Pastor & Family Appreciation Day

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Return to Events  |  Sept 25, 2010 10:00 AM - Sept 25, 2010 10:00 AM

Location: Local Churches

As you may have noticed, Sabbath the 26th of September has been set aside as a Pastors and Family Appreciation Day. Our aim in the North New Zealand Conference (NNZC), is to have Healthy Adventist Churches which includes having Healthy Adventist Pastors and their families. The NNZC Administration very much appreciates the work that our pastoral team is doing in this Conference. We would like to invite you to join us by showing appreciation to your Pastoral team, or Pastor and his/her family, on Sabbath Sept 26th 2009.

In 2006 the South Pacific Division undertook a survey of their pastors, which included our pastors in New Zealand. The results from this survey highlighted the difficulties some pastors and their families face in ministry. It was shown that many pastors and their spouses felt very lonely in their ministry, that marital/family conflict was often related to difficulties in their churches, and that although pastors wanted to spend more time with their spouse and family, often church issues prevented it from happening.

Our Pastors often neglect personal and family needs, to give us comfort and direction, yet often receive little appreciation. Paul admonishes us to "serve one another in love" (Gal. 5:13).

This Pastoral Family Appreciation Day, we would encourage your church to take time out to acknowledge your Pastor and his/her family. Here are some ideas of how we could show our appreciation for their ministry on Sabbath 26th September.

  1. Choose one or more people in your church, to say thank you for something they appreciate in your Pastor or his/her family. This needs to be genuine affirmation and can be done publically in church on appreciation day - then pray publically for your pastor and his/her family.
    Remember genuine affirmation from any church member privately, at any time, will be really cherished by your Pastor and his/her family.
  2. Organize a surprise church lunch and invite the pastor and his/her family as your guests.
  3. Encourage your pastor to take at least one official day off each week to be used as time to refresh and spend quality time with their family.
  4. Support your pastor's spiritual health by
    a) Honoring his/her day off each week.
    b) Asking how you can pray for him/her and then doing so regularly.
  5. Your pastor's wife may appreciate extra fellowship from other women in your church, as she spends many hours alone. This is needed whatever the age of your pastor's wife, whether she has children at home or not.
  6. Any other creative ideas of your church members.

The key to making this a successful event is your creativity! Please share this with your church members - they may have extra ideas.

Source: North New Zealand Conference