October is Pastor Appreciation Month

October is Pastor / Clergy Appreciation Month!!!

I just love October! My birthday is in October, as well as many other family members’. October finally begins to feel like fall, and I love fall. October is National Pizza Month – YUM! October is also Pastor Appreciation Month!

Yes, I AM a Pastor’s Wife so it this is a topic that is obviously important to me, and you could say that I’m biased. BUT whatever I say is NOT just for my sweetie as the Pastor. It’s for all pastors, preachers, priests, ministers, clergy and church staff. I have a heart for pastor’s families because we are a bit ‘different’. And pastors from all walks and faiths are under tremendous pressures.

According to The Parsonage (a website of Focus on the Family):

“Why is Clergy Appreciation Month necessary?

The nature of the service provided by pastors and their families is unique. God has entrusted to them one of the most precious of assignments — the spiritual well-being of His flock. When a pastor becomes ineffective, the very souls of his or her parishioners are endangered. When eternity is in the balance, we should all be concerned.

Pastors and their families live under incredible pressures. Their lives are played out in a fishbowl, with the entire congregation and community watching their every move. They are expected to have ideal families, to be perfect people, to always be available, to never be down and to have all the answers we need to keep our own lives stable and moving forward. Those are unrealistic expectations to place on anyone, yet most of us are disappointed when a pastor becomes overwhelmed, seems depressed, lets us down or completely burns out.
That’s why God has instructed us to recognize His servants.

“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17).

The good news is that we can make a difference! Clergy Appreciation Month is one way we can counter the negative erosion in the lives of our spiritual leaders with the positive affirmation they need.
(read the rest at their site – it’s worth taking a look at)“

So, if I can assume, for the moment, that you can all see the value in showing your pastor that you appreciate him (or her), then I am also going to assume that you would want to do somethiing to show that appreciation.

What can you do to show your pastor that you care?

The best thing about this is that you can do Almost Anything!!

Send an e-mail
send a bucket of cookies
send an e-card
send a box of chocolates
send a REAL card
write a letter of appreciation
write a poem
bake a cake
have a bouquet of flowers delievered to their office
give them a gift-card to the local bookstore
wrap up a batch of home-made muffins
send he and his wife (or she and her husband, or just he or she if they are unmarried!) out for a nice dinner or weekend…
be creative!

Send it to their home, their office, or make a presentation in church. Whatever. We’ve had people get together (a few couples) to be able to present a larger gift, and we’ve also had simple cards and letters that were very special.

The worst thing you can do is nothing at all.

The next worst thing you can do is to offer your obligatory, conciliatory and thoughtless words with a handshake or pat on the back in passing on your way in to or out of your next church meeting.

Seriously, all you have to do is go online and Google “Pastor Appreciation” – you’ll find lots of sites with lots of ideas, from simple to elaborate. Pastor-Appreciation.net has some great resources, as does the Pasonage and other sites.

You still have lots of time. Last year I didn’t get a post up until late October – this year I’ve given you almost the whole month to think about it!

October is set aside for Clergy Appreciation, but it can be done anytime. Holiday times (Thanksgiving and Christmas) are also good times to recognize your pastor and what he/she does for you. Pastors are people, too! They need to be encouraged. Let them know you care!!