Tribute to a Pastor

Tribute to a pastor is what this page is about. Many a church member believes that the pastor needs to be kept humble. So they keep his salary low, ignore him during clergy appreciation month, which is October, and do or say very little in the way of encouraging him.

Before we start, I think it is important to understand that a tribute should go to a pastor who has retired or passed away. A pastor currently in pulpit should be shown appreciation and not just during the month of October but all year round.

A tribute in the case of a pastor who is deceased could be in the form of a ceremony, gift to his favorite charity, testimony or praise given as thanks in the acknowledgment of service well done or a life well-lived in a spiritual context.

Too many pastors have spent their life giving all to the sheep only to pass away to the glories of heaven with little to no remembrance. Out of sight and out of mind seems to be the rule of the day.

Each pastor who has served his flock deserves to have a "tribute to a pastor" when he has passed on. This tribute should include life accomplishments, high points and low points, mountains and valleys.

It would be nice if people who have been touched by the pastor wrote or said a few words about how the pastor has touched their life.

A poem or two could be read during the tribute to a pastor that matches the life he led.
What to say about someone should come from the heart and his/her experience with that pastor. Going to other sites and copying what others have said about someone will leave the tribute cold and heartless.

And in any tribute to a pastor, several of his favorite songs could be sung.

It may even be possible to create a web site where people can post pictures and other memories of the pastor. If a web site is not possible then a scrapbook of some sort could be made.

Perhaps a place of honor could be given the pastor somewhere in the church where his picture is hung and the scrapbook is placed for all to see, not so the pastor can be worshiped, but so his service can be remembered as an example to those following in his footsteps.

If this is a special ceremony for a retiring pastor, then perhaps it can be videotaped and all that happens or is said, to include the scrapbook are made into a DVD.  This could be sold with the proceeds going to the pastor’s favorite charity.

A room or building could be named as a tribute to a pastor.  Where I went to Bible College, each building was named after a denominational leader.

Another idea would be to tape various people around the church in thirty second blurbs and put them on You Tube or even show it on the video monitor during a service.