Evidently divorce didn't occur to Mrs. Winkler. She ought not be given any extra consideration as to punishment. IMO!
Divorce is unthinkable to most evangelicals.
"Seems he was available to everyone in the congregation but never there for his own wife and kids. That's the sad fact of the chosen way of life."
That was my experience growing up in a parsonage as a preacher's kid. Everyone else got the good parts of Dad, and I got the emotionally and physically exhausted man that was left (and that wasn't at all fun).
The divorce rate among clergy is shocking. It would seem that clergy are on a mission from God (or so they think), and one of the sacrifices that they think they must make is the sacrifice of their family.
Alice Cooper... Preacher's Kid. Suprised?
The successful partnerships I have known have been couples who ARE a team and share everything, like two pages on a single sheet. A true marriage is two persons becoming one in the flesh. I guess these are as rare as other saints.
"Evidently divorce didn't occur to Mrs. Winkler."
Do you know about the teachings of a mainline Church of Christ? She probably didn't even think that divorce was an option.