Clergy Appreciation Day: Appreciating My Clergy
October 11, 2009 by Lillie
On Clergy Appreciation Day, I want to express my personal appreciation for the clergy at my church, All Saints Anglican: Father Chip Harper and Father Ed Morgan.
In a post on a previous Clergy Appreciation Day, I told more about these two men of God.
The Bible tells us:
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. ~ Hebrews 13:7 (NIV)
One of the best things we can do for our clergy is to pray:
ALMIGHTY God, giver of all good things, who by thy Holy Spirit hast appointed divers Orders of Ministers in thy Church; Mercifully behold thy servants Father Chip and Father Ed and so replenish them with the truth of thy Doctrine, and adorn them with innocency of life, that, both by word and good example, they may faithfully serve thee in their Office, to the glory of thy Name, and the edification of thy Church; through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.
Respect the leader always. It is not that easy to become a leader and “be” a leader. This my all time view on leadership. I am sure those men of god will be moved by your appreciation.
Thank you, Mack.
Hi, we should always respect this leaders from a church cause they are the man of God. Nice for you to have a leader, an spiritual leader. It’s a blessing. So, you must always follow or take consider their advices and words of wisdom. Always pray to God to give them always a strength, and a more leadership wisdom. Thanks for this article.God bless you always.
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Angelo,
Yes, the clergy at my parish are a real blessing, and I do pray for them daily, as we should always pray for all our leaders, spiritual and secular.
I give thanks for all of the clergy at my church in Del Mar… St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. We have a new Rector, and are incredibly blessed.
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Geoff,
It’s wonderful to have great clergy.
That is lovely Lillie. Praying for people is one of the best things we can do for them.
By the way, when you comment on my blog – commentluv isn’t putting the title of your recent post, just question marks. It is only doing it on your comments, so I’m not sure what is going wrong.
Cath,
I don’t know what the problem is with CommentLuv and our blogs. I’ve seen it pick up the wrong thing (something I’ve linked to rather than my blog) every once in a while, but I’m not technologically savvy enough to know what the problem is or what to do about it.
Lillie,
We should never stop being thankful to the lord for the contributions of those who labor tirelessly in a church leadership role. Those who are chosen by god as leaders within the body of Christ deserve our full and upmost respect as well as our consistent appreciation.
Let us never take any of them for granted.
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You are right, Andrew. It is easy to take these folks for granted, and we should never do that.
I’m sure that the clergy appreciate being appreciated since they often have a misunderstood job. Many people don’t like the church, but it is important to appreciate your leaders, just like the scripture that you quoted.
C,
Scripture also tells us to respect our secular leaders, whether or not we agree with them. We are to pray for them and treat them with respect.
Hi Lillie!
It’s even easier to be appreciative in the middle of a vacancy, as we are, and are faced with the probability that the vacancy won’t be filled – nothing left to do BUT pray….
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Rhys,
I have been in that situation. You are so right—we always appreciate our clergy (and most other things) more when we don’t have them. Too often we take for granted what we do have.
This is the first I’ve heard of “Clergy Appreciation Day”. Seems like a good idea. I don’t think we have it down here in the states.
Eric,
I believe it’s the National Clergy Appreciation Day in the United States. I don’t know if there is something comparable in other countries.
Now more than ever the clergy need people encouraging them to testify boldly and fulfill their God ordained callings.
William,
So true. Often people want their clergy to soft-pedal the Gospel and be tolerant instead of to testify boldly.
Sometimes I wonder how clergy do it, working so hard for so little but they do it unto God, not other people so there’s my answer.
Don,
I think if they are called to serve God as a clergy person, they don’t think about the money but about the calling.