Mums in Ministry

Date added: 09/08/18

Snapshots of information from our survey into the benefits and problems of being a 'Mum in Ministry'

Between Thursday 5th and Monday 9th March 2015, Christian Research conducted an in-depth online survey, completed by 176 mothers across Great Britain employed in full-time Christian ministry.

Only around 1 in 10 (13%) of respondents had children of primary school age; the vast majority now had children aged over 16.

16% went from being a full time mum/carer into Christian ministry; a quarter had a background in education. Only 1 in 20 (5%) had a background in church work.

The vast majority of mums in ministry feel satisfied in their role as a minister or leader within the Christian community (82% ‘really’ or ‘pretty’ satisfied). There was a slight inclination to feel more satisfied in their role as a mother to their children.

Nearly a quarter of these mums in ministry (22%) say they have had cause to fundamentally question their calling as a minister. Some of the responses include:

'[I felt] I could only take 3 months maternity leave as was during my Curacy, working with a single incumbent who had no idea of reality of ministry while being married, let alone with a baby! I stuck with it and am now a vicar, but I do regret that I wasn’t able to have the maternity leave and time with my baby without a huge amount of uncertainty, stress and pressure.’
'Expectations of others (sometimes these are outside my calling as a minister of Word and sacrament) and balancing family life.’
'When life is so busy there is no space to breathe.'
’Finding life overwhelming at times and juggling full time ministry, motherhood and being a wife is difficult particularly when it seems that the congregation are very demanding and selfish in their requirements.’

Around 1 in 10 say that their own children are the most significant course of ongoing inspiration to them as ministers.

Three quarters (73%) of these mums in ministry say that having children of their own has positively changed the way in which they relate to those in their care.

72% would cite major or significant impact in their pastoral work, with 51% recognising the same in their local community outreach, 43% in their preaching and 39% in team leadership.
The areas in which least impact was suggested were Administration (42% stated ‘negligible’ or ‘no’ impact) and mission strategy (26%).

Around half of these mums in ministry say finding sufficient time to spend with their children is a major or significant challenge for them (48%). Additional challenges include:

Finding time to pursue a passion / practice a hobby (60%)
Finding enough time to relax / wind down (58%)
Finding time to spend with closest friends (57%)

These mums in ministry want to relax by:

Spending time with their husband / partner (34%)
Reading a book or magazine (28%)
Spending time in the company of their closest friends (25%)

6% enjoy playing computer games, 8% enjoy cooking, and 13% just want to have a soak in the bath.

Around a quarter of these mums in ministry relax by spending time by themselves (23%), watching tv (23%) or spending time with their children (24%).

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