Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises
Take a trip with the Morning JoyRide®️ as Melody discusses the humorous side of real issues facing families today.
Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises
How to Encourage Your Pastor
Melody sits down with Cindy from Energize Ministries and Carla from Tuckered Out Ministry to discuss Pastors and ways that we can encourage their hearts as they shepherd their churches during a very difficult time in our world.
Welcome to this episode of Quirks, bumps and Bruises. Y'all know that I get a little lonely these days in here by myself, so I love it when I have guests come in and be able to hang out with me, and this morning I have Cindy. Now, you know Cindy from Energize Ministry. Cindy, you and I've been on quite a bit together.
Speaker 1:So, welcome back. Thank you, it's good to be here, but she brought a friend, so Carla is with us as well and Carla is with Tuckered Out Ministry and we're going to be talking about a couple of different things this morning. When it comes to pastors and us just making sure they're taken care of Y'all. It's a hard job and so we want to make sure that we encourage them, we love on them, and there's a lot of different ways that we can do that. With Pastor Appreciation Month coming up in October, just tell us a little bit about Pastor Appreciation coming up and anything involved that can help all of us.
Speaker 2:Sure, pastors have a hard job. They have a lot of stress in their lives, they're carrying a lot of burdens. It is a very intense spiritual battle for them every day and they need encouragement. And we can tell from statistics that we are losing pastors from the ministry because it's too much. Yes, we have some statistics Carla has some too but many of them work 55 to 70 hours a week and a lot of them are bivocational. So they're trying to balance and juggle all that. There's statistics that say 80 percent believe that the ministry has negatively affected their families, so their children, and they see that and it's like they just want to give up. And another statistics that's startling. But only one in 10 who start out as a pastor will retire as one.
Speaker 1:Wow so that sad, that's scary, because we need our pastors, we need them.
Speaker 2:We certainly do. So we want to encourage the congregation to take on the responsibility to care for them and to care well for them, and there's so many multiple ways they can do that.
Speaker 1:You all know, by me being on this morning joyride for a lot of years, how I have a heart for pastors and just a heart for ministerial workers in general. It's hard, it's exhausting, it's rewarding, but it can really tucker you out. And so we want to talk about how we can not only honor pastors in October, but how can we do that all year long? And so this morning I have Carla Goodwin in here with us, along with Cindy, who you already know. But, carla, you are the founder of the ministry titled Tuckered Out Ministry. And tell us a little bit about that, how that name came to be, what you offer for pastors, and let's see if we can't work together to make sure these pastors stay encouraged.
Speaker 3:Sure, well, thanks so much. We are a young ministry. We've only been around for about three years now, but we are based out of Concord, north Carolina, and our heart is very, very similar to Energize and we're just very honored to be partnering with them in this project. But the name Tackered Out honestly, just I feel like the Lord just gave that to me. He just really placed this on my heart.
Speaker 3:Watching my own pastors wear so many different hats and juggle all that they have to do, and just really trying to search through what would be the perfect name for this ministry when we were decided to start it, and I was actually laying in my hammock and I was taking a nap one Sunday afternoon and I literally woke up from my nap after I'd been sitting there trying to think of all these different names and that was the name that just came to my mind.
Speaker 3:I just felt like the Lord said our pastors are tuckered out, and so that's why we have a hammock on our logo was because that's where that name just kind of came to me. And so that's exactly what our pastors are. They're tuckered out even though they love their job. But that's exactly what our pastors are they're tuckered out even though they love their job, like so many of them love their job, and they keep doing it. And then some don't, you know, and so we don't want to see that. We want to help fight and minimize pastor burnout. That's why we've partnered together to work on all the different ways that we can encourage our pastors all year long. As wonderful as Pastor Appreciation Month is and we should still have it it but they fight discouragement and have challenges, and they fight spiritual warfare more than just in october.
Speaker 1:There's 11 more months that pastors have to get through right and I love the tuckered out is. I mean, you know what you are talking about immediately by that name and I feel the same with energized. Both of those names kind of really explain what you do.
Speaker 1:So that's great One. You know you're tuckered out. You all are trying to energize. That's great. We love our pastors, we want to encourage them, we want to love them, we want to pray for them, and there are ways to do that. Sometimes we just don't know what to do. And so, cindy with Energized Ministries, carla with T Tuckered Out Ministries, they have come together to offer a training to help us. The parishioners Correct, yes Know ways that we can help our pastors. So I'm going to let either one of y'all kind of begin to talk about that what this training means, where it is, how it is, all the specifics of that.
Speaker 3:So three years ago, a good friend of mine and I we decided to start a pastor encouragement program within our own church. The Lord just really placed that on our heart, that we needed to be doing something all year long for our pastors, and so with this training, that is exactly what we do. We show our participants exactly how we launch that program, all the different things that we do, and break it down for them step by step. Not that you have to go and replicate exactly what we have done, but our goal is that we want every pastor in every church who has a body of people who are strategically encouraging them every single month, and there's a lot of different ways that you can do that, and so that is our focus of this training is that when you walk away, one, you have a little bit better understanding about pastor burnout and why this is a need. And then, two, we want to give you things that are easy to put in place from the get go. So, whether you are a church that has 20 members, 200 members or 2000 members, right, we're going to share with you all the things that we have done, and some of the things are super easy to put in place the next day and then some take a little bit of planning, but it's not anything that is too cumbersome or too hard right now. We started it with just two people, so it's definitely something that you do not have to have this entire army to make this happen, right, but that is the heart behind it.
Speaker 3:We have two upcoming fall trainings. One is actually in person in Kannapolis, north Carolina. It will be at he's Alive Church from 9 to 11 am, and then our second one is a virtual option's, virtual only, and that will be on november 13th, which isa thursday night from 7 to 9 pm. So that way you can attend either one of those. If you're local to that area or not too far away, you can. We'd love to see you in person, but then, if you're anywhere else across the nation, you can join us virtually that's a great option.
Speaker 1:Some like to just be there in person yes, to see it in full color and then others just schedules make it where they can't do that. So you have that virtual option, which is great. Cindy, what is the best way for those to learn more about this particular training? If you go to our Energize website, wwwenergizeministriescom.
Speaker 2:We have a slider on our homepage there. If you click on that, that takes you right to the website that we have created to for pastor care training and you can sign up there. You can get your questions answered. There's a lot of information about what the course is going to be like and about the dates and all of that, so you can get all signed up right then.
Speaker 1:All right. So that's energize ministriescom. That will link you right to the training that Carla just got through mentioning and if you're unsure how you can help your pastor, what a wonderful way to do that and I'm sure you're going to make it fun and interesting and all kinds of stuff. I bet that if you show up in person you get coffee and donuts.
Speaker 3:I'm just saying and we actually will have prizes too. We did forget to mention that. And the other perk is that not only will they be able to be entered in a drawing for prizes, but we have a pastor prize pack. That's kind of our grand prize, and so one of our participants will be able to then immediately go and bless their pastor by winning that pastor prize pack, that's awesome, and so you will become the favorite parishioner in your church.
Speaker 1:Cindy, you definitely know that I'm a big believer in sabbaticals and making sure pastors get rest, and Carla is here with Tuckered Out Ministries and she believes in that as well. And so there's a training if you were just listening previously coming up, where you're going to be trained to know the best way to make sure your pastor stays encouraged, stays rested and just lets him know that he is appreciated in different kinds of ways. So, carla, one thing I know that you said to me off the air that's going to happen with this training. It's not just a two hour training and see you later Exactly. Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So another layer to this that we felt was really important we want to ensure that this actually happens within those churches. Right, it's really easy. We want to ensure that this actually happens within those churches. Right, it's really easy to always come to a training and you have the best interest and you walk and say, okay, I'm gonna try and get that going, but we wanna actually make sure that the ball gets rolling, and so we are providing support afterwards when you come to our training, and we're basically training people to be a pastor care rep, and so once you decide, yes, that's what I want, I want to serve in that role, then we are going to walk alongside with you so that we can help you get this going in your church, show you all the different ways that we, you know, worked with leadership and that kinds of things.
Speaker 3:But then also we will have a whole community of pastor care reps, and so that's kind of like a whole other layer is that we want to be able to then continue to connect with everyone who has decided to serve in this role, whether you're in Florida or Georgia or wherever. We will have a portal, so to speak, on our website that will be just for PCRs, and so it's a place for us to share ideas, work through any kind of challenges we might be facing. How did you figure this out and be able to work as a group? We certainly don't have all the answers We've been doing this for just three years but we want to learn from others as well, as we feel like the Lord is calling us to pour into our pastors this way, and so we just want to make sure we're providing the support that everyone needs to make sure that it actually happens and then that it sustains for years to come.
Speaker 1:You're basically developing a community of people that can work together. Pastor Appreciation Month is great and I know even at my own church we honor our pastor, like through the month, and you may have a chicken stew and give them a little extra monetary gift or whatever the case is, in some cases maybe a sabbatical whatever, but then that's it until the next October.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So I think that's such a great idea to have that team or that person in your church that's constantly, every month, thinking about this, yes, and noticing when that pastor seems a little weary, you know, a little worn out or may need an extra, you know, day off or whatever that is. So that's a great way for a community of people to come together with great ideas, and I love that. You said sustain. This is sustaining not just in the here and now, and that's it. So I absolutely love that. So again, for more information, you can go to energizeministriescom. I don't want you to get confused, carla is, with Tuckered Out Ministries, but they're working alongside Energize Ministries, which you know a lot about because we've talked with them so much through the years. But the easiest way is to go to energizeministriescom and there you will seea link. Correct, cindy?
Speaker 2:Yes, there's a slider on our homepage that will talk about pastor care training.
Speaker 1:So just click on that, you'll have all the information that you need for this very valuable training. And y'all do that. Go on out there and do that. You will be blessed, but your pastor will be blessed too. That's a mutual thing, right? You're both going to be blessed by what you can do to encourage your pastors.
Speaker 1:We know by statistics that Cindy mentioned earlier, that many pastors are leaving the ministry, as the name of Carla's ministry says, they're just tuckered out, they're tired, they're weary they do, they're extremely discouraged and they are moving away from the ministry. And y'all, we need these pastors, right? We need our pastors. If ever we needed our pastors, we need them now. We need their guidance. We need just all that they can offer to us and our hearts as we go through kind of a really dark world these days. And so this training is going to be there to help you know how to do that, because not everybody understands what to do next, like we can do something for Pastor Appreciation Month. But what can we do beyond that, as you've mentioned, to sustain that, to keep it moving? And so you mentioned, cindy, that there are ways to do that within your church where you don't have to feel like you have to do it all by yourself. That's correct.
Speaker 2:This can be a small group ministry that they take on.
Speaker 2:It could be a Sunday school class and it could be just finding those in your church who have already been gifted with the gift of encouragement, that love, to come alongside.
Speaker 2:One thing that might be helpful if you're nervous about how do I start a new ministry in my church at our last training session, one church sent three of their board members to attend it, and it's not necessarily that they'll do it, but they're going to know who in their church would be good to head this up, and then they have a good feeling about what we're all about and they can vet us and make sure that this is what something their church wants to do and it's not. You know, the pastor can't kind of self-promote himself and say, hey, listen, I really want to find someone who's going to encourage me. No, they're not going to do that, but the leadership can, and so then they could send someone to our next training too, from their church. So that's a good way to see about getting this started in your church, and if you're hearing this and you aren't on a leadership in your church, you can let them know about it, have them check about and say listen, I'd like to do this.
Speaker 1:Maybe you should find out what this is about. You know, every church has those in it that have the gift of encouragement and and they want to do something. They sometimes just don't know what to do. They want to do it, they don't know how to do it. So this training is a perfect way for you to learn, and it's a community of people that have that same passion to encourage Correct, and so it's just a wonderful tool that will help you.
Speaker 1:If your pastor feels appreciated, that in turn, is going to help your church. Right? Yes, one hundred percent, yes. So if you want to get involved in this and I highly recommend that someone from your church get involved in this training you can go to energizedministriescom. You can click on the slider there that will take you to a page that will have everything that you need to know about this training how to sign up, where it is, how it is, who it is, everything you need to know. Again, at energizedministriescom, you may not know what to get your pastor. You want to get them a gift of some kind, but what do you give the pastor who has everything? And so, cindy, you and Energize Ministries have a wonderful thing that's coming up, and it's PAK Pastor Appreciation Kit.
Speaker 1:And so tell us what that is, what's in it, how you can get it.
Speaker 2:Sure, well, we had decided that we want to take the work away off your plate by already creating a kit here that you could give your pastor during pastor appreciation month, and these kits come with a t-shirt that says this pastor runs on jesus and coffee really cute if your pastor loves coffee, as most do, and then it has a lot of other gifts in there has a coffee mug, it has an encouragement cube that they can keep on their desk, that has an appreciation little reminder that spells out pastor and thank you, and it also has a pair of bomba socks in there. So this is on our website as well energized ministriescom, and you can place your order for your pack and we'll send that right out to you and you can have it ready for to give him in october I'm telling you, your website's busy.
Speaker 1:There's a lot going on with Energize Ministries, and so that is a pastor appreciation kit. For the pastor who has everything. This is a great way to show them how much you appreciate them. And again, you can go to energizeministriescom and you just register for that.
Speaker 2:And there's a slider on there, okay, and you fill it out, we can send it to you to personally give to him, or you can have us get his address and send it directly to him from you.
Speaker 1:That is a wonderful idea. I love that. All right, energizeministriescom. You can find information about how to sign up and register for the training with Tuckered Out Ministry with Carla. You're going to love that. That's going to be so valuable to you and your church. You can also go to Energize Ministries to register to have this appreciation kit sent to your pastor you can do that as well and all kinds of other stuff, because I've been to your website. So thank you, ladies, for being here and for talking about something that's kind of close to my heart and something that I think is so very, very important. Thank you so much.
