Pastor Appreciation Month

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).

 

Over the years I have made a career out of studying the most challenging management roles out there. After all of that I am now convinced the two most difficult jobs in the world are these—one, to be President of the United States, and two, to be the leader a church. (Leadership guru Peter Drucker)

 

(From Focus on the Family)

· 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.

· I 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.

· In the spirit of Pastor Appreciation Month, Focus has launched the Focused Pastor. The Focused Pastor is an online dashboard where church leaders can access entire libraries of FREE, proven tools designed to help them manage their churches more effectively.  Might be a resource you could share with your Pastor.  A couple of key points on the website:

· There is a need for change in the perception of being a pastor to be a positive perception

· Our goal is that every pastor (including staff ministers) and his or her family would feel appreciated by those they serve. To assist congregations in this process, we have developed a planning guide (in both English and Spanish) intended to facilitate and publicize this time of celebration. We also attempt to promote the concept ourselves each year through radio, newspapers, magazines and any other means at our disposal.

In our second week: 

 

Pastor’s Wives Helps from Jessie Minassian author and speaker

· A card

· Offer babysitting

· Send flowers

· Clean her house

· Send her on a romantic getaway with her husband

· Give her a genuine “thank you”

Ideas from Kristine Ensor, freelance writer:

1.    Write meaningful cards and messages

2.    Place an ad celebrating them

3.    Have children make ‘thank you’ art projects and gifts

4.    Hold a text event

5.    Surprise the pastors with a family trip

6.    Add a gift tree

7.    Give them a day off

8.    Home repair projects

9.    Create a video

10.             Help them minister to the community

To reach Tom Russell, go to https://www.heritagechristiancounselingofmansfield.com.