One of the essential components of a healthy children’s ministry is a good relationship with the pastor and or pastors of your church. Whether you serve as a Sunday School teacher, a children’s ministry director, or a nursery worker, it is imperative that servants in any capacity work together to support the leaders whom God has appointed for the local church body.
Pastors in today’s society do not have an easy job, but I suppose they never did. Scripture is clear as to a pastor’s specific responsibilities: administration, teaching the Word of God, shepherding, praying, counseling, making disciples, evangelism, disciplining, and resolving conflict. Add to that weddings and funerals, community service, and visitations and you have a hefty work load. It doesn’t help that pastors have to deal with people either – sinners at heart, saved by the unfathomable grace of God.
October 11th is Pastor Appreciation Day. It is a day set aside to acknowledge and honor the pastor and/or pastors in our midst. I think that it would only be fitting to really celebrate our leaders on this particular day. However, I’m not quite certain that a day is enough.
My father in law happens to be the pastor of our church, and he has been for 30 some years. I see first-hand the incredible workload that he has. He prays with people prior to their 5 am surgeries, he counsels couples on the verge of divorce, he prepares messages through in-depth Bible study, and he is involved with many of the church’s outreach programs. Now I am certain that he wouldn’t have it any other way. He loves serving God in these capacities. However, sometimes he looks tired and discouraged. And I’m sure that he is not alone.
What if we did something marvelous to recognize our pastors more than one day a year? What if we made concerted efforts throughout the entire year to support our leaders? What would that do to encourage these men of God? Would our churches look different because our pastors felt respected and loved and supported?
Hebrews 13:7 encourages us to, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” On October 11th, I sincerely hope that the pastors of our churches feel recognized for their hard work. However, maybe this year, we can each step it up a notch and remember our leaders on a more regular basis.
5 Ways To Show Pastor Appreciation Every Day
Here are five practical ways that we can honor our pastors, through children’s ministries, every day of the year:
1. Communicate: Talk with your pastor about his vision for the children’s ministry. Make certain that you are on the same page. Ask for suggestions. Listen. Be open to accept feedback. Don’t burden your pastor with every problem that arises, but make sure that he is aware of any significant concerns. Thank him for his support of your programs.
2. Involve: Your pastor’s schedule will probably be a full one. However, don’t assume that he won’t have time to be involved in a particular aspect of the children’s ministry. Sometimes, pastors are brought in to handle only problems. It would be a delight if pastors could be brought in for the silly, fun, and ridiculous aspects of children’s ministry as well.
3. Respect: Honor your pastor by respecting him in the confines of your own home, in your classrooms, and in your communities. Speak highly of him and encourage the children in your ministry to do that as well. Demonstrate that respect through the hard work and humility of your own service to God.
4. Encourage: On a regular basis, write a thank you to your pastor for his work. Send a passage of scripture. Purchase him a gift card so that he can treat his wife to a special dinner out. Create something memorable like a quilt of thanks. Have the children in your ministries record their own unique messages or artwork in a scrapbook. Whatever it is, be creative and be generous!
5. Support: We can support our pastors by serving God for His glory and by working together as a team. If everyone pulls their weight, the burden of our pastors will be lifted. We can also support our pastors through the discipline of prayer. Make prayer for your pastor a regular part of your daily devotions.
How Do You Show Appreciation For Your Pastor?
What are some other ways that we can remember our leaders throughout the year? How has your church or children’s ministry honored your pastor in the past? Leave your comments below.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thought we might honor pastor every Sunday for the month of October using the children. What do you think?
We have a pastor that is really easy to love and respect. The children really get along well with him and he makes them all feel very special. Last Wednesday, during our children’s activity time, each child was handed a stack of post-it notes. The question was ‘What do you like best about Pastor Gary’? The kids were given 30 seconds to write their answers (one answer per post-it) and use as many post-its as they could during that time. When finished, the kids took the post-its and placed them all over his pickup. HE LOVED IT!! He told the kids he was going to read each one and save them forever. It was a fun way to let him know they cared.
Loretta and Julie-
Great ideas and thoughts! Your pastors will feel much loved and appreciated! Thanks for sharing:)
Kristin
One year we had 31 people (or couples) sign up for a different day of October. On their day they were to call the Pastor with word of encouragement, or send a note to arrive on their day, or take Pastor out to lunch, or deliver dinner for Pastor’s family, etc etc. Each could choose a way to encourage him in their own way. It took over a week for our Pastor to figure it out. Blessings abounded in many directions. He was most touched in the fact that everyone who participated let him know they were praying for him and his family. It was a great month!!
Our church is still in the process of doing for our Pastor this month. I took all the sunday school classes and paired them up two at a time and each sunday we will having something small but uplifting for the pastor (and his wife). For instance last sunday, our preschoolers and early school grades all wrote or drawed thank you cards, most of our kids since at that age cant write drew heart picture cards that showed love for the pastor and then they stood in front of the pastor and sang a song. This sunday the next two older kids classes will be making monkey bread (some small dessert) and will hand out during sunday school and then will also write cards and sing a song for the pastor. The older groups will put together a basket full of “stuff” and another group will get certificates from their favorite restuarants. The teenagers will do a skit and present cards and poems. This way everyone can be involved. If there are any individuals that would rather do this on thier own then this can be done also.
Love these ideas also. Thank you so much for sharing them! I hope and pray our pastors receive so many blessings this month.
Thank you for giving so many great ideas
I’m a bible teacher for children in a spanish church
i’m new to this website – but love it.
Thank you all
A couple of weeks ago, the kids in our children’s ministry made a picture collage for the pastor. We had all the kids sign their names on card stock and put that in a couple of the openings, added scripture in one opening and pictures of some children’s ministry activities in the rest. The kids presented it to Pastor Gary during our Sunday morning service along with a big hug before going to Children’s Church. I hope everyone is blessed with a pastor as awesome as ours!! We ALL love having him!!
There are great ideas posted here!! As far as our children’s ministry, we plan to use these ideas (some in kid-size portions) all year. Thanks for sharing.
Rose, I hope you enjoy this site as much as I have. It has been my favorite and I can’t wait to see what is in the weekly email.