Five Whys and Ways to Encourage Your Pastors
Invest in Your Pastors' Health Now and Later
The health of our communities is directly related to the health and effectiveness of our local church pastors.
And this is the time of year many pastors cast vision for the next year of ministry. Budgets need to be prepared, committees and teams need to be recruited, and programming needs to find a place on the calendar. We’re also approaching Pastor Appreciation Month, and these things are not unrelated.
The health of our communities is directly related to the health and effectiveness of our local church pastors.
I attended a church meeting recently where the pastor did some of this vision casting. This is a healthy church with good momentum, and the pastor’s words were inspiring. It was clear he has a genuine enthusiasm and fresh energy for the work ahead.
As he outlined his priorities, my mind began to wander back into his office.
How many months ago was he with alone with a whiteboard, his Bible, and the Lord praying about what was next? It’s likely he also had an excel spreadsheet that gave him current attendance and giving numbers. He knew where the church was, but what could the future look like? Are his aspirations from the Lord or are they just his personal ambition?
Is this walking by faith?
He had to have asked, “What does walking by faith mean at this moment for our church?” Should he challenge the congregation to believe God for the impossible, or should the goals be more reasonable and achievable? If he leads too aggressively, people can get overworked and discouraged. If he is too timid, people lose confidence and become distracted.
And then I began to imagine how many hours of meetings in the previous months were required before he could share these five bullet points with us. How many one-on-ones with key leaders? How many pastors and staff meetings? How many meetings with lay leaders? How many appointments with outside consultants, architects, and master planners?
Sundays always coming.
These meetings were in addition to the routine responsibilities of sermon preparation, team leadership, and pastoral care. This was in addition to the counseling appointments and one-off telephone calls from folks needing advice or encouragement. This was in addition to the quick errands he makes during the day to serve his wife and children.
Even after the initiatives are prayed over and game-planned, then the question is, How are we going to pull this off? How are we going to pay for this? Where are the leaders going to come from to see these plans through? Do we borrow money? What’s it going to take?
Do we have the staffing in place to get where we need to be? If not, how are we going to afford to add those roles to the budget? Are there current staff who are not a good fit for the future? How are we going to handle that with wisdom, grace, and courage?
How long will this take?
Oh, and how long is this going to take? If I present this plan, what’s a reasonable timeline that moves us forward fast enough to keep people engaged, but not so fast that we wear ourselves out in the work? Is this a five-year or ten-year vision? How quickly can we raise a kazillion dollars?
Finally, there’s the self-doubt. I’ll contend that pastors are generally confident people, but self-doubt creeps in with the question: Do I have what it takes to lead the church into this next season? Do I have the confidence of the people? Do I have the leadership chops to forge the path? Do I have the energy and vision?
This is just one snapshot of why your pastors need intentional, faithful encouragement.
Beyond Pastor Appreciation Month
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. There’s something really good about taking a month out of the year to remember those who labor on our behalf.
But what’s even better is building an ongoing culture of support and encouragement that creates pastoral health and fruitfulness in the lives and ministries of all of your pastors.
In addition to the Five Whys and Ways to Encourage Your Pastors tool at the top of this post, consider these four ways to improve the ongoing, everyday health of your pastoral team:
Empower and equip your Personnel Team, Board, or Church Council toward proactive, intentional support of your pastors.
In many churches, lay involvement with the pastoral staff only happens when there is a problem. So instead of reacting when trouble arises, include pastor health and fruitfulness as a first priority in the work of the responsible committee or team.
Develop a Prayer Team around your pastors.
Involve your pastors in identifying 5-10 trusted prayer warriors who will pray specifically, consistently, and quietly for your pastors. The pastors meet with this team on a regular basis, share appropriate prayer requests weekly or monthly, and follow up with progress reports along the way. This requires organization, but God uses these men and women of God to move mountains.
Share the ministry to free up pastors to serve in their calling.
In many church settings, it’s assumed that paid staff have the time to do whatever needs to be done at the church. If there’s an event, they can set up tables and chairs. If someone needs in the building on a Saturday, they have a key and can let them in. Pastors are not above any task, but one the greatest things a congregation can do to advance the ministry and encourage its pastors is to free up pastors to do what only they can do.
Adopt a zero-gossip policy.
When the spiritually mature among your congregation refuse to gossip or listen to gossip about your pastors, a culture of peace, unity, and fruitfulness emerges. When people complain, rather than agreeing or staying silent, and better response is, “Let me encourage you to talk directly to the pastor (or responsible party) about that.” When that happens on a consistent basis, trust goes up, pastors get better at their job, and a healthy church culture develops.
Take the opportunity in October to encourage your pastors, and then create structures and systems that help your pastors grow in Christ and grow into fruitful ministry all year long for many years to come.
If I can help your church develop a pastor health plan, please use the Contact Daryl button below to reach out.
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EVERYONE’S WILSON | THE EVERYONE’S WELCOME NETWORK
I’m the Executive Director of Everyone’s Wilson and The Everyone’s Welcome Network—a platform for Gospel transformation. Our mission is to unite the Church to engage the community, so everyone thrives. Very simply, we’re passionate about helping Jesus-loving people live like missionaries in their local community through prayer, service, evangelism, and collaboration.
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