October is Pastor Appreciation Month! Show your pastor some love! It’s appropriate that Pastor Appreciation Month and Thanksgiving fall in the same month (for Canadians anyway). Thanksgiving is a time when we give thanks and express gratitude for God’s gifts. Showing gratitude and appreciation to God is a spiritual discipline – it takes practice. One way to practice this spiritual discipline is to show appreciation to your pastor(s).
Need some tips? Here are a few that Cheryl Ann Beals suggested:
- Ask your pastor – Did you get your Sabbath/days off this week?
- Encourage your pastor to take care of physical health by exercising and going for walks.
- Expect and encourage the pastor to take his/her full allotment of vacation time each year and to not return from vacation to perform funerals, etc. whenever possible. Help the pastor arrange for pastoral care coverage while he/she is on vacation.
- Encourage your pastor In their self-care and soul-care. The next CBAC pastors retreat is Nov. 13-16.
- Avoid scheduling church meetings or activities requiring the pastor’s presence more than two nights a week.
- Your pastor is a spiritual leader and needs time to be with God.
- Remember important milestones and dates in the life of your pastor and family.
- Remembering that the way we treat our spiritual leaders reflects on our love and obedience to God.
- Celebrate Pastor Appreciation Month – Pick a Sunday in October and thank them publicly!
