A pastor’s anniversary is something that all congregations must anticipate and plan to celebrate. Pastor anniversary is the time of giving back to your pastors for delivering spiritual food every time without getting weary and disheartened. One must take this opportunity to bless your pastors in conduct, speech, and gifts. Let’s know the examples to welcome for Pastor Anniversary.
Everyone needs a pat in the back once in a while. It is not every day You get to acknowledge your pastors for the job they do. They watch over your souls and nourishing you with spiritual things. The part that a pastor plays in the life of an individual is immense. When you are under the authority of a true man of God who not only serves God with zeal and enthusiasm but goes the extra mile for the spiritual well-being of their flock.
What is the big fuss about this?
Well, before we get into it, firstly it’s good to know in-depth the role of a pastor in your life. A pastor is called a shepherd in the bible. The job of a shepherd is to tend their sheep and bring it back to the grazing meadows, in case it goes astray. The shepherd staff looks like a hook, and that hook is placed around the sheep’s neck and brought gently back to the flock. Now, picture your pastor as the shepherd and the sheep as the congregation. This is exactly what pastors do in the spirit. He tends to the spiritual needs of his congregation by feeding them spiritual food and giving guidance when the sheep goes astray. The heart of a pastor is like that of a shepherd, they care for their sheep and protect them from the world.
What can you do for your pastors?
One is to stop expecting them to serve you all the time. It is not always about how you feel, what you are going through, of course, those things have their time and place but on the extremes, some people tend to see them as their problem vending machine which is downright injustice to the man of God.
- The best thing to do is look for ways to serve them back doubly. The best thing a congregation can do first is to mature fast in the spirit, one cannot underestimate the joy of a spiritual leader when they see quick maturing of their members. Be diligent to the need of the church and offer your help in kind and deed whenever possible to your pastor.
- The second thing is once in a while have a conversation with your pastor about other things other than your problems, that will give a breath of fresh air, not that your pastor doesn’t like helping you with your problems but it is one of the ways to serve your pastor.
- Another thing is to offer to pay for stuff. Study your pastor and see if they need anything or if they are struggling to pay off something and meet their needs, that is how you customize your service for them. Sometimes it’s not always cash that they need, they may need your support.
- You can either help out in the helping ministry as studies show that only 20% of the congregation help out in the church and it’s sad to say that 20% end up doing 80% of the work. From the study, you get the feeling that your pastor must be overburdened by the lack of people serving in the ministry. If you don’t have time on a normal day, you could always help out on special events like anniversaries, conferences, and special occasions.
What are the ways to honor a pastor?
- There are so many other ways to honor the man of God, some of these are raising funds to gift a car or a vacation.
- Get them medical insurance or bring food to your pastor, help out in babysitting, etc.
- Pastors are also normal people with different needs. One way is to volunteer to help out by cleaning their lawn, clothes, or washing their cars so that they have enough time to seek the things of God.
- If you don’t have the gift of time then the best gift you can give is acknowledging your pastor’s contribution to others, be vocal about it, and defend them in public when you hear negative comments about them.
- This is one easy way to serve them and it sure will bring a smile to your pastor. Pastors are not spiritual robots that don’t feel pain, hurt, or rejection.
- They go through all those more than the common folks, so one can serve them in this area by being kind to them even when they make a mistake sometimes in their sermon or any other minor mistakes they may make, it’s best to ignore them.
- After all, they are also human and they deserve all the more grace from us as they are obeying the mandate of God and serving us sacrificially.
Now, with that all said, let’s look at some of the examples of welcome for pastor anniversary. These are some of the examples you can use to acknowledge your pastor’s contribution. Words of honor are also one way to honor your spiritual head on this earth.
This example is about a pastor’s contribution to a community through his faithfulness towards God for pastoring in a less privileged community.
Example 1:- Today we are all here to celebrate our one and only pastor who needs no introduction to what he has ushered us into this past year to date. On this pastor’s anniversary day, the church would like to give honor to the spiritual father of this church. His contribution towards this church cannot be fathomed just by words. However, I take this time to honor our shepherd by sharing a little on our church progress through the leadership of the man of God. This church was in dire need of a leader and not just an ordinary one but an extraordinary leader who could mentor us and help us to get a deeper understanding and vision. As we all know, this community was one such that even the government gave up on us, but Through this man’s obedience, the entire community is thriving, and not only crime rates have decreased but more people are in a better position now, thanks to our pastor who has not only diligently serves the church but made sacrifices upon sacrifices to lead us into this glorious days. We believe that through the obedience of our pastor, these churches will go further from glory to glory and strength to strength. Pastor, we the church welcome you and honor you on this day. We want to say that words fall short when we want to describe how you have contributed to the lives of your congregation. We are so blessed to have you as our spiritual leader and we know you will take us into deeper insight into the spirit and take us higher in our walk with God. Thank you for all that you do for the church. We, the church, treasure you immensely.
This example is about a pastor who is pastoring in a foreign land, leaving behind everything and going there following God’s mandate to serve the people as his own.
Example 2:- A great leader, a loving friend, a just person, a protector, and our guide, this is our pastor. We want to acknowledge the good things the Lord has done for this church through our pastor. This church cannot imagine going Through things that have happened in the past years without the leadership of our pastor. if it had not been for you, we would be lost and this church would have ceased to be. On this pastor’s anniversary, we welcome you all to honor our pastor. We all know how he sacrificed to be here with us. He left his comfort and came to serve us in this third-world country. In a world full of people who love to see their needs and their family needs above others, you and your family are a rare breed indeed. We thank you for the sacrifices you did, leaving your comfortable country and coming here adopting our culture, and living with us as one of us, this is an example straight from the bible. When we look at your life, we remember the life of the apostle Paul. You are like the apostle Paul who has stripped every accolade and title and came here sacrificially to live among us in such harsh weather and discomfort. We are amazed to see your resilient spirit. But we also know that your love for the Lord and the people pumps you up to make those hard decisions. You are the right man whom God has chosen for us. We thank God every day for blessing us with such a wonderful man of God, who is not only sincere but also has great leadership. We know that God has placed us under the care of the right pastor. We thank you for bringing us this far in the spirit and we can only praise God when we see the blessings that have overtaken the church and its members.
This example is about a pastor who sacrificially set up a church in a place that was completely in contrast with the works of the spirit.
Example 3:-Pastor, On this day we as a congregation would like to remind you of all the sacrifices you did to teach the people of this land with the right word from the word. As you always say right teaching produces right living, we can see major change under your leadership, indeed your mandate to change nominal Christian into victories is becoming a reality as time goes by. Your pastoring has led us to live out the scriptures and as you can see how it has transformed our lives in every area. This place is thriving in spirit, soul, and body and our gratitude cannot be expressed in words alone. The ministry has expanded largely under your tremendous leadership. Pastor, may you lead us furthermore by the leading of the holy spirit into the fullest of what God has for this ministry. You are the right person for this. We love you and appreciate all you have done for us this far.
This example is for a pastor who left his comfortable lifestyle and adopted a country as his own and raised his children in that country.
Example 4:-Happy pastor anniversary to our dear pastor. This is an auspicious moment for the church and its members. On this day, we want to highlight the extraordinary sacrifice of our dear pastor and his family for many people have been led to the Lord due to his obedience. The ministry would not be thriving today, if our dear pastor had not given up his comfortable lifestyle of his country and came here to live a life full of hardships, affecting him and his family physically and emotionally. Pastor, we know and have seen your sacrifices. We know how you have had a humble beginning and expanded this church nationally and internationally. We feel secure and confident under your pastorship and we are excited to see what God would lead you to do further for this ministry. You are a beacon of light in our dark world and we thank you for saying yes to the mandate of God in your life and blessing us all beyond our imagination. Indeed you are the right person whom God has brought us to. We honor you and thank you for all that you do.
Conclusion
People often do appreciate colleagues or employees, those who serve in a non-ministry setting but they neglect the service of a pastor because they work for the unseen things, which is the spiritual side of life. It is often very easy to ignore them if you are not mindful of how the spirit works and how it helps you achieve manifestation in the natural realm. That is why a person needs to be mindful of the things of God. God wants you to honor your spiritual leaders and the pastor is one of the main spiritual leaders, one should not forget that. The mindset has to change towards appreciating the spiritual leaders by esteeming them. The things of the spirit are life and when you esteem spiritual gifts, there is a reward in the natural too. Pastors are also human with errors but never forget the special anointing on them is not on everyone that is why it is so important to honor them so that you can tap into their anointing. Have regard for spiritual things and things will align themselves and start by honoring your pastors on the pastor anniversary day.
