Yesterday I wrote of organizing a pastor’s appreciation banquet for the community. Today I want to suggest a couple of other community events that could serve as a venue for expressing appreciation for pastors and their work.
I would encourage judicatories of denominations to consider organizing an event like this every year or so. It not only serves to express appreciation to the pastors but when it is community wide and ecumenical, it can serve as a witness to the whole community about the work of pastors. Somebody has to initiate the process, so what I suggest is that a judicatory head, perhaps a General Presbyter or a Methodist District Superintendent, call some of their counterparts in the area and suggest a lunch to discuss the idea. If such a gathering hasn’t been done lately, that event alone could be healthy for the Christian community.
In this economically stressful age, one of the first questions is going to be cost. When we organized the banquet for pastors, we asked churches to cover most of the cost and got a few sponsor donations to cover the rest. If the idea is framed correctly, I also think it would not be difficult to find a couple of individual donors who would feel good about privately sponsoring such an event. Some combination of the above could zero out the expense to the denominations. Their task, and an important one, is to be willing to communicate with the lay leadership of their respective churches and encourage participation.
In addition to the banquet idea described yesterday, here are another couple of possibilities to consider. If the community has a local university or college, how about organizing a block of seats to a game and having a tail-gate party or reception before the game. Some universities have booster clubs with lounges that might be convinced to provide some space for the event. The university or college would likely offer a discount, particularly to an early season game. They probably would also welcome the group during the game which would increase the visibility of what you were doing. If it is a small community with one or two high schools, the same idea might work at a high school game.
Another idea might be to contact a local theater group and organize a reception before the event or depending on the event maybe even having a discussion following the event. Again, the purpose is to create community among the clergy and have them experience appreciation for their work.
Get creative. You will enjoy the results.
