By Mark A. Taylor
“If they have a day for groundhogs, there ought to be a day for ministers!”
That was the statement 13 years ago by Jerry Frear Jr. who was talking with some other church members about how they could help their ministers. From his concern has grown a national celebration called Clergy Appreciation Month (CAM for short), observed in October of each year.
Kathy Widenhouse, writing in Focus on the Family magazine, reported pollster George Barna’s finding that “pastors are the single most occupationally frustrated professionals in America.” This week’s issue suggests several ways you can encourage those on your congregation’s ministerial staff. Besides our writers’ through the year ideas, why not do something special during Clergy Appreciation Month? Here are several possibilities:
Activate your leaders. Show this issue of Christian Standard to leaders at your church and tell them you believe your ministers deserve some encouragement. Refer them to www.family.org/pastor/cam, a page from Focus on the Family that suggests reasons for a CAM at your church. Included on the site is a link to the free downloadable resource Clergy Appreciation Month Planning Guide, which lists step by step instructions for a churchwide celebration.
But you need not wait for the whole church to do something. You can express your own appreciation to your minister in any one of several ways.
Write a note. Be specific when you write each of the ministers on your church staff. Tell about a lesson or sermon that has changed you, a program that your family has particularly enjoyed, a ministry that helped your spouse or your child or a friend.
Thank the spouse. This is also a good time to write the minister’s spouse. Everyone knows good ministers spend much more than 40 hours a week “on the job.” While your minister is counseling a runaway teenager or waiting with church members in an emergency room, his family is trying to meet everyday responsibilities at home. You have been blessed from that support. Now’s a good time to say so.
Send a gift. Maybe your preacher would appreciate tickets to a game or a set of golf balls. Maybe your Christian education director would like video rental coupons or a gift certificate to a spa. Maybe your youth minister would enjoy your best homecooked meal or a box of chocolates.
Or you might donate to your minister’s favorite cause. Send a gift to the Christian college where he graduated or where he’s a trustee. Spearhead an offering for the missionary he has visited or supported. Donate to the agency in town where he’s volunteered.
Whatever your gift, make sure you accompany it with a “thank you” to your minister. Vocational Christian workers expect to live a life of selfless giving. But like all of us, they need to know their sacrifice is making a difference. Clergy Appreciation Month is the perfect opportunity for you to tell them!
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