Ten Ways to Appreciate
Your Pastor

By Shane Bennett

How are your plans coming together for Pastor Appreciation Month in October? You have a pastor or two, right? And you appreciate them? So, what are you waiting for?

Missions mobilizers ask a lot of our pastors…

• Preach about the Great Commission.
• Read these missions books.
• Raise the missions budget.
• Make our thing the main thing.
• Go to Pakistan for a month with me!

I think we can agree: it’s time to give back a little.

Paul, in 1 Timothy 5:17, encourages us in this. “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.”

Likewise, the author of Hebrew advises, “Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s Word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).

Maybe you think pastors should be appreciated all year long and Pastor Appreciation Month is simply a retail gimmick designed to pad the coffers of greeting card companies and Christian book sellers. You may be right. It seems to have originated with Focus on the Family in 1992, and they clearly sell Christian books.

But personally, I can use a little reminder, a focal point for expressing gratitude to my spiritual leaders. And Lifeway, more of a stuff-selling company than Focus, doesn’t mention buying stuff until halfway down their list of gift ideas for Pastor Appreciation month.

If this little reminder has caught you flat-footed, don’t worry. I have a list of ideas for you to consider for your pastor.

Top Ten Pastor Appreciation Gifts

1. Live peacefully with each other.

Paul’s no dummy! On the tail of his admonishment to the Thessalonians to hold their leaders in high regard, he tells them to “live in peace with each other”! Hands down this is the best thing we can give our pastors!

2. Write a thank-you letter.

Collect pen and paper, envelope, and stamp. You’ll feel quaint and nostalgic, but the effect will be intense. Thank your leaders in general for the time they spend, the effort they make. Thank them specifically for ways their lives have blessed you. The more specific, the better.

3. Take out a thank-you ad in the local paper.

This might not work if your local paper is the LA Times, but if you have neighborhood rag, a big, splashy Thank You! might be cool. If you submit artwork consisting of everyone’s signatures, even better.

4. Give them a custom bobble-head doll.

Oh, yeah, this is a thing.

5. Send them to a conference.

Google “pastor’s conference” or ask around. Let them choose from a selection of three or four, then take care of the details. If you send their spouse along, you’ll get triple the effect for double the price!

6. Give them a shot at ax throwing.

A gift certificate to a local ax throwing venue, like the one owned by my friend in lovely Bluffton, Indiana. can be a great stress reliever! If you’re feeling cheeky, include a copy of the church photo directory with your presentation.

7. Offer them baby sitting or elder care.

Whether your pastor’s date night preferences run to the latest Kendrick Brothers film, food adventures, or getting fresh ink, someone probably needs to watch the kids. Or perhaps stay with an elderly parent. A thank-you card bearing a promise of a free night of babysitting might be a home run.

8. Appreciate their spouse.

Give some kind words in a simple card. A fistful of Kohl’s Cash. Jerky of the Month subscription. Whatever works. Many pastors could only hope for half their productivity if it weren’t for their spouses. Appreciate the pastor by appreciating their partner.

9. Give them time with Tom.

N.T. Wright, the most popular British Christian scholar (double-initialed or otherwise) since C.S. Lewis, has begun to offer courses online! Nothing says thank you like a gift of time with Tom. If your pastor doesn’t care for Dr. Wright, you may want to look for another pastor. (Just kidding. Mostly.)

10. Pray for them.

I’d like to camp on this one for a bit. Praying for your pastor has some distinct hidden benefits. It’s free, for instance. And as long as you do it privately, there’s no concern for whether they liked the gift or not!

Seriously though, there may not be a better gift to give your pastor, unless it’s #1 above. Ed Stetzer put this way:

“What better way is there for you to uplift your pastors and church leaders than through approaching the throne of grace with confidence?

“The Lord hears the prayers of his people, and the Lord cares for the leaders of his people. Take time regularly, each day even, to pray for the men and women on your church staff. Pray for their emotional well-being, their physical strength, their spiritual wellness, and any specific needs you know. This is definitely the simplest and perhaps most impactful way you can support your church leaders.”

What to Pray

A pastor friend of mine says this is what he’d like his church to be continually praying for him:

• For my sermon preparation every week. Unless God opens my mind to his Word, I’m dead in the water.
• For wisdom! We need God’s guidance to lead his people, his church.
• To finish well and finish strong. Too many men are failing and falling out of ministry.
• For my wife and kiddos, that my marriage would be strong and that my kids would love the Lord their God with all their heart soul mind and strength! They get this right, everything else will take care of itself!

You likely know additional, specific ways to pray for your pastor and church staff. Sometimes the trick is actually doing it.

This October I plan to ask for some Sunday morning platform time in which we’ll invite the church to gather around our pastor and his wife to pray for them. Our relatively diminutive size is an advantage in this context. We’ll actually pass a mic around and let whoever wishes to lift up a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving. The size of your fellowship might prevent that.

Wall of Prayer

I also love this prayer wall hanging at the back of one of the coolest churches in Southern California, a region replete with cool churches.

I’d love to see this on the wall of my church, filled with handwritten prayers for our pastor from fellow parishioners. Can you see your pastor and staff encouraged as they pull out and read the prayers of their people?

Prayer Calendar

Finally, I’d like to offer you this simple prayer calendar for our pastors and their families this October. I’m planning to make it available to my friends at church and invite you to print it out, slip in it the bulletin, post it around your fellowship, and share it as widely as you find useful.

Paul’s admonishes in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

Our obedience to this scripture will bring blessing to our pastors. And really, they’re probably only going to go to Pakistan with you if they’re doing pretty good at home.