LIVING OUT LOUD: Clergy Appreciation Month
By Rev. Renita Green, Columnist
In 1992, a group of clergy decided to pick a day to celebrate the work of faith leaders. The second Sunday in October is the designated “day” for clergy appreciation. It is common in our tradition to have a pastor’s appreciation celebration that ranges from intimate gatherings to week-long activities. While the celebration is appreciated, here are five practical ways to appreciate your pastor year-round that are more meaningful than a one-time event.
Pray for your pastor. Pick a day of the week and particularly pray for your pastor. Send your pastor a note, text, email, inbox, or something letting them know that you prayed.
Show up. Most pastors are bi-vocational. We spend a lot of time preparing sermons, Bible studies, and board meetings. It is so encouraging when people are present and ready to engage the learning and work of Kingdom-building.
Provide sermon or study feedback. It is helpful to hear how a particular insight has helped you with something in your life. A quick communication sharing an “ah-ha” moment or even an “ouch” is encouraging. It is also exciting for a pastor to be asked questions that clarify information or expand understanding.
Encourage sabbatical time. Everyone needs daily sabbatical time to refresh, reflect, and regroup. Encourage your pastor to take this much-needed time. If they cannot take one-seventh of their week, encourage time throughout the week. One way of encouraging is to not plan every evening and every weekend full of church activities. It is so hard to continue churching on Sunday afternoon when the week has already been long and intense.
Use your skills to reduce the pastor’s extra work. Pastors who lead small-membership churches are expected to do a lot more with less support. One example is bulletins. Church members love having bulletins but few have the ability, skill, or technology to produce them. Many small-membership church pastors spend at least an hour or more on the bulletin and print them at their own expense. At my church, I can email the bulletin to our local print place, ask someone to pick them up, and the church is billed at the end of the month. This is extremely helpful.
There may be a task that you can do well (please don’t volunteer to do something that you cannot do) that would be helpful if the pastor just didn’t have to do it. A trick to getting a pastor to say “yes” to your help is to ask like this, “I see that you are (making the bulletins every week) and I would like to help. Here’s a sample of the work I can do. This is the time frame I have to be able to help. Will you let me serve this way?” This is always better than simply asking, “How can I help?” or “What do you need me to do?”
When planning a pastor’s appreciation celebration, keep in mind the pastor’s personality, schedule, family, interests, and such. Consider offering something to the pastor that would be enjoyable and helpful. Spa days; a day trip to a winery; and tickets to the movies, theater, sporting events, or a concert are all appreciated gifts. Also, consider surprise gifts. For example, go to your pastor’s barber and pay for their next haircut. Random and anonymous gifts are also treasured.
Don’t be afraid to be creative and avoid the norms! Remember, on-going and consistent acts of appreciation provide the balance, encouragement, and excitement pastors need to continue the day-in-day-out work of holding up a congregation.
The Rev. Renita Marie Green, M.Div., has served as a pastor in the AME Church for the past 16 years. Pastor Renita has contributed writings to the Huffington Post, The Christian Recorder, CNN, St. Louis American, and the local patch.com blog site. Her favorite role in life is being a mom to Chrissi and Darren (Danielle).
