We are on week 3 of our pastor appreciation challenge, in honor of pastor appreciation month.
I spent last fifteen years at a small church that tended to struggle financially. We started with a pastoral team of four pastors and their wives. Those numbers gradually dwindled, as the church couldn't support four full-time salaries.
Our head pastor took on extra jobs when the church couldn't support his family. Talk about humility, he did whatever it took to continue pastoring his church and providing for his family.
Despite having three or four jobs at a time, he showed up at the hospital whenever we needed him to, came to our home to pray with us, even gave us rides to the airport. He and his wife met with so many people, often at coffee shops, and I always wondered how costly those meetings were for them.
Statistics tell us many pastors feel the pressure of not being able to support their family from their income as pastors.
For this week's challenge, I want you to show your appreciation for your pastor, by treating them to lunch. Buy a gift card to your favorite restaurant. (Or the best restaurant you can afford.) Give your pastor the gift card this Sunday and let them know you'd like them to enjoy a meal on you. (If you can't spring for a meal, buy them a coffee instead.)
Pastors are slow to splurge on a nice meal, knowing that their income comes from their congregants.
If your church doesn't struggle financially, that is an amazing blessing, but even when money isn't tight everyone enjoys a free meal! A meal on you is a great gift of appreciation for a pastor who, I guarantee, has missed many a meal when pastoral duty called unexpectedly.
If you complete this challenge, let us know in the comments below.
Amy Noel Green is a conference and keynote speaker. She is a writer and game designer who has received international press attention for her work on the video game about her son Joel, That Dragon, Cancer.
