“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy…” (Philippians 1:3-4
KJV)
October is here a time set aside for appreciating our pastors
and all they and their families do—the sacrifices they make to care for the
people in their charge. Of course, we
should appreciate them the other eleven months of the year! October is Clergy Appreciation Month, with
this in mind, I will be sharing (with some editing) what I posted last October.
To read the previous posts in this
series, please see: Clergy Appreciation Month, Clergy Appreciation Month: Pastor Appreciation Sunday, Clergy Appreciation Month: Laity Serving, and Clergy Appreciation Month: Encouragement.
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| Photo Credit: C. Meissner |
As we come to the end of this month set aside to honor
pastors, let us not forget to honor and encourage our pastor and their families
the other eleven months of year! We all
need to be encouraged and spurred on as we live in this world. The same is true for our pastors, and perhaps
it is even more so. Pastors seem to
incur more than their fair share of criticism; therefore, words of
encouragement are precious as diamonds.
In the New Testament, we can read how Paul frequently
encouraged Timothy (see 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy), in his ministry.
While Timothy was a young pastor, lacking in self-confidence,
needing encouragement to fulfill his calling; the same is true for those
responding to their call today—no matter how long they have been pastoring. Ministry is not an easy road to walk—burn out
rates are incredibly high.
In today’s world, being a pastor is a rewarding, challenging
call—sadly, it also sometimes is a thankless job. You will likely never fully know how much
your words of encouragement and support means to your pastor.
Use your imagination in honoring your pastor and his or her family. Just be sure to let them know how much you
care. Share a word or two of praise…be
creative…it only needs to be heartfelt.
What have you done personally (or what has your church done)
to show appreciation to your pastor(s) during this month?
Please join with me in prayer:
Dear Lord, as we come to the end of
this special month, honoring pastors, help us to remember to encourage and
affirm them and their families throughout the year. Give us nudges through the Holy Spirit to
encourage our pastor when needed. We
thank you for our shepherd and family that you have sent us. Protect them from the attacks of Satan and
encourage them. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
From My Heart to Yours,
Kim
Amen, Kim! We should encourage our pastors every chance we get.
ReplyDeleteLove and blessings!
Thank you, Martha! Sometimes all it takes is a simple reminder. Pastors do need to be encouraged.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Hi Kim! We have had birthday parties for pastors, and have supported them through their triumphs and losses. Just this week, one of our former pastors presided over his mother's funeral. Many of us from his past parish joined him, I hope it gave him some peace.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Ceil
Hi Ceil! How cool that you had birthday parties for pastors and for the support and encouragement that you showed them in triumphs and losses. I know your former pastor was blessed when you joined him to celebrate his mom's life. (Several years ago, several of us from my church supported our then pastor when his dad passed--attending either the visitation or funeral service.)
DeleteBlessings,
Kim