Let's talk about those clergy resume "gaps" for mothers
It’s time to purge the idea of resume “gaps” for caregiving and instead embrace the richness that being a parent brings to being a pastor.
There are a lot of ways to approach the delights and demands of ministry and motherhood. Some clergy take a break from paid work when their children are young. Some accept part-time roles, whether because their households need the income, they want to keep a foot in the ministry world or they cannot find full-time positions that fit their family situations. Some go on parental leave from their full-time jobs and then return to work afterward. All these are good choices. Mothers should go the route that suits them best.
That said, women who step completely out of employment for a season inevitably will have to deal with questions and assumptions about the “gaps” in their work histories when they’re ready to return to clergy life.
I hope one day the church and the larger culture — because this is an issue in the secular work world as well — will get to a place where they don’t see a break in employment to care for kids (or adult family members with caregiving needs) as a period when women aren’t leading and growing. Anyone who has ever raised a child knows parenthood calls upon all our skills and nudges us to learn new ones too.