By Mickey Mallory
Every October in North America, we celebrate the gift of pastors. What a great gift they are to the Lord’s work! When you consider all that, they do for our churches, schools, and communities, we know how very blessed we are to have their support.
To better appreciate all that a pastor does, consider the following list of roles that a pastor fills:
- Leadership for the elder team
- Vision casting for church ministries
- Planning and participation in church-growth initiatives
- Preaching the Sabbath sermon
- Worship thoughts for prayer meeting/school worship
- Crisis care for church members and community
- Officiant for weddings and funerals
- Participation in baptisms and child dedications
- Hospital/nursing home visitations
- Volunteer recruitment
Even though this list is not exhaustive, it gives you an idea of how integral pastors are to the life of the church, school, and community. It is very clear that, without their support/contribution, the work would suffer.
Because the pastor’s work is so important, I would like to challenge you to do something special for your pastor this month. Below are a few practical adapted from Samantha Decker of Clover Sites Ministry that you could use to show your appreciation:
Relaxing Vacation. Get the church together and brainstorm a relaxing vacation getaway for your pastor and family. Rest and recuperation are always good. They can even take this opportunity to renew their relationship with God. And spend some good quality time together as a family.
Take Food to Your Pastor. A small, yet personal gift that you could give your pastor is to take them a meal. Especially if they have a family, meals can be easily overlooked when schedules are busy. One meal can bring hours of closeness and rest to your pastor and family.
Babysitting (where applicable). Babysit their child(ren) for an evening so your pastor can do whatever it is they want to do without having to bring the kids along. If they are married, they could go on a date, go out to dinner, etc. Check with your pastor before planning for something like this.
Gift Cards. In conjunction with the date night idea, you could pay for all or part of the date night package with a gift card to a place that they love or have never been to. You could even go as far as planning a whole night and expose them to something that you think would be special and encouraging for them.
Celebrate Big. Throw them a party! Gather the church and play some music and games. You can provide food or snacks and make a night out of fellowship with the church family. Let your pastor know how much you appreciate them for all the hard work they put in throughout the year.
Meaningful Conversation. Don’t misunderstand this point. Yes, your pastor cares about you, but they are human as well and would like to have typical conversations and take a break from hearing about all the problems and the negative things that are going on in other people’s lives. Having a meaningful conversation can go a long way. Ask them about their problems and if there is a way you could pray specifically for them and bring a different vibe to the conversation.
Volunteer to Help a Different Ministry in Your Church. There are many ways to serve in the church and all you need to do is raise your hand. This is more noticeable in smaller congregations but volunteering your time to help another ministry will relieve some stress for that ministry and ultimately help your pastor know they are not alone in the fight.
Housework And Yard Work. These are two things that never go away. A nice gesture would be to offer to do housework or yard work at their house so they can enjoy their weekend or a day off. We are called to serve each other and what better way to do that than to clean their home or mow their lawn.
Show Up. This may sound simple, but show up to events, classes, service, etc. It is encouraging when you plan an event, or a get-together and people show up. It takes time, effort, and resources for an event to happen, and you can make it successful. Show up to things and focus on encouraging others without dwelling on other things that need to be done.
If none of these ideas is feasible for you, I would highly recommend you send your pastor a note of thanks, via text, email, or even through snail mail. Above all else, send up a prayer of thanks to God for their ministry.
By showing appreciation to your pastor, you affirm them in their work and provide them the encouragement they need to keep going. The following words of former U.S President, John F. Kennedy, can be applied to pastors:
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
–Mickey Mallory is RMC ministerial director. Photo by UnSplash
