10 Things You Could Do Tomorrow to Encourage Your Pastor

Want a greater church? The more encouraged your pastor is, the greater your church – it really is that simple. So why not take a tiny bit of time and effort and encourage your pastor this weekend?

1. Don’t bring your pastor a cake. I know that’s a lovely thought, but he has had enough cake. Bring something a bit healthier if you want to feed him!
2. Don’t ever get upset when your pastor is going to retreats and conferences – you have no idea how much they feed and bless him.  If you think your pastor is feeding you and giving out on average fifty Sundays a year, that’s 17 days at conferences with 3 messages a day just for him to break even with the energy that comes from preparing a message and the energy from receiving and hearing a great message.
3. Make sure your pastor has a mentor (someone who has gone further in ministry than him, not just someone with a title or grey hair). If he doesn’t, talk to him about it, and help and pray until he finds one.
4. If your pastor is single, do not try and set them up with people you know. Let them have privacy in their dating life!
5. Make sure the church is paying for further education for your pastor. We should all be in continuing education, and pastors are no exception.
6. Be nice to the pastor’s wife and children, and don’t have unreasonable demands on them to be super-Christians!
7. If there is something the pastor has done that has upset you or offended you, give them the benefit of the doubt – at least enough to speak to them in person before you disappear.
8. Encourage your pastor to be physically active – pastoring is a very sedentary job, pastors need time each week to be active – running, boxing, lifting, whatever it is.
9. Realize that the word “social” doesn’t mean the same for a pastor. You might be on social media to be social, but the pastor can get Facebook messages at midnight asking for help, people criticizing the church on Twitter, and so on. Be kind!  And at a church “social” event, you are relaxing and having fun, trust me – your pastor may be putting on the pastor hat at any moment, without any notice and suddenly be working at full force!  Encourage your pastor to have friends outside of the church so he can have a social time without having to wear the pastor hat for a few hours every so often.
10. Most importantly, pray for your pastor and his family, and let him know that you are praying for them.