Avril Level-James The radical pastor’s wife

She has a down-to-earth, tomboyish attitude – not the typical prim and proper qualities that you would expect in a pastor’s wife.

And she would be the first to tell you that she is a radical Christian – not of the traditional ilk.

Meet Avril Level-James.

Teacher, counsellor, psychologist and a pastor’s wife for a little over a year.

So far she says she has been adjusting to her new wifely role – walking a thin line between expressing her unusual views on women, love, marriage and other issues, while trying to conform to some of the expectations that come with being a pastor’s wife.

One of the stories she will tell you is that one lady in her church told her that she was too sexy to be a pastors wife.

“I played it (the comment) off and I conform a lot for his sake,” she said ” but I don’t believe in down playing my sexuality as a Christian woman. I think sexuality is a gift from God. Too many church women think it is a sin to be seen as a sexual being. It is not your sexuality that causes problems, it is your lack of self control. Your clothes don’t have to be at your ankle to be attractive.”

For her, valuing the inner person is also very important. A strong sense of self that encompasses both the physical and inner man as well as the spiritual have to be developed, she argues, before women think of starting intimate relationships.

“I say to those youngsters I counsel at Swallowfield chapel (in Kingston) that you have to love yourselves or how do you expect a man to love you? Sometimes that is where abuse comes in,” she said as we sat in her office at Campion College, where she is the guidance counsellor.

“I think our women in church are too docile. They don’t view themselves as treasures,” she said “We don’t need men to validate us. Christian women should see themselves as valuable so you don’t have to sell yourself short. You have some women who are getting into unequally yoked marriages because they don’t value themselves.’

At the same time, she cautioned that just because two persons were Christians that did not automatically mean that they were compatible.

“It is not only about spiritual compatibility in marriage, it is so much more. We have to value ourselves and in doing so we will attract someone of value,” said Level-James, who grew up in Malvern, St Elizabeth.

Her love of her home town was evident in her voice and it was only her quest for higher education that brought her to Kingston.

“I came to Kingston for the University of the West Indies in 1993 and went back home after I finished my degree,” she said.

But by 2000, she was back to do a Masters in Counselling Psychology at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology.

It was there that she met Brent James, then a final year student doing his Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology.

“We both lived on dorm. He was one of the first persons I had met when I just moved on. So I would talk to him because initially he was the only person I knew,” she reminisced. The budding friendship soon evoked ‘prophecies’ of marriage.

“Someone prophesied about us in the early days. I was upset at the time because we were just good friends and the feelings had not yet changed to intimacy,” she said.

Two years later he popped the question.

“We got engaged in the Blue Lagoon in Portland in the Easter term of 2002. We got married on August 10, 2002,” she said smiling. Since then he has been working as an assistant pastor at First Missionary Church on East Street in downtown Kingston.

According to Level-James, she has tried to be supportive and keep a low profile but she does not think that she fits into the mould of a pastor’s wife.

However, their adjustments so far have been smooth – the biggest thing for her being learning to budget.

‘I used to be a spendthrift but I am learning to budget now. Brent is more careful with money,” she said laughing.

While she projected a jovial personality, her serious side came out as she spoke about issues affecting the church.

“I think the church needs to address issues like homosexuality and that is something I am praying about. They should look at putting in a formalised counselling project to deal with it. I am not condoning it or saying have them in active membership in the church as is.

But we need to be a haven for all. If we turn them away, where do they go? ” asked Level-James, who was brought up in a Christian home and has been a Christian for over ten years.

“If they don’t get help they will continue in that way. I am not sure how to approach the situation, but it is one of the things we need to look at.”

Her other pet peeve is what she described as the church’s inability to meet people’s needs.

“We keep failing people because the church leaders are not ready to deal with real issues. How many churches fast about the sexuality of our young people. We have to instil values in them,” she said.

As she plans to be part of the solution to the problem, she said she hoped to start a free counselling programme in the church to reach people.