Pastor Appreciation Month in October is quickly approaching. The National Association of Evangelicals offers an Easy as 1-2-3 Bless Your Pastor program to help churches with ideas on how to bless their pastor,
October isn’t the only time a church can celebrate their pastor, and the association has many tools to help churches encourage and equip Christians to tangibly show and share God’s love with their pastor and church staff year-round.
“Many Christians don’t realize how difficult and demanding it is to be a pastor,” said Brian Kluth, national spokesperson for NAE Financial Health and Bless Your Pastor. “Pastors are concerned for the needs of the families in the church, as well as their own family. And they often face conflict and criticism while serving their church 50 to 70 hours per week. Bless Your Pastor is an opportunity to show you care.”
The Bless Your Pastor program encourages, equips and empowers Christians and churches to prepare for Pastor Appreciation Month. Since 2019, more than 3,000 churches have participated in Bless Your Pastor, and more than $1.8 million in appreciation offerings and gift cards have been distributed to pastors and church staff members as part of the initiative.
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This year, when churches follow the Bless Your Pastor Easy as 1-2-3 program, the association will send their senior pastor access to free and discounted retreat and vacation opportunities across the country, including an opportunity for all pastors at the church to apply for $350 scholarships to attend a Family Life Weekend to Remember Marriage Retreat.
The association also provides grant-funded online training videos for pastors and church boards through partnerships with 15 national denominations. In the next year, these training videos are scheduled to be translated into other languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Korean and others.
Kluth has served within the financial health and generosity space for more than 40 years, written several generosity books and resources, and is a frequent media guest. Kluth learned that God has many ways to care for pastors through their congregation when his first wife went through an eight-year cancer journey. This experience inspired him write the list of “50 Creative Ways to Bless Your Pastor and Staff” and help lead this movement.
More information is available at www.blessyourpastor.org
–Dwight Widama | Metro Voice