If you go to Shaunie Henderson’s Instagram page every Monday morning, you’re probably going to see that weekly highlight reel. That’s of Shaunie heading to Sunday service with her husband, mingling with the congregation, occasionally doing fun Reels with them, and a healthy sprinkle of inspiration in between. And the comments under it, or otherwise, usually refer to her as ‘First Lady,’ ‘Lady Shaunie,’ and ‘Forever First Lady S.’ It’s worth noting Shaunie never referred to herself as that. She’s taken on the titles of NBA WAG during her relationship with Shaquille O’Neal and owns the ‘media mogul’ tag since the success of Basketball Wives and beyond. But she isn’t used to being the First Lady of the Houston Lighthouse Church yet.

She confessed it to the fans of The Groow Zone podcast and her husband, Keion Henderson. She asked her husband who defines the unofficial role of the first lady of a church. He’s the main pastor of the church in Humble, however, there’s never been a defined role for the pastor’s wife. It just became natural for the congregation to refer to Shaunie as the First Lady.

Keion admits, “I know it’s [being referred to as First Lady] is exhausting for you, I do know that. But it’s a cultural thing.” Keion said he’s repeatedly told the parishioners, “This is not the first lady, this is my wife.” Yet they continue to call Shaunie that only out of respect.

Shaunie gets it, she even said that they used the title for the pastor’s wife in the church she grew up in. But, “For me it’s just uncomfortable, first lady is uncomfortable. It’s just one of those you know having somebody kind of cater to you all the time is uncomfortable, but that’s just for me.”

The reality star has never shown her discomfort. She’s known for being sociable and outgoing in the church community. Shaunie has leveraged her impact on occasions like hosting the Cry Out Experience two years in row. But she’s also been reserved when it comes to management.

Shaunie Henderson draws a line

When Hurricane Beryl ravaged the North Campus of Lighthouse Church, Shaunie appealed to her social media followers for prayers and support. Through her Instagram, she shared the extent of the damage in the first week of the storm. In the later weeks, she provided optimism that the Church will be up and running again and continued with the outreach work.

Shaunie, however, never interfered in Keion’s administrative duties. He’s been front and center of the rebuild, dealing with inspections and contractors. He used his YouTube channel to talk about it.

His wife has been a silent support to him and the displaced congregation. It’s been the subject of unsavory rumors, but they ignored it.

It’s a little different from her previous marriage. She wrote in her memoir, Undefeated, that the NBA high life was a distraction from Shaq’s infidelity. She was a visible presence in the NBA community before and it only grew since her reality series even after her divorce from O’Neal.

Her discomfort with being called First Lady is nevertheless understandable. And it only makes her circle adore her more.