Pastor Anniversary Month | Pastor Appreciation Month

Pastor Anniversary or Pastor Appreciation month is recognized annually in the month of October for all pastors of all faiths. It is a good practice to celebrate our spiritual leaders and teachers as they provide spiritual insight and revelation to and about our earthly lives. The work of a pastor is time consuming and at times extremely difficult due to the demanding schedule that is placed on many pastors. Many people may think that a pastors life is all glitz and glamour. This is not the case for true men of God that believe their mission in life is to help lost souls through biblical and Godly teaching. For this reason we celebrate our Bishops, Pastors, Co- Pastors, Evangelist during the entire month of October.

During the month of October members of all churches should honor their spiritual leaders for their commitment God and to the local church they serve. Many churches have a pastor's anniversary or a pastor's appreciation service where the church assembled for a annual church service dedicated entirely for the pastor. This event can be scheduled for one of the Sundays in the month of October or some churches elect to celebrate their leaders the entire month dedicating each week to their pastor. Whether you have a one day celebration or you celebrate the entire month I'm sure your pastor will be encouraged to continue the mission God has called him to do.

In writing about the pastor anniversary and the pastor appreciation I often see the argument that pastor should not be celebrated. On many occasions I've read statements that it is not biblical to honor, celebrate or appreciate a pastor. In the bible I read it is clearly noted in Thessalonians 5:12 which reads: And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. [And] be at peace among yourselves. Another scripture reference in the bible is Hebrews 13:17 which states: Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. Now, in the day, time and society we live in we have introduced many traditions in our culture, faith and religion. We celebrate our pastors just as we celebrate our birthdays, weddings, retirements or any good thing to celebrate over. I believe this is where the idea of the celebration comes from. As human beings we have adopted the celebration aspect from parties, events, graduations, achievements and anything that is good. Well, I believe salvation is a good thing and by following the pastors teaching and spiritual advice only makes me a better person.

Pastor appreciation month in my opinion is a good thing! Every year I use to watch the Academy awards (the Oscars) of which famous actors are celebrate for how they portrayed a fictitious person. Fictitious means as stated on dictionary.com: created, taken, or assumed for the sake of concealment; not genuine; false: imaginatively produced or set forth; created by the imagination. So my argument here is that as a society we can celebrate actors that portray fake imagined people but not real people who do real things all year long. As I recall reading an article there are many actors that receive millions of dollars for what they do. I am not trying to discredit the movie industry in any way as I enjoy movies just like everyone else. I am in fact making a strong point that we should celebrate and appreciate those who spiritually guide us, teach us and pray for us all the time. The job of a pastor is pray for, watch over and teach the congregation, members and or followers as he/she communes with God the Father. In my opinion this is one of the greatest task that anyone could ever accept.

Pastor appreciation month was primarily designed to encourage the pastor for all the laborious work he/she does on a daily basis. If you ever have free time ask your pastor to tag along with him as he goes and do ministry work. You will see that he/she visit the hospital visiting the sick and shut in, counsels individuals, counsels the married, perform funerals and weddings, prepares weekly sermons for the congregation, teaches bible study, prays to God on a daily basis and watches over an entire church of people. being a pastor is not as easy as one may think, it is a very time consuming job to say the least. I encourage everyone to look at appreciating your pastor in a different light not the glitz and glamour that most people associate with being a pastor. It takes hard work and perseverance to be a n effective pastor. It takes great integrity to walk with God on a daily basis! Therefore, I salute all pastors of the faith and I encourage them to continue doing the work of the Lord. Happy Pastor's Appreciation Month to all Pastors!

Pastor Anniversary Site

The Kingdomprograms.com is great resource for Pastor Anniversary Programs where you can create your very own personalized program bulletin. They feature many different program templates that can be customized using Microsoft Publisher 2003 or higher.

Pastor Anniversary Celebration

Pastor Appreciation - Celebrating the Man or Woman of God!

The church today celebrate our leaders for all the spiritual guidance and leading they provide to our congregations. Some churches have adopted an entire month of celebration while others celebrate just a few days each year. Whatever choice your church makes it is important not to forget our pastors and spiritual leaders as they watch over our souls.

Why Celebrate Your Pastor? 

The office of pastor is a very hard occupation that requires thorough training, in many cases schooling and a real prayer life. This requires a dedicated balance in life for anyone called to become a pastor. Once you've completed your natural schooling and learning the spiritual side of this occupation begins by taking on the responsibility of watching over souls. 

Many pastors have long hours during the day as the job itself is extremely demanding at times. In many cases the pastor is the one who visits the sick and shut-in and prays tirelessly for those he or she is watching over. At other times the pastor has to balance the many engagements that include: weddings, funerals, bible study, church services, Sunday school and revivals just to name a few. This demanding schedule also includes being a spouse, a parent, a family member and friend to a multitude of people. These are the reasons why we should always take time to celebrate our pastors as it is more than just glitz and glamour. It is a real job with real responsibilities and all the task that you can throw in from Sunday to Sunday.

Pastor Anniversary Preparation and Ideas

In order to have a successful event it's best to get everyone involve. You can mail out invitations to active and non-active members inviting them to attend the event. You can have a flyer designed and list all the pertinent information about the event such as date, time and location. The church secretary should have a members list that include addresses of all active and non-active members in the congregation. It is a good practice to communicate with all members of the congregation as most will accept your invitation if one is made. Another good form of communication for exposure would be to place an ad in your local newspaper. For much broader exposure writing a press release would give your promotion the reach it needs.

There are a number of free services that you can use to promote the pastor's anniversary beginning with an email campaign. This will require a digital flyer that can be emailed as a invitation. The digital flyer can be placed on Facebook, Myspace, and the Church Website. Once you have the flyer in place online you can Tweet the link to the flyer to all those individuals that follow your group or church. You can Tweet the all the promotional links you create to using Twitter.com. Most people use Facebook on a regular basis so having the digital flyer shared on Facebook is a great idea. If you have the means to create a promotional video then YouTube is the best place to submit your video. All of these measures will ensure that you message gets heard!

The Pastor Anniversary Celebration

Celebrating your pastor should be a collective effort by the entire congregation that he or she serves. The members can assign a team of individuals that work well to together to officiate the anniversary projects. The pastor anniversary is often referred to as the annual celebration after the pastor has been installed by the official church members. This event should be carefully planned and structured so that all members can take part in it.

There are many creative events that can go into the anniversary celebration as a whole. You can plan a formal banquet, bring in a popular guest speaker, have a special event night or day, and have fund raisers to help with any expenses. You can have as lavish event as you want or just have a dedicated day for this purpose and occasion. Whatever celebratory events you come up with it is always best to get as much input from the congregation as possible. It is also a good idea to know your pastors taste in things as you do not want to plan a concert when he would have preferred an elegant banquet.

Pastor Anniversary Program Templates

A great way to have structure to your events is by having a pastor anniversary program template where you can document the events of the day. The program template is very easy to use and extremely easy to print as all the hard work is already done for you. The church in general has adopted the 11X17 tabloid size program as its program size for official events. With this particular size you can have the necessary room  needed for a fantastic spread and layout. 

A great resource for Pastor Anniversary Program Templates is the Pastor Anniversary Site! They have a great selection of program template that will suit your taste as well as budget. The Pastor Anniversary Site has helped hundreds of churches provide a full color printed program for this type of event. Click here to visit their site for more information: Pastor Anniversary Site.