The Bless Your
Pastor movement (#BlessYourPastor)
provides free materials to Christians and churches in order to honor pastors
and clergy members. The goal is to help people share God’s love with their
pastor and church staff, who often face financial struggles. 1 Thessalonians
5:12 calls Christians to show their deep appreciation to those who minister to
them. Galatians 6:6 says people are to share all good things with the one who
teaches them.
While October
is Pastor Appreciation Month, this list has wonderful ideas for blessing your
pastor year-round.
Here is a list
of the top 10 tech ideas to bless your pastor:
#1 –
DISCOUNTED DIGITAL GIFT CARDS
Discounted
Digital Gift Cards make a great gift for pastors and church staff. GiftCardGranny.com is a good source
for purchasing eGift cards at discounted prices for fast food, coffee shops,
clothing, bookstores, department stores, restaurants, Amazon, Lowes, Home
Depot, furniture stores and many other places to bless your pastor or favorite
church staff member(s). For example, for every church that distributes the 50
Creative Ways to #BlessYourPastor List and receives an appreciation
offering, the NAE will send their senior pastor a grant-funded $150 Amazon
eGift card.
#2 – ALEXA
DEVICES
Alexa
Devices can sell for as low as $29.99. These devices are great for playing
music on demand, getting news, setting alarms, scheduling appointments and much
more at home or in someone’s office.
#3 – BEST
BUY GEEK SQUAD ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
This membership
will be a much-appreciated gift to help a pastor or staff member with any
technology issues on their family’s tablets, laptops, desktops and cell
phones.
#4 – BIBLE
SOFTWARE
For many years,
pastors had to purchase bookshelves full of books for their sermon preparation
– concordances, commentaries, different Bible versions, lexicons, maps, Greek
and Hebrew dictionaries, etc. Today, all these reference resources are
available in one of the 5
best Bible study software programs.
#5 – AMAZON
8 OR 10-INCH FIRE TABLET
These
affordable Amazon
Fire tablets ($99 to $149) are great for kindle eBooks, music, movies,
email, surfing the web, writing and so much more. They are easy to use and easy
to carry anywhere. A bonus gift would be to include a Kindle eBook gift
card with the tablet.
#6 – FREE
PERSONAL AND CHURCH ONLINE FINANCIAL COURSES
The NAEfinancialhealth.org website
offers a God Is Your Provider Personal Finance online video course. This
at-home course will help any person at any age and any income level to improve
their financial health, save money, grow their income, find affordable health
care, pay off debts, increase giving and much more. There are also training
sessions on Church Generosity Best Practices, Bless Your Pastor, Bless Your
Church legacy bequests, 40-Day Churchwide Generosity devotional and a Dave
Ramsey private online course for pastor couples only.
#7 – ONLINE
TICKETS
Give your pastor, church staff and spouses (and possibly their whole family) tickets to a sporting event, movie, musical, play, concert, ski hill, zip line, rafting, sports activity, amusement park or any other fun thing that could bless your pastor/staff couples and family. You can give these tickets to them directly or invite them to attend with you. Pastor and staff families seldom have extra money for these fun activities.
#8 – SEND A
TEXT, EMAIL, NOTE, OR MAKE A #BLESSYOURPASTOR SOCIAL MEDIA POST
Express your
appreciation in writing to your pastor and staff members and consider posting a
social media message with or without a graphic to show your appreciation. They
often serve tirelessly with very little thanks. Your sincere digital message
(or an old fashioned handwritten note or card) will lift their spirits and be a
great encouragement to them.
#9 – BLESS
YOUR PASTOR CAMPAIGN, APPRECIATION OFFERING, AND $150 SENIOR PASTOR EGIFT CARD
On the BlessYourPastor.org website, you will
find many grant-funded resources. There is a free seven-minute video and free
materials for church boards and leaders to organize this effort at their
church. When the #BlessYourPastor
50 Ways list is distributed and an appreciation offering is received, the
NAE will send a $150 eGift card to the Senior Pastor. There are also free
resources for individual Christians, pastors, and church staff on this website.
#10 –
ORGANIZE A CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
If you find out that your pastor or a staff member have student loans or unpaid medical bills, organize a crowdfunding campaign or collect a special church offering to pay down or pay off their debt. In the NAE research on pastor finances, 30% of pastors have student loan debt averaging $36,039 and 25% have unpaid medical bills averaging $7,253. Many pastors and staff make low salaries that make it very difficult to pay back these debts. But in every congregation, there are caring people with extra financial resources that would be willing to help if they found out about this need.
Your act of kindness during Pastor Appreciation Month and throughout the year will be remembered fondly for years to come. For more ideas on how to bless your pastor and staff, download the #BlessYourPastor 50 Ways List or visit BlessYourPastor.org.
Shelby Systems has decades of experience working with ministries of all sizes, for more creative ideas and suggestions contact your Shelby Sales Consultant today!