A Divine Duet: Ministry and Motherhood

The “duet” of calls—to follow God and to become a mother—began with Sarah’s story in Genesis and continues in God’s people today. As more women follow God’s call into ministry, many are discovering the power of this duet. These women are gifted for ministry, trained and shaped through excellent educations, and affirmed in their call. They serve as pastors in churches, on campuses, in impoverished areas, prisons, hospitals, hospices, the military, and in academia. And many of them are also called to be mothers: birth mothers, adoptive mothers, mothers to other people’s children, mothers to their students. As they continue to follow God, the call story and the birth story combine, and the duet rings true. Each essay in this inspiring collection is as different as the mother-minister who wrote it, from theologians to chaplains, inner-city ministers to rural-poverty ministers, youth pastors to preachers, mothers who have adopted, birthed, and done both.