Celebrate Clergy Appreciation Month!

October is Clergy Appreciation Month! Established in 1992, Clergy Appreciation Month began as a way to encourage pastors, missionaries, and religious workers.

Take a minute to think about all the clergy members who have poured into your life with their insightful preaching and faithful service.

What about the times they shared your joy at births, weddings, and graduations? How about the seasons they have walked alongside you through suffering and grief? Think of all the prayers they have prayed for you!

In response to their dedication, we encourage you to take time this month to remember and show your appreciation to the clergy and pastoral staff members who faithfully serve you year round.

Reasons to Celebrate Clergy and Faith Leaders

First, they have a hard job and bear many burdens. While they may have office hours and regular services to attend, clergy are on call 24/7.

We all know how much our faith leaders love us and invest in our lives. They want the very best for you and your family!

They faithfully prepare for preaching and teaching. Keeping a pulse on faith operations, they are concerned about practical matters like faith building, finances, and attendance.

On hand for joyous occasions and celebrations, they are also present at the most painful moments of people’s lives—in hospital rooms and at funerals, for marriage struggles and relapsing addictions.

And, over the past 18 months, clergy and faith leaders have had to navigate the pandemic. They’ve asked over and over: How can we operate our places of worship and spiritually guide people in a safe way?

What are ways I can reach out so that people don’t feel isolated and alone? How can I meet the needs of the people? These have been unique and challenging times with extra care, concerns, and decisions.

You can lighten their load a little bit this month by acknowledging their hard work and showing them how much you appreciate them.

They need encouragement and care, too. Imagine how challenging it is to take care of dozens of families in addition to your own family.

Sometimes it is hard for faith leaders to measure the impact they are having. It is no wonder that they can struggle with doubt, discouragement, and even depression.

This month, offer encouragement to your clergy and faith leaders. Remind them that they are loved.

Practically, stay up to date on benefits, fair wages, and time-off policies for your clergy members so they can continue to serve you, your congregation, and the faith.

Then, tell them how much they matter to you and the entire congregation. Finally, take time to show them how much they mean to you. Endeavor to care for them in a special way this month.

Consider the ideas for Clergy Appreciation Month below and pick the one that would best show your pastor and faith leaders how much you appreciate them!

You could even pick a few to focus on throughout October.

8 Ways to Celebrate Clergy Appreciation Month

#1 Encourage congregation members to take time to say thank you with a note, text, or call.

A little bit goes a long way with this one! Tell your leader a time they truly helped you, share a fun memory, or remind them how much they mean to you and the congregation.

#2 Plan a special meal or celebration at the church.

Whether everybody brings a dish for after the service or a table of desserts appears during the work week, your leaders will appreciate a special time of fellowship in their honor.

#3 Give your faith leader an extra day off for self-care.

Being a faith leader is more than a full-time job. Providing bonus time away from the demands of work will go a long way to refuel your leadership.

#4 Gift your faith leaders and their families a night out or weekend away.

So often for a member of the clergy, church time is family time too! Show them you care by giving them a night out or a special weekend away.

#5 Send them to a conference to enrich their skillset and give them time with their peers.

A faith conference stirs the soul and ignites the mind!

#6 Shower them with small gifts they will love like their favorite foods, books, or gift cards.

Whether it’s dark chocolate, an author’s new book, or a gift card to their very favorite restaurant, finding that perfect gift will not only encourage your leaders, but it will also show that you know them.

#7 Pray for them.

Your spiritual teacher knows the power of prayer, and they’re likely an avid prayer warrior

themselves. Return this gift by praying for them, their work, and their family. Then, let them know that you are lifting them up in this way.

#8 Collect a Pastor/Clergy Love Offering.

This gift will not only be an encouragement to your pastor and faith leaders but will also allow them to use their gift where it is most needed.

A Simple Way to Give to Your Clergy and Faith Leaders

Collecting a Love Offering is a simple and meaningful way to show appreciation.

It is also an easy way to get the whole congregation and community involved—even people who have moved away or live out of town. This month, create a Givelify giving envelope to collect a Love Offering for your spiritual leader or staff!

You can create envelopes or campaigns to appear on your organization’s Givelify profile to allow donors to direct their gifts toward specific causes or fundraising events.

These envelopes/campaigns can be visible indefinitely or for a specified time frame. You can also highlight the envelope/campaign in your Givelify profile’s cover photo and ask donors to select the envelope or campaign while completing their gift.

Follow these simple steps:

1. Visit  analytics.givelify.com  and log in to your organization’s account.
2. Select  Settings > Envelopes/Campaigns.
3. Select Create Envelope  or Create Campaign in the upper right corner.
4. On the Create a new envelope/campaign form, enter Pastor Love Offering and Description.
   If your organization’s management system is integrated with Givelify, enter the Fund name or Fund ID that is used in your management system.
5. Select how long you want the envelope/campaign to be available in the Givelify app (Always or Custom dates). If you select Custom dates, enter the Start date and End date.
6. If you want to set a fundraising goal, toggle the Set a goal amount to On and enter the dollar amount in the text box.
7. Select Save.

Now you have an easy, accessible way to collect a Love Offering for your pastor and faith leaders. Share this opportunity with your faith members and supporters!

Take time to appreciate your faith leaders this month. It will give them the encouragement and energy they need to keep serving you and the congregation year round.

Thank you for being part of the fastest-growing community of people doing good, one simple, joyful gift at a time!

If you’re not already part of this community and are interested in joining more than 55,000 organizations furthering their missions with the most trusted online and mobile giving platform, visit givelify.com.