9 Ways to Bless Your Pastor

Looking for ways to bless your pastor? Here are nine ways you can thank and honor your pastor and all his faithful work for your congregation!

Sometimes it’s easy to miss the things that your pastor is doing behind the scenes for you and for the church! As a pastor’s wife, I see what my husband does daily to balance the needs of the whole congregation and also take care of his family. It is a complete joy, but it can also be discouraging and mentally exhausting at times!

Though he never looks for compliments, it’s definitely encouraging for my pastor husband when someone says something in appreciation for what he does. Little things really do make a difference.

Our pastors need us, just as much as we need them. As a pastor’s wife, I know this from observation and experience! :)

Here are nine tips for how you can bless your pastor. Some of these things have been done for my husband and other ideas have been done for other ministry families that we know! I hope these ideas are helpful!

9 Ways to Bless Your Pastor

1. Pray for them–and tell them specifically HOW you are praying for them.

Whether it’s saying it in person or sending an email, it can really make your pastor’s day to let them know you are praying for them. My husband saves encouraging emails and notes so that when a hard day comes along, he can remind himself WHY we serve in ministry–because of the people! 

2. Have them over for dinner.

I know it can feel weird sometimes or you might think you need to keep up appearances in order to have your pastor’s family over, but I promise you that you DON’T need to worry about that at all! 

One of the biggest blessings for a pastor’s family is to serve them a meal and just spend time talking with them outside of “church hours”. It’s a great way for him to get to know your family and understand you better–and that goes both ways!

3. Send your pastor a card.

If your pastor or pastor’s wife crosses your mind one day, it may be the Holy Spirit nudging you to drop them a note :) 

Writing a note to your pastor and pastors family is really meaningful. Often we *think* about the things we appreciate about our pastor but we forget to tell them!

It’s so valuable to verbally tell your pastor how much you appreciate them and specifically why (especially because it’s usually the negative people who speak up). Counter that negativity with some words of encouragement! I know we all appreciate that, whatever our role or profession in life! Then ask how you can pray for your pastor and the ministry!

4. Have an appreciation dinner (or, alternatively, record an appreciation video)

During Pastor appreciation month, have a dinner or dessert and encourage people from the church to get up and share something they are thankful for that the pastor has done for them or their family! 

If you have a large church, a fun alternative would be to record various people or groups (Sunday school kids, etc) sharing why they are thankful for the pastor and then having your video team put it together and show it on a Sunday morning during pastor appreciation month! Don’t forget about the pastor’s wife–she can use encouraging words too! ;)

5. Give your pastor a gift card, just because.

Gift cards are a great way to show appreciation because they’re always needed! Whether it’s a gas card, a restaurant card or an emailed Amazon gift card, this is a fun and easy way to bless your pastor and his family.

6. Speak up for him when others speak against him. 

I realize that I can get in some hot water by making this suggestion, but if you or your spouse is in leadership of any kind (ministry or not) you know that there can be a lot of criticisms thrown your way.

One especially appropriate way to bless your pastor is to take a moment to speak up for him if someone brings an unwarranted criticism against him. Your pastor may never even know you’ve done this, but it will go a long way in helping to uphold a united and peaceful congregation. It will mean the world to your pastor and they will feel your support.

The more time we spend complimenting others in leadership, the less time is left for those who are always complaining. :)

7. Send your pastor on a vacation.

Don’t worry, I’m not talking about spending thousands of your own money to send your pastor’s family on a cruise (wouldn’t that be nice though? ;) ) 

Instead, a vacation for a pastor can be something as simple and small as giving he and his wife a night away without the kids or having the church pay for tickets to a marriage enrichment weekend. Another option might be having a secret offering congregation members can contribute to and then presenting the pastor with a check in the collected amount that he can put away for his own vacation destination later on!

8. Give him an extra Sunday off.

When I was growing up, I didn’t think about the fact that our church’s minister hardly ever got to sit through church himself!

Pastors need to be ministered to as well, and a great way to create this opportunity for your pastor is to give him an extra Sunday off so he can attend a different church (in or out of town!). Pastors can be greatly refreshed for even better ministry through an opportunity like this! 

9. Give him a new Bible study or devotional book. 

My husband loves finding new studies and devotionals and some of the best ones he has read have been given to him by people in the congregation. 

You might also consider giving a Bible study or devotional that your pastor’s whole family can use together! 

Have more ideas for blessing your pastor? Share them in the comments!