I wrote this about 2 years ago... it bears repeating..
HAPPY PASTOR MONTH...
Being a Pastor.
As each of us religious persons, head to the church of our choice.. be it to see our Pastor, or Priest, Rabbi, or what ever else the head person is called… many of us take them for granted.
Many think that the night before he sat at his dining room table and wrote out notes or even .. word for word what he plans on saying the next morning at the Sunday (or Saturday) service. Words of wisdom. And then he goes home at the end of the day with his family or fellow Priest.
Never giving a thought of what the job actually entails.
Maybe if we were to sit around talking and having coffee and the subject would come up .. of what exactly does that person do.. maybe some of the other things would come up. Like running the church, of what he has in mind that is good for those who show up for services each week. Good for the children. And the teens.. the elderly…
Maybe we would remember that they go to the hospital when one of the people ends up in the hospital.. due to sickness, or the pending death. Some might even mention that maybe he goes to the jail to talk to jail mates. They might think of those as some of the job description..
But what about the toll it puts on that man .. oh, I guess I should be a disclaimer, as there are some that are women.
But what does it mean to the clergy person? And most of all.. his family.
Do we call only from 9am to 5pm on week days? No. there are calls at dinner time.. asking for help, or to tell of a tragedy in our families, and he/she leaves the family and rushes to the place to be of help… be it something physical or prayers.. or words of comfort. Some call on weekends. Not even Dr’s have these hours that the clergy person has. See they are available 24/7… where Dr. (unless they are the small town only dr.) have back ups.. Other drs. that cover for each of ours at any certain time. As they also cover for other doctors. But it is rarely that there is a back up for the clergy. Yes there is jr. clergy at some churches so they can fill in for a service.. but it is the main guy who gets the call in the middle of the night or in the middle of dinner.. and etc.
Being there really is no time off.. days off… they are available 24/7… what about the days, they head to the hospital in the afternoon, and visit with the family… sits with the person who is ill… hours of it.. and then heads home.. it can be an out of town hospital.. so it is hours of driving home. Dead tired.. wore out.. and a lot of times.. no thank you giving… thank you for coming with no notice.. yet there he/she is… Trying to comfort us.. when someone should be comforting them. What about the crisis in his own home.. Kids in trouble.. or illness of his own family.. their parents, or spouse, or even the kids.. who is there to say.. God will watch over you.. it will be ok..
To deal with humans as they have to do daily.. different problems, some times the parishioner will wear them down. Not all problems are easy to fix.. and hard to comfort.
This is why some clergy burn out.. unless they can take months off.. Just a vacation doesn’t always cut it..
So with this being HONOR YOUR PASTOR MONTH… maybe a kind word.. some comforting words.. words of appreciation… sometime we just don’t think about them.. we take them for granted. And that is a horrible thing ..to take another human for granted.
Maybe a small note to them.. to say thank you for being there.. than you for your guidance. … what do you think?
I’ll go first.. THANK YOU PASTOR CHAD.. (Sandpoint Church of Nazarene ) thank you for being there for all of us… thank you for your research to find the right words to guide us thru life. Thank you for being on the run in those early hours, and sometime finishing up so late that your family has gone to bed.. THANK YOU seems so little to say.. but know the large words are filled to the brim with everything in my heart. You must be doing something right.. as your oldest son is following in your footsteps.. and all of your children are following yours and Jamie's lead.
And THANK YOU Koby, Carlie and Janine… a great crew we have.
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