25 Ways to Encourage Your Pastor

Does anyone really care about a list of “25 Ways to Encourage Your Pastor”? If not, I think they should. Taking action on this post could breathe life into your pastor like never before.

Recent news reports have focused on pastors engaged in various moral failures, while others stand in the middle of disputes over the new religious freedom laws passed in places like Indiana and Arkansas. You may find yourself frustrated with pastoral behavior, but I still see many reasons to provide resources like this post on “25 Ways to Encourage Your Pastor.” Simply put: pastors do a lot for their church, for their communities, for their families, and ultimately for God. A lot of what they do goes unnoticed. (Although God obviously sees it all.)

As a pastor and church planter, I care about pastors and have a heart to serve them. They have given their lives to proclaim God’s Word and equip the church to faithfully serve their community and God in ministry. Join me in thanking all pastors for their faithfulness with these 25 ways to encourage your pastor. Click To Tweet

We are aware that many people have been hurt by pastors. This doesn’t surprise us. Pastors are not perfect, and we don’t know of any that would claim to be. But the overwhelming majority of pastors do faithfully point people to a perfect Savior — Jesus Christ.

During a week when pastors notoriously battle burnout and exhaustion (i.e. the week of Easter), I wanted to intentionally equip you with ways to encourage your pastor. Start by taking a look at the list below and then take action:

25 Ways to Encourage Your Pastor

1) Pray for your pastor.

2) Never gossip about your pastor.

3) Buy lunch or dinner for your pastor (and their spouse).

4) Defend your pastor when someone complains.

5) Speak well of your pastor.

6) Volunteer to serve where needed.

7) Talk about what you learned from your pastor with your kids.

8) Offer to start a congregational care ministry.

9) Go the extra mile in your area of ministry responsibility.

10) Call your pastor’s spouse.

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11) Send a hand-written note. (Tip: Get a pack of notecards and send a group of thank you notes from your small group, Sunday School, or other group in the church.)

12) Babysit their kids so they can go on a date.

13) Ask your pastor to disciple you (or recommend someone who can).

14) Love your family.

15) Bring the pastor’s family a home-cooked meal during a busy time.

16) Give your pastor a gift card from Amazon.com.

17) Give your pastor time away for intentional sermon prep and rest.

18) Become a peacemaker to take the weight of conflict off your pastor’s shoulders. (Helpful Resource: “The Peacemaker” by Ken Sande)

19) Dress appropriately.

20) Talk about non-church related things.

21) Treat your pastor as you treat your other friends.

22) 
Meet your pastor at the gym weekly.

23) Smile while your pastor preaches.

24) Give generously to your church.

25) Eliminate sarcasm from your conversations (especially the ones with your pastor).

How do you plan to take action on one of these ways to encourage your pastor? As you pray about these ways to encourage your pastor, make sure to prepare your heart for your pastor to accidentally not notice, be too busy to response to a message, or something else. Pastors are usually overcommitted. Don’t pick one of these ways to encourage your pastor expecting that the pastor will publicly affirm or thank you.

Find ways to serve your pastor, because it is the right thing to do for your pastor and the church. Click To Tweet

Leave a comment below with which of these ways to encourage you pastor you plan to act on. Or leave me one or more ideas of ways to encourage your pastor. We can all collectively serve one another by sharing more ideas.