Because Dave Miller has a conflict of interest and I don’t ((I am retired, stress-free, and can shoot from the blogging hip), I’ll help him out on Pastor Appreciation Month.
On our authoritative denominational calendar October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Here are some resources, annotated:
10 Ideas for Pastor Appreciation Month. OK, so LifeWay sells stuff; however, if you get your pastor a customized T-shirt (#2 on LifeWay’s idea list) and it doesn’t have a few hundred dollar bills tucked inside, you will not be my friend any more. T-shirt only is tacky, tacky, tacky.
Pastor Appreciation opportunities available. This article begins with, “Imagine if pastors received the same support and accolades reserved for college football coaches.” Yeah, imagine. My team’s head football coach (Mark Richt) will make $333k this month. They are playing Alabama whose coach will make more than double that. But then, Richt and Saban sell ten of millions in tickets, donations, and merchandise. I suspect your pastor doesn’t generate that kind of revenue. There are several other doable ideas in this NAMB article.
An extra touch for Pastor Appreciation Month. This article suggests doing something for the Pastor’s wife. Good idea. Do it. The author suggests a “Love Notes Flash Mob” among other things. There may be a generation gap in this idea. Several other good ideas are offered.
How about a month off? My humble suggestion. After a period of time, five years or so, give your pastor a sabbatical. Even a month away from the pulpit would be refreshing and may avoid a crash-and-burn scenario in his ministry. Of course, if you tell him you’ve got a red hot whippersnapper replacing him in the pulpit for the month he may feel threatened.
Every pastor needs some concrete expressions of appreciation. Such may or may not be monetary but must be concrete. Whether or not your church chooses to do such things a certain month or not, see to it that your pastor doesn’t have a deficit in this area.
