Honoring Your Pastor: Honorary Gift Idea List

September 15, 2014September 8, 2014

This gift idea list is for when you want to do something really special for your pastor. 23 ideas are listed below to help make honoring your pastor a piece of cake! Some of these ideas will take some time and effort but I assure you that it will be well worth the effort you take, if you give generously.

For God loveth a cheerful giver! II Corinthians 9:7b

Show Your Pastor and His Wife You Love Them Every Year

I encourage you to honor them yearly! Know the date in which they came to serve in your church for the first Sunday and even if you do not make a big deal about it every year, it should be recognized and they should be given a token of the church’s appreciation. Their service to you and your church is not only a benefit, it is their calling and it is their work in obedience to the Lord.

Special Times of Recognition

There are extra special times to recognize your pastor and his service. It is not any different from a married couple, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30+ years of serving either in ministry itself or in the ministry of your church in particular. Even when your pastor was a scrawny youth pastor in the dark ages of ministry, it was still service that adds up through the years. Our pastor has served in our church over 30 years now but his total number of ministry years has been over 40. I know when my great-grandfather had served over 50 years in ministry someone arranged for him to receive an honorary doctorate. There may also be other times when you recognize his leadership over completing something like a large building project or recognize his faithfulness through a particularly difficult time in his life or the church’s life.

Honorary Gift Idea List

Plaque – don’t get a boring one, find a nice one! We bought an etched blue glass plaque for our pastor that stands on his shelf like the one seen here.
Office renovation – does he still have dated wallpaper in his office? Update! It does not have to be a surprise, let him be involved in making changes he likes.
New pulpit
A Banquet in honor of him and his wife – even if you can’t afford a nice venue, you can still do something great at your church facilities with a little creativity.
A church-wide photo taken outside your church and framed – hire someone or use a nice camera propped on top of a church van like we did to get a nice group photo.
An updated computer with Bible software – I have heard good things about Logos software if your pastor likes to use the computer for sermon preparation.
Memory photo books of the church history and church events. Use someone in your church to scan and organize old church photos into folders on the church computer, then download them onto a website that makes photo books and it will be so much easier to look at them. If you make a copy for your church, get a copy for the pastor and his family too. I recommend Shutterfly because they have great customer service.
Video testimonies shown in church services and saved on a DVD for them to watch at their leisure. Videos should be taken weeks in advance so that someone can compile your videos.
A special preaching revival in their honor – it might be neat to use their favorite preacher or bring in someone who is significant to them and their ministry.
A quilt with pieces provided or signed by the church members and sewn together by ladies in your church to complete the quilt. Okay, so maybe your pastor’s wife would like this more than your pastor would… 🙂
Car upgrade – Is your pastor driving a heap of junk? If your church can afford it, it may be a benefit to give him an upgraded vehicle or some money toward a new one.
Vacation time with accommodations and spending money provided – if you give them the trip, make sure they go and enjoy it!
Engraved pieces from a company like Things Remembered.
A new Bible with favorite verses highlighted by the members of the church.
A memory or thanks jar filled with slips of paper with memories written on them from members of the church or little messages of thanks.
A Staff Take-Over Night – A church in Arizona did this to their pastor, taking over the service, bringing out a recliner into the middle aisle, giving their pastor a “night off,” then their assistant pastor preached a message encouraging their pastor. Just make sure that this type of thing would be okay with your pastor, some personalities might not like it.
Bring in a special music group for a Sunday – be sure that the group is someone your pastor likes and the music conforms to your church standards of music. You could also have your choir or a singing group in your song sing a song like, Stand By God’s Man, written by Julia Montoro.
A gift card tree – these are always a blessing to help your pastor in a fun way.
A love offering – this love offering should be a sincere expression of love, not a cheap token, but may quite be a sacrifice of love from the members. Remember, that your pastor and his family has sacrificed a lot of time and effort on the church’s behalf.
New household appliances. Has it been years since he and his wife have been able to buy a new refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, stove, or grill? It would be a pleasant surprise to them to get an upgrade.
Contact your local newspaper. They may be interested in running an article on your pastor in the religious section if he has served in the community for a long time. This would be a special way of honoring his dedication and faithfulness.
Finally, listen and learn to what his needs or desires are. If they’re in the budget, then give him the desires of his heart!

On the Ministry Mamas Pinterest Pastor Appreciation page there are over 70 pins of all types of ideas for gifts, cakes, and even gift basket to show appreciation toward your pastor.

*Please note that this article does not contain affiliate links. I love to help you find great things easily, that’s all!

Honoring Your Pastor: Personal Gifts of Investment

September 8, 2014September 7, 2014

Every gift that you can give your pastor is not a gift that can be bought in a store with money. Today I want to encourage you to think a little deeper about what gifts you would be willing to give your pastor. Our goal of the Christian life is to live our life wholly and completely for Christ, not for a man, even our pastor. I do believe that if we are living correctly in line with the Bible in honoring God, we will please our pastor. So please do not misunderstand the intention of this article, your job is to please God first, while serving underneath the authority of your pastor in the local church. You will not always agree with everything he says or does, but you can honor him with personal gifts of your investment in a Christ-centered life.

The Gift of Written Word

Buy a card or some stationery and write down some encouraging thoughts or something that will bless your pastor’s heart and give it to him. It may cost you a few dollars and some time, but it will be a gift that can be looked at again and again and bring back encouragement each time he reads it. Write down a Bible verse, a poem, a song, a fond memory, a way in which God has encouraged you through him. It will bless his heart!

The Gift of a Righteous Life

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

God wants to see His children walk in truth, and while your pastor is not your father, he does receive great joy to think of the people in his church that are walking daily in God’s truths. Burdens drop on his shoulders when church members leave the truth and begin walking in the world. To lighten your pastor’s load, simply live a God-honoring, righteous life. This will require time and effort in your own personal walk with God, but it is a gift to your pastor.

The Gift of Faithful Church Attendance

Faithful church attendance will lower your odds for having to receive any type of one on one counseling with your pastor. If he is the right kind of pastor he will be preaching God’s message to God’s people every time he preaches. God will speak to your heart through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He will be the Counselor and Prince of Peace addressing your life’s problems and heartfelt issues. If you still need help and guidance, then please approach your pastor and speak with him about those things.

When we skip services we tend to miss out on the intended gifts and Biblical counseling God had for us in his sermons. Not only that, when the pastor sees that you’re missing while he’s up on the platform looking down on the congregation, then he wonders and may even worry about you. Faithfulness to attending church is an investment of time for God that will bless your pastor (and you and your family too!!)

The Gift of a Servant Spirit

Crowds of people will come to church but the overall rule is that most do not serve. “There’s nothing like trying to pull teeth from the members of your church and get them to get on board with a program or event that you’re trying to carry out and having only the same people volunteer time after time,” one ministry leader said.

Be a blessing and have a servant spirit. While you don’t have to be involved in every single ministry of your church, you should be involved somewhere and faithful at it (not skipping every other obligation). God equipped every member of their church to have a part in the body of Christ. Have you found yours? It may require some time and investment on your part to serve to help the church, but it will lighten the load for many who are carrying too much weight in serving.

If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. John 12:26

The Gift of Hospitality

Open your home or even your wallet and take your pastor and his wife (and family!) out for a meal. When you open your home to them then they will be able to see your life in a new way. In conversing with them they will know how to pray for you and minister to you in a better way. You will benefit because there’s something special about ministering to someone through a meal or over dessert that will open your eyes to be able to minister to and pray for THEM!

There is also a blessing that comes along when you choose to follow these verses:

I Thessalonians 5:12, 13 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.

Your pastor and his family are worth getting to know. God called them to your church and they are involved in your life because God wants them to be able to minister to you in a specific way. You can turn right around and find ways to be hospitable to them and esteem them highly in love because you are also in their lives to minister to them.

The Gift of Being a Soul-Winner & Discipler

Nothing helps your pastor build the Kingdom of Heaven and your local church like you being a personal soul-winner and discipler. So many people leave the work of soul-winning to the pastor and the church staff. This is a heavy burden for your pastor, when the Bible instructs each person to go out and spread the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20). Also, when you take on the personal responsibility of investing yourself and your time into someone who is an immature Christian then you take some more weight off of his shoulders.

No matter how old you are in the faith, you can help someone learn what you have already learned from the Bible. When you allow God to use you to help someone grow and be faithful to church then you help your pastor. We see so many baby Christians get stunted in their growth for the Lord because church members see a need to help them but disregard it as “the pastor’s job.” Your pastor’s job is to be in the Scriptures studying the Word so that he can provide fresh sermons for the members to feed upon. (Acts 6:1-4) I believe that if God directs you to a specific person to win to the Lord that He will give you the ability to be able to specifically minister to the needs of that person as they grow in the Lord after their salvation. Your gift of serving your pastor through personal soul-winning and discipling is a benefit not only to him but to you because God counts those that win souls as wise (Proverbs 11:30).

These are simple ways you can invest in the life of your pastor. You could also do many other things monetarily, by honoring them with a banquet on their behalf, by giving to support a special offering or building fund. The ideas can be limitless, but if you know the heart of your pastor, you know the greatest investments he would want you to make are spiritual eternal investments because he also has no greater joy than to see God’s children walk in truth.

You might be interested in another article in this series: Free Gifts to Give Your Pastor

55 Ladies Bible Study Ideas

September 4, 2014December 5, 2014

This is a list of 55 Bible Study ideas for personal use or a Ladies Bible Study group. Also included is a list of books that are for teaching a Bible study for teen girls. This blog post was inspired by a question another Ministry Mama asked me, so I decided that it might be something that would be of interest to all of you that lead a regular Ladies Bible Study group in your church and are always looking for a new and fresh idea.

First of all I want you to know that I use the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible and I know there are lots of church ministries out there that do and it can get pretty difficult to find Ladies Bible Study books only using the King James. I have included both King James Ladies Bible Study ideas and other books and studies that use other versions of the Bible. My reason is because there is great quality of writing from various authors that God has allowed to write about Biblical subjects that we can use and glean from in our spiritual lives. Just because they may use a different version of the Bible, I do not believe that their work should be cast off, we just need to be wise in looking up the verses in the King James Version and making sure that their application is appropriate to the context of the Word as well as correct Bible doctrine.

Second, I want to say, I have not read a majority of these books, so it will be your job to read and be responsible for judging whether these books are proper for your church and ladies group. You should buy the Bible Study book yourself and read it beforehand. You may want to make your own handouts to give to your ladies for the Bible Study if the book you are studying has verses from other versions. This will help you be able to have one mind and one focus without the confusion of other translations. Some Bible study leaders choose to lead the group with the only Bible study book, and others like for their ladies to have the book themselves and have them read the chapters and do the study and bring it ready when they come to the group. The choice is up to you!

Third, the links to these websites are not associated with any affiliate links. I give them to help you find these resources easily. You have the freedom to buy these books on any other website, in fact, I encourage you to look for the best prices so that your ladies can purchase their book at an affordable price.

Last, if you have any suggestions for other Ladies Bible Study books, whether KJV or otherwise, please contact me and share that information with me so I can add them to the list. If I get enough suggestions I may even add another blog post of another list.