If you have yet to appreciate your pastor, minister or other clergy people, you have one week left. October is Clergy Appreciation Month, a time when parishioners have the opportunity to recognize the contribution their leader makes in their life and community. This of course should be done year-round but it is nice to have a special time of the year that focuses specifically on them and their ministry they provide.
“Clergy Appreciation Month is not meant just to glamorize the position of a pastor or staff person, but it is to call to the attention of the American public the contribution their spiritual leaders make in our society, says H.B. London Jr., vice president of Pastoral Ministries at Focus on the Family.
According to statistics compiled by Life-Line For Pastors, a publication of Maranatha Life, 80 percent of North American pastors feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors; 70 percent of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant, or mentor; 90 percent say the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people; and hundreds of pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.
So take some time to not only appreciate but encourage those who minister to you. You can do this in a variety of ways – a written note, a word of thanks, a promise to pray for them, a gift card, or a donation. Personally, I like to give my pastor and his wife a thank you card along with a gift certificate of some sort.
Clergy Appreciation Month started off as an idea that London had discussed on a radio broadcast in 1991. One year later, Under His Wing Ministries marked the first Pastor’s Appreciation Day after pursuing a similar idea presented by its executive director, Jerry Frear, who lobbied for state declarations from 10 different states – 8 of which responded.
So, if you haven’t acted yet, you have just a few more days. Oh, and if the next time you will see your ministers is this coming Sunday which is November 2nd, don’t let that stop you from saying thanks and providing some encouragement.
