Which Pastors Should Your PMC Thank, and Why?
When you think about your community, whether you live in an urban or rural area, you know who those pastors are who PASSIONATELY LOVE your ministry.
They talk about your ministry in their churches.
They may personally support your ministry.
Their church may have your ministry in their budget.
They personally host or sponsor tables for your fundraising events.
They walk in your Walk for Life and if they don’t personally recruit walkers from their churches, they encourage church liaisons to do so.
They preach not only about the sanctity of human life, but tenderly minister the love of Jesus to those who are suffering from decisions they’ve made in the past.
And the sheep in their flock follow them. The churches they pastor are among the strongest supporters of your ministry.
How many pastors like that does your PMC have? How would it encourage those few pastors to hear from you how grateful you are for their strong support? How would it further strengthen that relationship? Who do you think he would share the thank you with?
And then there are many many other pastors who maybe don’t do ALL those things, but they are FRIENDS of your ministry. You have a relationship with them, and occasionally they have participated in or supported something your ministry has done.
Or maybe they haven’t done anything specifically with your ministry, but you’ve heard through the grapevine that the pastor preached about the sanctity of human life or about extending mercy and the love of Christ to a post-abortive woman or express support for some other aspect of your mission.
How many of those are there? How have they expressed their friendship to your PMC? How might hearing an expression of your gratitude for what they have done encourage them? What impact might it have on your relationship with them?
And other pastors lead churches, and you’re not quite sure where your ministry stands with them, but every so often, you hear some story of grace that gives you hope that the Holy Spirit may be lighting a spark of life and grace, maybe even how they are doing deeds love and mercy in the name of Christ through other ministries, and that flicker gives you hope.
Why not get together with your team and generate a list of all the pastors you know and then jot down specific things you can thank them for?
Or send an email to your ministry partners asking if they’d like you to send a “Thank You” to their pastor. You could use the graphic provided by right-clicking, then click “Save As,” and then save it where you can find it. Ask for specific things that they appreciate about their pastor.
Then prioritize and divide up the list, delegating to staff, volunteers and board members, as is appropriate to your clinic situation.
What kind of an impact could that have on those pastors? And their churches?
October is Pastor Appreciation Month.
What better time than now to build relationships with those pastors? What better time than now to say thank you?
In addition to how writing a thank you can build your PMCs relationship with these local pastors, more importantly, God can actually use your words to bring much needed words of life and encouragement.
Pages of articles and websites are dedicated to pastor burnout and pastors quitting the ministry. The statistic many cite is that as many as 1,500 quit every month. Others question the validity of that number, but still acknowledge that it is a concern. LifeWay posted an article early this year that included their own research that pastors who had abandoned the ministry reported “lack of support” being a critical element of what was missing prior to their decision.
You can be a voice of encouragement and support. And God can use your prayers to strengthen them and to keep them from temptation.
Personally, I know of four pastors who were solid Bible-believing and teaching men, men I esteemed highly because of how they lived and modeled their faith, who over the past twenty years have not only abandoned their calling, but have been de-frocked because of immorality. If you’d predicted it of any of them, I would have said, “No way, would he ever…”
“There but for the grace of God, go I.”
“The best of men are men at best.” J. C. Ryle
The pastors in your community need your prayers and they need your encouragement. Just as you are a beacon of light and life for the women you serve, this month, you can be a beacon of light and life to the pastors in your community.
Just as we can find help in knowing what and how to pray through the written prayers of others, particularly in the Psalms and other places in Scripture, we can find help in expressing our gratitude through words written by others.
So, if you need a little help to get your thoughts going, here are some ideas:
- “You are a blessing from God. Your leadership means so much, not only to your congregation, but to this community and to our ministry. Thank you.”
- “Thank you for the many ways you’ve supported [Name of PMC] and especially for your help with ____. This card seems inadequate, but it is a sincere expression of my gratitude for everything you’ve done.”
- “We are so blessed to have your support. Thank you for volunteering all your time and energy, and how you’ve encouraged your church to be involved with us.”
- “Thanks so much for all your help when I know you’re so busy, and there are so many ministries and people demanding or asking for your time and energy. Pastors like you are rare and we are blessed to have you among our strongest supporters.”
- “It’s hard to put my gratitude into words, but I hope you know how much we all appreciate everything you do for this ministry. Thank you so much.”
- “Your leadership and generosity have not gone unnoticed. We are all very grateful for all your efforts and deeply touched that you care for this ministry the way you do. Thanks so much.”
- “You mean so much to this ministry, and so did your gift. Thank you so much!”
- “Thank you for the generous gift. Your donation will truly make a difference in the lives of women and their babies.”
- “You nearly shocked me when I opened the envelope. [Name of PMC] is so grateful to have a friend like you.”
- “We are very grateful for your gift. We are thankful that God has blessed us with someone as generous as you. Thank you!”
- “Many thanks and gratitude for your gift. We are incredibly blessed to have you partnering with us…”
- “We were so touched when we opened your gift—Thank you so much.”
- “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Your gift means the world to us and those we serve. More than that, we’re thankful to have a friend like you, knowing the love and compassion that motivated your generosity.”
Reni Bumpas
Sparrow Solutions Consultant
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