5 Ways to Thank Your Pastor

While we should always try to appreciate our pastors every day , October has been "officially" declared as Pastors' Appreciation Month. We take some time to be extra appreciative of what they do for us and the church! Here are some ways to express your gratitude over the next few days (and beyond!).

Pray for them.

#PrayForYourPastor

Pray for their relationship with their families.

Pray that they have a "loving, encouraging and equipping role to their family" and that this becomes part of their testimony to their churches.

Sometimes we think that because they are our spiritual leaders, we don't need to pray for them. The truth is we actually need to pray for them all the more! Set aside a time each day where you will just lift them up in prayer. You can even create an alarm on your phone so you won't forget. Here are some things you can pray about.

Write them an actual letter.

Yes, you can always email them a letter of appreciation, but there's something really special about sending them a handwritten letter and actually snail-mailing them (yes kids, there are still post offices). If you're the artistic type, you can even add some calligraphy or illustrations or any other creative add-ons. But the most important part of course are your heartfelt words.

Make a thank you video.

It doesn't have to be an expensive, polished production. You can just use your phone to interview other people in your church and compile pictures or videos of your pastor. Put them together, add some dramatic or fun background music, and you have yourself a nice, simple thank you video. You can even show it during the service so other people will also appreciate it.

Set up a surprise date with their spouse and/or family.

One of the things that busy pastors are in need of is quality time with their spouse. You can set up a small date for them at the church or a nearby restaurant. If they have young children, you can volunteer to baby-sit them while they're on a date. It doesn't have to be a fancy date. The important thing is that they will have time with each other.

Get them books for personal growth or for the ministry.

It's not surprising that we're suggesting this right? We have a lot of Bibles and books that they will find useful either for their own spiritual nourishment or to help them with their ministry. Click here for some of our recommendations.

And to help you get that gift for them, from October 14 to 31, 2018, we have a Pastors Appreciation sale at all our OMF Lit and Passages Bookshops and our online store, passagesbooks.com. Click here for all the other details.