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Pastor Appreciation Month


On this page...

  • Pastor Appreciation Prayer (with Blessing)

  • Scripture verses about appreciating Pastors and leaders

  • Humor: Videos, Comics, Jokes

  • Ideas on How to Honor our Pastors

  • Clergy Issues (pastoral roles, living in a parsonage, challenges for the clergy family, ministry salary...)


Pastor Appreciation Prayer (with Blessing)
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Almighty and ever-gracious God,
We give you thanks for (Pastor/Rev/Father/Rev. Mother) ________.
You have appointed him/her to be our Shepherd;
to minister to our spiritual needs
to reach the lost souls in our community
to prayerfully guide and tend to our church/fellowship.

We realize that the tasks of a pastor/spiritual leader are demanding
His/her job is never done.
S/he listens, cares, and prays for us, encourages and teaches us
and reaches out to those in need of help and salvation.
We give you thanks, o Lord, for our pastor.

(For the Blessing part of the payer, you may want to ask the people or
a representative to lay hands on him/her and the family members)

On this day we pray that you would strengthen and empower our him/her.
We pray that you would bless him/her and his family,
and that you would keep them out of harm's way.

May you keep him/her from temptations and negativity.
May the joy of the Lord always remain in his/her heart;
Amen.


 

 Scripture verses about appreciating pastors and leaders:
 

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves

1 Timothy 5:17

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

2 Timothy 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

1 Corinthians 9:14

In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

2 Timothy 4:2 

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Hebrews 13:17 

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

 

 

 

 

Pastor Appreciation Humor:

Funny Pictures:

[ enlarge these pictures and see more funny church pictures ]
 

 

 


Select Jokes for Pastor Appreciation Month:
 

After the church service a little boy told the pastor, "When I grow up, I'm going to give you some money." "Well, thank you," the pastor replied, "but why?" "Because my daddy says you're one of the poorest preachers we've ever had."

The pastor told the search committee, "If I am voted in as pastor of this church, I will work hard to bring us into the 20th century." Someone spoke up, " Uh, Preacher, don't you mean the 21st century?" The pastor replied, " Let's take it one century at a time."

Good News and Bad News For a Pastor

Good News: You baptized seven people today in the river. Bad News: You lost two of them in the swift current.

Good News: The Women's Guild voted to send you a get-well card. Bad News: The vote passed by 31-30.

Good News: The Elder Board accepted your job description the way you wrote it. Bad News: They were so inspired by it, they also formed a search committee to find somebody capable of filling the position.

Good News: You finally found a choir director who approaches things exactly the same way you do. Bad News: The choir mutinied.

Good News: Mrs. Jones is wild about your sermons. Bad News: Mrs. Jones is also wild about the "Gong Show," "Beavis and Butthead" and "Texas Chain Saw Massacre."

Good News: Your women's softball team finally won a game. Bad News: They beat your men's softball team.

Good News: The trustees finally voted to add more church parking. Bad News: They are going to blacktop the front lawn of your parsonage.

Good News: Church attendance rose dramatically the last three weeks. Bad News: You were on vacation.

Good News: Your deacons want to send you to the Holy Land. Bad News: They are stalling until the next war.

Good News: Your biggest critic just left your church. Bad News: He has been appointed the Head Bishop of your denomination.

Good News: The youth in your church come to your house for a surprise visit. Bad News: It's in the middle of the night and they are armed with toilet paper and shaving cream to "decorate" your house.

 

 

 

Ideas on How to Honor our Pastors

Gift Ideas:

  • Do NOT give your pastor a bible (unless s/he asks for one; s/he likely already has a whole bookcase full of bibles and songbooks)

  • A subscription to his/her favorite magazine

  • A gift certificate for his/her favorite restaurant

  • A gym / health club membership

  • a spa day or free massage

  • A date night (e.g. dinner/show) inclusive baby-sitting

  • A week-end getaway, fully paid

  • Artwork with engraving

  • Love offering

  • A new car =)
     

Joke gifts:
 

  • A superman/woman cape (with Pastor's Initials)

  • A watch with alarm (to keep sermons short)

  • A subscription to DesperatePreacher.com =)


Other ways to honor your pastor:

  • Submit to local press an article on how you appreciate your pastor

  • Grant him/her a sabbatical (1-12 month) for personal or professional pursuits

  • A certificate and/or plaque honoring their years of service

  • A huge card signed by everybody in the parish

  • A building / room named after the pastor (e.g. Miller chapel, Snyder Hall, Smith Library)

  • Life-time Pastor Emeritus status

     

 

Clergy Issues
Articles provided by DesperatePreacher.com