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What
is Clergy Appreciation Month? Clergy
Appreciation Month is a special time that congregations set aside
each year to honor their pastors and pastoral families for the hard
work, sacrificial dedication and multiple blessings provided by
these special people. It is typically scheduled in October, but can
be held at any time that is convenient for the church and the
community. It is also important to remember that appreciation and
affirmation of our spiritual leaders is appropriate throughout the
entire year. Why
is CAM necessary? The
nature of the service provided by pastors and their families is
unique. God has entrusted to them one of the most precious of
assignments — the spiritual well-being of His flock. When a pastor
becomes ineffective, the very souls of his or her parishioners are
endangered. When eternity is in the balance, we should all be
concerned. Pastors
and their families live under incredible pressures. Their lives are
played out in a fishbowl, with the entire congregation and community
watching their every move. They are expected to have ideal families,
to be perfect people, to always be available, to never be down and
to have all the answers we need to keep our own lives stable and
moving forward. Those are unrealistic expectations to place on
anyone, yet most of us are disappointed when a pastor becomes
overwhelmed, seems depressed, lets us down or completely burns out. That's
why God has instructed us to recognize His servants.
The
good news is that we can make a difference! Clergy Appreciation
Month is one way we can counter the negative erosion in the lives of
our spiritual leaders with the positive affirmation they need. What
can we do? There
are two ways to help your pastors and their families feel
appreciated. Figure
out what you can do personally
to recognize and honor these leaders. A simple card, an invitation
to lunch, a promise to pray for them or an offer to babysit, wash a
car or mow a lawn make wonderful statements. Share
the concept of CAM with others in your congregation
and challenge them to join you
in some kind of formal planning. You might consider a special
service of affirmation, a potluck event or planting a tree in their
honor. The sky is the limit! FOR
MORE IDEAS, VISIT: www.clergyappreciation.org Open Waters “Sometimes
you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it
yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.”1 Ever
thought about what it was like for early explorers to go out to sea?
To borrow a phrase, to boldly go where no one has gone before? It
intrigues me, because it is somewhat hard for me to imagine here in
the 21st
century. Let’s try it. First,
you would have tried to prepare yourself for the journey. Not
knowing where you will end up, you would want provisions for any
known possibility. Your clothing, transportation, food, seed, and
shelter would need to be chosen to cover a wide array of
possibilities. Even
with careful research, you are not likely to have provision s or the
equipment that might be required for every outcome. No one has been
there before you, so you are on your own. You can only rely on your
training, your preparation, your wits, your strength, your crew, and
your God. So off you go into the unknown. Your
departure may well be on a beautiful day, with the sea inviting and
welcoming. On such a day, it is harder to imagine that the trip will
have any troubles. Dolphins approach your ship as it reaches the
open waters and picks up speed, their voices in a chorus of
greeting. The wind has caught your sails, and you are well on your
way. What a day! Seems
pretty nice, doesn’t it? I bet that many journeys started like
that. The explorers could have congratulated themselves at that
point, deciding they had done well, so they could go back to the
comforts of home now. But they would not be explorers if that was
the case; they would be day-trippers. Explorers
go through unknown territory. They face dangers, troubles, and
death. They go through good days and bad. They experience great ups
and downs, and they know that both are part of their journey. Day-trippers
are less likely to make great discoveries, because the exploration
is not their main commitment. They are just visiting. They see
charted territory, the already known. You
know, many of us act like day-trippers in our faith. Rather than
going to new places, we are content with visiting faith and visiting
God. We go through life doing what we see those around us doing. If
a statement about faith does not match our own experience, we stay
away, preferring the familiar. If an idea seems counter to our
thought, we prefer to ignore it (or argue against it) instead of
exploring it. Author
Don Miller tells of having watched a jazz musician playing the
saxophone one night. Though Miller did not like jazz, he was able to
see the absolute love that the musician had for jazz. After that, he
liked jazz. A
spiritual explorer is really a truth seeker. If you are committed to
exploring, you see each day as an opportunity to connect with God in
new ways. You see each obstacle as a part of your journey, and you
hope that after getting through the trial you will have learned
something. You face the open sea, yearning for the endless
possibilities instead of staying in the harbor, tooling around in
circles. FUEL
2005 took place in July, and we spent a lot of time exploring the
Open Waters. We hope to inspire a generation of faithful explorers. Copyright 2006 - Church of God General Conference - All Rights Reserved |
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