Lammastide said:

Timmy84 said:

I don't know if Baptists do this...

I was raised in a Baptist congegation, and it was done there. It's not a formal title, so this sort of thing would vary between congregations even within the same denomination.

Got ya. My maternal grandparents were heavily involved in the Baptist church and my grandpa was an Elder. But I never heard my grandma being referred to as a first lady either so maybe that's just a "thing" in some churches. Either that or because I wasn't even born when my grandparents were doing the ministries that I wasn't aware they were referred to as "first ladies". And both were quite active in church with their husbands (my paternal grandma was an organist for many years in the Richmond, VA church where my grandpa was Bishop of for more than 30 years before he died in 1971).

Timmy84 said:

I don't know if Baptists do this, but I know the COGIC sects often have "first ladies". My paternal grandparents were more Hebrew Pentecostals so my grandma was never called a "first lady". But I watched the Clark Sisters' Unsung and apparently, according to Jacky Cullum Chisolm, her mama Mattie was a "First Lady".

Our Presiding Bishop's wife is called "First Lady", she has a lot of expected duties and I wouldn't deny her that title, I think it's more a formal title in various congretations for formal occasion, I don't remember addressing wives in normal conversation by that title, but usually women, especially those with long standings in a congregation are referred to by some title, sister, mother, missionary, evangelist, something. I guess I can see a problem if that particular wife as a kind of arrogant air to her, but that can be argued about any title under any organization.