Top 10 Ideas for Clergy Appreciation Month

Clueless! That’s how many churches feel as they contemplate how to express gratitude to their cherished leaders for Minister Appreciation Day each October.

To the rescue! Diana Davis, author of Fresh Ideas: 1,000 Ways to Grow a Thriving and Energetic Church, offers her top ten suggestions.

Fresh Ideas

10. Lots of letters - On Sunday before Pastor Appreciation Day, distribute stamped envelopes addressed to the pastor. An instruction note invites each church member to write and mail a personal note of encouragement and appreciation to the pastor this week.
9. Award T-Shirt - Special order a “Best Pastor in _______” t-shirt,cap, or plaque, and present it with flourish.
8. Original Art - Laminate bookmarks created by the children in your church, featuring their art and signatures. Allow kids to present the bookmarks to the pastor personally.
7. Church in a frame - Prepare a beautifully framed photo or painting of the church building. Even better: take a group photo of church members in front of the building. Use extra wide matting and ask every church member to sign the mat before adding glass.
6. Very merry commentary - Purchase a full set of Bible commentaries. Allow various groups, such as Bible classes, committees or church organizations, to present one book of the set, individually wrapped with their personal notes of appreciation on the inside pages. You may consider buying individual copies of the Holman Old Testament Commentary the 12-Volume boxed set of Holman New Testament Commentary.
5. PowerPoint Presentation - Create a PowerPoint presentation of slides of the pastor(s) in action as a minister during this past year. Choreograph it to music, such as “Thank You for Giving to the Lord.” Play it as a pre-service video.
4. Public Thanks - Take out a full-page ad in your local newspaper, featuring a photo of your pastor and a declaration of your church's love and appreciation. Even better: Add every member’s signature on the ad.
3. While You Were Out - Do a surprise office makeover, with the pastor's wife's input, of course. Hanover Baptist Church in Indiana surprised their pastor with a new home office while he was out of town, complete with paint, décor, furniture, and computer.
2. Million M&Ms - Think of one small thing your pastor enjoys--M&Ms, fishing lures, coffee, etc. Ask each member to bring that item on Sunday, i.e. one bag, any size, of M&Ms. Supply extras for guests or forgetful members.
1. Thirty days of Appreciation - Use an October calendar to schedule volunteers for a month-long schedule of surprise treats. Each day of the month, the pastor will receive a surprise token of appreciation from a church member, committee or group within the church. The tributes will vary widely—a balloon delivery, a shoe shine, an apple pie, a gift. After a whole month of pleasant surprises, won't your pastor feel appreciated? And won’t God be honored by your acts of love for his servant? Don’t forget to include a sincere note with specific reasons you appreciate the minister’s spiritual leadership, dedication, time and commitment.

Honor God by honoring His servants, with a thoughtful, personalized encouragement that fits your unique church and pastor.

[By Diana Davis]

Clergy Appreciation Month is dedicated to uplifting and encouraging our nation's spiritual leaders

Pastors and their families face incredible pressures. They often feel overwhelmed by unrealistic expectations and demands and frequently battle burnout. So, while prayer support is important throughout the year, Clergy Appreciation Month is dedicated to uplifting and encouraging our nation's spiritual leaders.

The Rev. H.B. London, vice president of pastoral ministries at Focus on the Family — and cousin to Dr. James Dobson — was interviewed recently by CitizenLink about Clergy Appreciation Month and the importance of honoring your pastor.

Read More

October is Clergy Appreciation Month

What is Clergy Appreciation Month?

Clergy Appreciation Month is a special time that congregations set aside each year to honor their pastors and pastoral families for the hard work, sacrificial dedication and multiple blessings provided by these special people. It is typically scheduled in October, but can be held at any time that is convenient for the church and the community. It is also important to remember that appreciation, affirmation and prayer support of our spiritual leaders is appropriate throughout the entire year.

Why is CAM 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.

What can we do?

There are two ways to help your pastors and their families feel appreciated:
1. Figure out what you can do personally to recognize and honor these leaders. A simple card, an invitation to lunch, a promise to pray for them or an offer to babysit, wash a car or mow a lawn make wonderful statements.
2. Share the concept of CAM with others in your congregation and challenge them to join you in some kind of formal planning. You might consider a special service of affirmation, a potluck event or planting a tree in their honor. The sky is the limit!

To help you in this process, Focus on the Family has developed the following resources:
- A Clergy Appreciation Month Planning Guide is available online with complete step by step instructions and pages of exciting celebration suggestions. It also includes long-term ideas for the proper care of your pastors and their families. This complimentary guide can be reviewed, downloaded or printed immediately.(Note: Adobe Reader is required to view this PDF file. Click on the image to the right to download the latest version for free. The CAM planning guide PDF file itself may take several minutes to load into your computer's memory with a modem, so please be patient.)
- There is also an online Spanish version of the planning guide for Spanish-speaking congregations and individuals. (También hay disponible una versión gratis de la guía de planificación para iglesias y personas de habla hispana.)
- CAM promotional artwork is available for use in fliers, bulletins and other promotional material.
- An audio greeting from H.B. London Jr. to your congregation and pastoral team can be reviewed, downloaded and copied to a CD that can be played during a time of celebration.

Don't your pastors and their families deserve this kind of recognition? Do something about it today!

A Tribute To Pastors

Pastors are unique individuals who carry a lot of responsibility. They often live their lives in a fish bowl with members of society watching their every move waiting for direction or to pass judgment.

One of the primary purposes of this Blog is to give tribute to pastors, encourage them, and provide resources for them. A pastor’s work often goes unnoticed for those unfamiliar with the behind the scenes life of a pastor.

Here is a list, or tribute so to speak, about why pastors are so special:

Pastors Teach

Most likely a pastor’s most important trait is that they teach the word of God. We all need teachers when it comes to learning and growing in Christ. Discipleship is a critical need in the Body of Christ today. This is a huge responsibility for pastors.

Pastors Are Creative In Getting Our Attention

I have been fortunate in the past with some of the best pastor/teachers who have gone out of their way to prove a point. One pastor had a pizza delivered during service to prove a point about being hungry for God. He also made us wear hairnets as a reminder of how we should be servants. That took time and effort and creativity when he could have just gone on stage and read.

Pastors Pray

Pastors spend hours praying for their members, friends, community, etc. Whatever the need, pastors are bringing it before God. It is nice to know that despite all our troubles, we have someone who cares and prays for us.

Pastors Give

Pastors are constantly giving. They give their time, their money, their energy, etc. They work continually to share God’s love and God’s word. They plan so much time trying to meet the needs of the church and community. They give food, they give hope, they give money, facilities, entertainment, worship, etc. It often goes unnoticed how much a pastor gives.

Pastors Show Love

Pastors are some of the most loving people I know. They love the unlovable. They give their love to a messed-up humanity who seldom loves back.

Pastors Counsel

Pastors spend a lot of time counseling. When people are hurting, a pastor is there to help them get through this low in their life. In our marriage, pastors have provided tremendous counsel to help us be better husbands and wives by teaching us areas of improvement in God’s word. They provide every kind of counseling available from financial to spiritual to marriage to fears, etc. They will stop everything to be of assistance in times of need.

Pastors Cry and Laugh With You

Pastors are there to celebrate births, praises, miraculous recoveries or any joy with you. But pastors are also there when you are sick, dealing with loss of a loved one or just having a hard time.

This is just touching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to documenting all the great things pastors do for our society. So don’t forget to say a simple “Thank You" to your pastor. Never criticize your pastor unless you have walked a mile in their shoes. If your pastor was not there every time you wish they had been, just realize the pastor can only be in one place at a time.

Have you told your pastor lately ...?

[From Voice of Hope by Dr. E.C. McKinley]

The phone rings at 4:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning ... one of the members of the congregation is near death. The pastor answers the phone and within moments is on the way to the hospital.

After realizing the church member is stable, the pastor notices its almost 9:30 a.m. Just enough time to get to the church.

Standing at the front door, the pastor welcomes everyone as they enter, while looking out the door to see where everyone else is at.

The services get started and the deacon pulls the pastor aside to share that something must be wrong with the heat/air unit, there have been complaints about the temperature.

As the pastor goes to check on the heat/air unit, the treasurer hands the pastor a note to remind the moderator of the service that the insurance payment is going to be due next month, and the church really needs to take up a good offering today.

Just as the worship service is ready to start, one of the older members catches the pastor in the aisle of the sanctuary to complain about an error in the bulletin. Even though the pastor didn't catch the small error, an apology is extended ... though the pastor feels like it would never be appreciated.

After all of this, the pastor walks to the pulpit, opens the Bible and the notes prepared for this morning's message, and the pastor is exhausted ... yes, even before it begins. Yes, the physical exhaustion is because the pastor was up late on Saturday night preparing for Sunday, but the mental/emotional exhaustion is even more of a burden. Yet, the pastor declares the "whole counsel of God," gives an altar call, and even though no one responds (in fact several were slipping their winter coats on while the pastor was finishing the sermon), the pastor walks diligently to the door of the church and extends the same, warm and friendly handshake.

And yes, this goes on week after week.

I can tell you about this pastor, because I have been there, but more importantly because I personally know hundreds of pastors by first name, and I see, hear and feel their struggle. You might ask, "well, what does that have to do with me? What's with the title "Have you told your pastor lately...?" I would think the answer is obvious. Have you stopped and told your pastor lately that you appreciate the labor of love, that you appreciate the sacrifice of family time, and the all of ministry your pastor has accomplished around you.

The truth is that only once per year is NOT enough ... we should have a regular habit of telling our pastor how much we love, appreciate and care for their ministry. It can be done with a simple thank you, or a card, or you might even want to bless your pastor with a gift. How could that be wrong?

You say, "well does my pastor deserve that?" The answer is a resounding "yes!" God trusted your pastor enough to call him/her into the ministry, and I know that you will be blessed as you bless your pastor.

Why not take that opportunity today ... you don't know how long it might have been since your pastor heard those words.

God bless each of you.