October is Church Worker Appreciation Month (part 1)

Our Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod takes the entire month of October to kick off a yearlong observance of church worker appreciation, during which we celebrate and recognize the ongoing faithful service of each LCMS congregation’s called worker(s).

Whether you’re a congregation of 40 or 400, and whether your church is 10 years old or a century old, you know and have known the blessing of being fed and cared for by a church worker (or a team of church workers). Their call is to a ministry that subverts the gates of hell itself. Whether it’s writing a sermon, making a midnight hospital visit, teaching a kindergarten class, preparing youth for confirmation, planning Advent chorale music in mid-July, supporting marriages and families, encouraging someone to share his or her faith, or sitting with someone in crisis, our church workers’ service reflects Christ’s love and sacrifice for His people. For that, we owe our greatest thanks and our deepest appreciation.

Ministry is a marathon, not a sprint. For our faithful church workers, the greatest forms of encouragement — and the most heartfelt displays of appreciation — come from the very people God has called them to serve. So, with the help and input of congregations across the country, we have compiled a list of church worker appreciation ideas, varying in degree from simple to elaborate. We hope that these ideas will fuel creativity and reflection and spur each congregation to recognize their own called workers in at least one new way. We truly believe that perseverance in ministry comes from a combination of the work of the Spirit and the encouragement of the saints being served.