If you belong to a church, you know that clergy are always "on call" and available to provide counsel and support. What happens, though, when your pastor or priest needs pastoral care? These are human beings, after all, who can experience frustrations,disappointment, disillusionment, stress, and loneliness just like the rest of us.
Your congregation probably has some mechanism in place to provide support and counsel to clergy. It's worth contemplating, though, the role that every member of the congregation can play in supporting those who have been called to guide them. Members of the clergy need our prayers and encouragement, just as we need and expect that support from them.
Whether or not your church has a formal Clergy Appreciation observance, it's vitally important to raise spiritual leader(s) up on a daily basis throughout the course of the year.
While a career in the clergy might be exceedingly rewarding and spiritually fulfilling, it can also be rigorous, demanding - and one of the loneliest of professions. We all have days on the job when it seems nothing goes right. You might be under immense stress with deadlines looming, the boss might be on your back about something, your co-workers may be bickering, you might be worried about a layoff...there are any number of things that could contribute to a "bad day." Maybe it's a string of bad days.
When that happens, it's not uncommon to talk the situation over with a spouse or friend, or a trusted business associate. Those conversations can be a great way to unburden yourself and maybe come up with some solutions you might not have considered previously.
Your pastor or priest has those same pressures and bad days from time to time. Due to the nature of the job, he may have more of them than the average person. But unlike the rest of us, he often doesn't have the luxury of a sounding board.
Clergy are available 24/7 to provide counsel and support. Some of these situations can be particularly difficult - like grave illnesses or bitter family strife. Counseling conversations are confidential, though, so it's nearly impossible to unburden oneself. And think how being perpetually "on call" might put pressure on your spiritual leader's own family life.
Then there is the issue of job performance. Clergy are critiqued on a weekly basis. It's almost a guarantee that someone sitting in the congregation during any given service will be thinking the message could have been better, or the music wasn't to their liking, or the service just wasn't "that good." There always seems to be someone who is unhappy about something.
Our clergy are people just like us - they have strengths, and they have weaknesses. They get tired. They get frustrated. They make mistakes just as we do. They cannot please everyone all the time. We should not expect more from them than it is possible to give. Bottom line? They need a pat on the back every once in a while, too!
So while Clergy Appreciation Month is a wonderful thing, it's also important to support clergy all year long with prayers and words of encouragement. If last week's sermon had a particular impact on you, say so. Send your spiritual leader a note of appreciation. You can also support clergy by getting involved in the work of the church. If we are enthusiastic followers of God, it will mean something to God and to his ordained servants.
If you're looking for a tangible way to express thanks to Clergy, personalized clergy appreciation plaques created using museum quality materials are a lovely way to show your appreciation. http://www.TheChristianGift.com/
Tony Robbins
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