Pastor-mothers balance pulpit and parenting

Every now and then, pastor Amy Butler will find herself having to do a
little simultaneous parenting and preaching from her pulpit at Calvary
Baptist Church in downtown Washington.

"My daughter, in
particular, knows the look," said Butler, whose teenage children sit—and
occasionally chat—with their friends in the balcony. "And if I'm up
front leading worship, I can see everything. So if I need to shoot a
look, I do. And they know exactly what that means."

Female pastors
with one flock at home and another in the pews say being a minister and
a mom is a perpetual juggling act, with high expectations, never enough
time and challenges that their male colleagues will almost never face.