It’s mid-October, and this means that it is Pastor Appreciation Month! I invite your church to drop a note of appreciation to your pastor. Here are five suggestions from Lovett Weems’ article, “Showing Appreciation for Your Pastor” from his Leading Ideas newsletter:
1. Pray for them. Prayer helps you and your clergy leaders understand your partnership in ministry and your mutual dependence on God.
2. Respect them. It would be best if you didn't talk to them in ways you would not want or permit them to speak with you. Clergy can handle questions and criticism. They need them. But it is essential that you not add a layer of hostile attitude or attribution of motives to your conversation.
3. Respect boundaries. It is easy for a pastor's life to become 24/7 — with all members feeling their situation, meeting, or question is the exception of respecting the pastor's time. It is the pastor's family and the pastor's well-being that often suffer the most from such blurred time boundaries.
4. Be positive. Practice reframing both your concerns and those of others into opportunities to advance God's work through your congregation. Ask about things other than Sunday School room assignments. Pastors enter the ministry because of their desire to help others know God through Christ and to grow as disciples. They invest years in study and then hours each week in preparing to preach and teach. They would gladly welcome thoughtful inquiries about the substance of their messages.
5. Support the mission of the congregation. Good pastors most want their congregations to take the next faithful step that God has for them. No amount of personal affirmation can match the example of dedicated laity who are serving that vision.
I’m sure there are other ways to participate in Pastor Appreciation month. As you offer appreciation to your pastor this month, make sure to support and encourage them all through the year.
On the Journey,
Quincy |
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