Since the 1970s, an important new figure has appeared on the center stage of American evangelicalism—the celebrity preacher’s wife. Although most evangelical traditions bar women from ordained ministry, many women have carved out unofficial positions of power in their husbands’ spiritual empires or their own ministries. The biggest stars—such as Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, and Victoria Osteen—write bestselling books, grab high ratings on Christian television, and even preach. In this engaging book, Kate Bowler, an acclaimed historian of religion and the author of the bestselling memoir Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved, offers a sympathetic and revealing portrait of megachurch women celebrities, showing how they must balance the demands of celebrity culture and conservative, male-dominated faiths.
Kate Bowler is the author of Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel and the New York Times bestselling memoir Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved (Random House), which she wrote after being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35. She is associate professor at Duke Divinity School and lives in Durham, North Carolina. Twitter @KatecBowler