{"id":369,"date":"2012-10-09T21:14:17","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T21:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/?p=369"},"modified":"2021-07-10T21:02:08","modified_gmt":"2021-07-10T21:02:08","slug":"celebrating-pastor-appreciation-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/2012\/10\/09\/celebrating-pastor-appreciation-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Pastor Appreciation Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0“<\/em>Clergy Appreciation Day<\/em> \u201c is always the second Sunday in October\u201d according to www.hallmark.com. This year, October 14, 2012, is the official date to honor pastors, priests, and ministers for their selfless commitment. Yet the entire month is dedicated to celebrating our clergy with this remembrance first being established in 1992.\u00a0There\u2019s even a Biblical reminder to honor those who care for our spiritual needs, \u201cAppreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness….”<\/p>\n

Of course, pastors and their spouses aren\u2019t perfect. But neither are any of us. However, they do have a special job, since the word pastor<\/em> can be interchanged with the Old Testament title, \u201cshepherd,\u201d<\/em> and congregants are analogous to sheep. An experienced farmer and Bible teacher once told me that sheep can be incredibly stupid animals, which need a shepherd to lead them. Apparently, if a sheep gets turned upside down in a ditch filled with shallow water, they\u2019ll drown simply because they don\u2019t know enough to turn over. Sheep can also be prey for an attacking predator. Due to their inability to protect themselves, they could be easily killed without a shepherd\u2019s protection.<\/p>\n

Therefore, \u201cwhy\u201d congregations celebrate Clergy Appreciation Month<\/em> can be explained by the countless stories of pastors who have acted as a protector and a rescuer. Maybe, it was a midnight vigil at the bedside of an ill parishioner, walking alongside a family experiencing the loss of a loved one, or listening as a hurting couple tries to rekindle the smoldering embers of a broken marriage. However, needy congregants can forget that their busy minister often has a marriage of his or her own with flames that also need stoking.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s commendable that many pastors are willing to selflessly visit the sick in the hospital, offer endless hours of support to grieving people, or to respond to a church emergency when the phone rings unexpectedly at 3.a.m. However, these sacrificial tasks can result in their absence at the family dinner table or their children\u2019s school or sports events. In addition, minister\u2019s hectic schedules can necessitate their mates to shoulder the majority of the household responsibilities alone.<\/p>\n

Rev. Jane Madden, president of Ohio’s Shelby County Ministerial Association agrees that those married to clergy sacrifice a great deal. \u201cSo often our spouses give up time with us, so we can do what God has called to do,\u201d she said. Rev. Madden is the associate pastor of nurture and care at the Sidney<\/em>First<\/em>United<\/em>Methodist<\/em>Church<\/em>. <\/em>\u00a0She is also an organist there. The 69-year-old retired elementary music teacher went into the ministry as a second calling joining the Sidney First UMC<\/em> staff in 2007.<\/p>\n

As for concrete ways of showing clergy appreciation, Rev. Madden suggests, \u201cTaking them out to lunch, [or if a congregant has] a cabin on the lake or something like that, they could offer that to the pastor and their spouse [for a getaway.] Gift certificates [for a meal out] would be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

She believes a simple card would be appreciated, too. \u201cI know in this day and age everything is texting or email, but a handwritten note means so much more,\u201d said Madden. She also suggests showing your caring by insisting that your clergy take time off, \u201cIf the congregation would make sure their pastor is taking a day off and having a Sabbath rest at some point during the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Jane Madden not only in October, but all year long, \u201cFor myself and the other pastors that I have spoken to, the best thing the church people can do is to attend church and to get involved in the mission program in church, and be committed to their spiritual journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pastor David Clem of Ohio’s\u00a0Spring Creek Christian Church shares her opinion, \u201cThe greatest gift any pastor can receive is to see members of their flock maturing in faith and actively engaged in doing the Lord\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Pastors Madden and Clem, most clergy and their mates are compassionate educated men and women who care deeply about those they oversee. During October, let\u2019s especially remember to show gratitude to these individuals who give so much of their lives to minister to others.<\/p>\n

Another way to do this is simply by praying, because the president of the Ministerial Association says that pastors would greatly appreciate this gift all year long. She explained, \u201cPrayers lift us up and encourage us \u2026just encouraging to know that people are praying for you as you are doing God\u2019s work.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Christina Ryan Claypool is an award winning journalist and inspirational speaker. <\/em>Contact her through her Website at www.christinaryanclaypool.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0“Clergy Appreciation Day \u201c is always the second Sunday in October\u201d according to www.hallmark.com. This year, October 14, 2012, is the official date to honor pastors, priests, and ministers for their selfless commitment. Yet the entire month is dedicated to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[46,90,98,99,94,95,92,47,96,24,91,97,93],"class_list":["post-369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-spiritual-path-on-the-road-less-traveled","tag-church","tag-clergy-appreciation","tag-disciple","tag-evangelism","tag-gift","tag-hallmark","tag-minister","tag-ministry","tag-october","tag-pastor","tag-pastor-appreciation","tag-pastor-appreciation-month","tag-sabbath"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1778,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions\/1778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}