan Point Persons, clergy wives who graciously volunteer to gather and also disseminate news in their dioceses.
CWAG has tried to answer the needs of particular groups within the clergy wives sisterhood. Clergy widows, for example, can feel dislocated and lonely after losing both a spouse and a parish. CWAG has helped clergy widows arrange a series of Zoom retreats dealing with topics pertinent to their lives, and has encouraged widows to write articles for the newsletter.
In Mexico, OCA clergy wives are a distinct minority in a culture where most church clergy are celibate Roman Catholics. The prayer cards for various occasions, which CWAG handed out to clergy wives at the last All-American Council, have been translated into Spanish for use by the wives in Mexico. A hope for the future is to have the newsletter translated as well.
It is a blessing to say that CWAG has enjoyed support from our hierarchs. They have met with us and encouraged us, and they urge us to seek new ways to serve clergy wives in all sorts of situations. What can we offer to the wives of newly ordained clergy just starting out in parish life? How can we address the needs of wives in isolated parishes who are far from family and friends? What can we contribute to the efforts to alleviate the financial hardships of many clergy families?
All of these questions, and others, keep us going. We hope that, like our patron saint, Blessed Matushka Olga of Alaska, we can be of service in a way that is useful and pleasing to the Lord.
Mka. Valerie Zahirsky for CWAG