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My-Pastor Minute, Issue #011 - Ministering to Your Hurting Pastor, 2
April 16, 2008

1,500 pastors leave their churches every month in the United States because of conflict, burnout, or moral failure. Help keep your pastor from becoming part of that statistic. Use every available resource to encourage, support, and partner with your pastor. This ezine and www.My-Pastor.com give you a good start toward effectively ministering to your minister.

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Date: April 16, 2008

Issue Number 011

Table of Contents:

  • Pastor Appreciation Idea: Ministering to A Hurting Pastor, Part 2
  • Gift Idea: A Book for a Hurting Pastor
  • What's New at My-Pastor.com?

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Pastor Appreciation Idea: Ministering to a Hurting Pastor, Part 2

In last month's issue, I provided a list of ways you can tell if your pastor is hurting or enduring some type of crisis (read last month's issue).

This month I'd like to suggest some things you can do to minister to your hurting pastor.

Pastors are supposed to be strong for everyone else. But how can you be strong for them when they experience a loss or hurt in their life?

How Can You Help When Your Pastor Is Hurting?

  1. Email him and say, "Pastor, I'd like to support you with prayer today. Is there anything specific you'd like me to pray about?"
  2. Respectfully lobby your church leaders to give your pastor a bonus week of vacation. Perhaps you could type a formal letter of request and have others sign it with you.
  3. Give your pastor and spouse a two-day holiday. Watch their children and give them $200 to $300 for a two day, one night get-away. You might want to enlist several families to help you with this project.
  4. Offer your cabin, timeshare, camper, or boat for a special vacation or short retreat.
  5. Establish a prayer group that meets once a week for as long as your pastor is in crisis. Don't tell your pastor you are going to do it. Send him a note saying you already did it. Have everyone who met with you sign the note. If you have a lot of people who want to join the group, divide up into small groups.
  6. Lighten his load. Offer to teach his Sunday School class for a few weeks. Schedule some guest speakers so he gets a break from preaching. Mow his lawn.
  7. Minister to your pastor's children. Few things lighten the heart of a parent more than when people take the time to invest in their children.
  8. Minister to your pastor's wife. How? Drop off supper; organize a crew to clean house or do yard work; invite her to join your morning or evening walking group; take her out for coffee; before you go to the store call her and see if she needs anything; drop off a bag of groceries or fresh fruit and vegetables. Do for her what you would want someone to do for you if you were overwhelmed with stress.
  9. Raise $200 to $300 to pay for a pastor's retreat.

Don't wait for someone else to initiate a ministry to your pastor. Don't assume that the church leaders are taking care of it. If you know that your pastor is enduring some type of hardship I believe God wants you to do something about it. You can help. You can support your pastor. You can be an encouragement. And who knows, perhaps God raised you up in your pastor's life for just this moment in time, for this opportunity.

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A New Pastor Gift Idea: A Book for a Hurting Pastor

Help your pastor minister through and from his own hurts. Buy him a copy of

The Wounded Healer
By Henri Nouwen

In this hope-filled and profoundly simple book, Nouwen offers a radically fresh interpretation of modern ministry. According to Nouwen, ministers are called to identify the suffering in their own hearts and make that the starting point of their service. For Nouwen, ministers must be willing to go beyond their professional, somewhat aloof role and leave themselves open as fellow human beings with the same wounds and suffering as those they serve. In other words, we heal from our wounds.

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What’s New at My-Pastor.com?

How much do you pay your pastor? Is it enough? How do you know? How do you handle clergy medical insurance, retirement, and taxes?

Since the last issue of this newsletter I started a section on Pastor Salary. The information is designed to help church congregations understand the challenging issues surrounding clergy compensation and to make better decisions regarding financial support. You can read this section here: Pastor Salary.


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Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this zine and tell me what you think!

Thank you for your ministry to your minister.

Dan Sherman
Michigan, USA
My-Pastor.com


If you have questions, ideas, or wish to be removed from my mailing list, please reply directly to this ezine email.

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