Our pastors work hard to teach us the word of God and to provide us with overall pastoral care (guidance, counseling, support, etc). The calling of a pastor requires dedication and sacrifice and they don't just work Sundays! Praying for our pastors is the most important thing we can do for them and we suggest that you make it a part of your prayer life.
It is nice to show them some appreciation every now and then and we are going to do that on Sunday, November 8th, 2009. But, you don’t need to wait until Pastor’s Appreciation Sunday. If you appreciate the job that your pastor is doing, you can show it anytime.
There are many reasons to show appreciation for our pastors and some of the more important reasons are:
- Pastor appreciation is the sign of a healthy church and healthy churches want to pay tribute to their pastors through loving acts of gratitude.
Biblically, pastor appreciation is a concept throughout the pages of scripture.
Practically, showing appreciation serves two purposes. First, our expression of gratitude is a positive witness, showing our community that God is loving & merciful. Secondly, it creates an atmosphere that encourages others to respond to the call of God to do His Kingdom work.
- Our church's expression of gratitude to God for our pastors can be one of the most effective demonstrations to our community that we are a loving church. May the greatest clergy appreciation gift given by our church be the gift of a healthy church, ready to share God's love not only with our pastors but with our community.
- It's a whole lot of fun!
Here are a couple of ways to show your pastor and his family a little bit of love and appreciation:
Figure out what you can do personally to recognize and honor them. A simple card or encouragement note, an invitation to a meal at your home, a promise to pray for them or an offer to help with responsibilities at home or the church (ie: wash a car or mow a lawn), a gift card to a favourite restaurant - all these make wonderful statements of our love and appreciation.
Express appreciation more than one day a year, we must remember to pay tribute to our pastors throughout the year to keep them encouraged and uplifted. We must especially pray for their protection as they are on the front lines of this worldly battle against Satan.
Create An Atmosphere of Appreciation, by showing gratitude for our pastors and thanking God for them creates an atmosphere of appreciation and don't be surprised when our church experiences growth because of a positive atmosphere for our pastors.
Do's & Don'ts for Expressing Pastor Appreciation
DO — Tell your Pastors how very much you appreciate them and their families
DON’T — Tell them how much you enjoyed the speaker that replaced them last Sunday
DO — Give them a hug or shake their hand
DON’T — Give them a hug if you have a contagious cold, a festering wound, or mad cow disease or after changing a diaper
DO — Send them a heartfelt or humorous e-card
DON’T — Send them a forwarded e-mail that promises them good luck in the future if they send it to ten people within the next ten minutes....or anything that has to do with the Taco Bell dog
DO — Send them a personal letter telling them how they have been an inspiration to you
DON’T — Send them a letter highlighting the grammatical errors in their latest sermons
DO — Cook them a meal or treat and deliver it to their home with a smile
DON’T — Cook them a meal or treat and deliver it to their home expecting to be invited in and proceed to spend the remainder of the evening with them
DO — Offer to do a household chore for them, such as: mowing, raking, or repair
DON’T — Surprise them with a do-it-yourself home makeover that involves paneling, liquid nails and a lot of feathers
DO — Give them a card with some cash
DON’T — Give them a card with a scratch and win lottery ticket
DO — Take the time to do something - even if you just tell them what a great job they are doing,
DON’T — DELAY — DO SOMETHING TODAY!
We will close this page with a personal note on pastor appreciation in hopes it will summarize what it means to express appreciation for those who lead our church:
Expressing Appreciation To Our Pastor
by Wanda
(Booneville,MS)Pastor Appreciation Day is simply an opportunity for our appreciative church to express our sincere gratitude to our pastor. For us, this is more than telling others how great and wonderful he is, which after all, could lead to an inflated ego.
Rather, expressing pastor appreciation to the pastor should be full of humility, sharing genuine gratitude for the sacrifices pastors makes in serving the call of God for the people of his or her church.
In our local church situation, our pastor is a man of God whom we all love, and that love means we express our appreciation both privately and publicly.
For example, our pastor is a role model for all of us who too are attempting to serve the Lord.
Expressing our appreciation to our pastor means voicing our gratitude that he is available to our needs and is always there for whoever and whenever.
Expressing pastor appreciation is our way of saying "Pastor, we notice you and the work you do serving our church." Most of all, we want to say "Thanks, Pastor".
