Appreciate Your Pastor

As last week’s blog article stated, October is Clergy Appreciation Month. There’s also a Clergy Appreciation Day on the second Sunday in October (which happens to be today). Since the early 1990s, these unofficial holidays have reminded congregations to honor ministers and their families. 

Sadly, too many Christians use the Internet to criticize preachers they don’t like. How about they instead express gratitude for the ones who helped them grow in the Lord? Over the years, God has used ministers from various denominations to speak into my life. Some are pastors whom I previously wrote about in this list. This article will highlight others who weren’t mentioned:

John Arnott - In 1994, a supernatural move of God began at Toronto Airport Vineyard. Changed lives resulted from what became known as “The Toronto Blessing.” I first saw Pastor John during a 1995 meeting in Minneapolis. A few weeks later, I made the first of many visits to the church now known as Catch the Fire. Despite the unusual manifestations that sometimes happened, John allowed them while he ministered on the Father’s love. I am grateful for the inner healing received during my extended stays in Toronto.

John Kilpatrick - During the late 1990s, the Lord sent me to Pensacola, Florida numerous times to attend Brownsville Revival meetings. Pastor Kilpatrick wasn’t there during my first visit. He was recovering from a fall on top of his house. Over the years, I’ve seen his humility and by the grace of God oversaw revival meetings with integrity. One statement he often made was “Everything is Father-filtered.” I’ve chatted with John only a couple of times, but still occasionally listen to him online.

Chuck Sund - At the end of 2010, the Lord led me back to my birthplace of Fargo, North Dakota to live there for a season. A friend invited me to attend Joy Church, a Word of Faith fellowship led by a Rhema graduate and his wife. To my surprise, Pastor Chuck gave me an offering and later hired me to do computer work for a side business he had at the time (I also helped him upload podcasts of his sermons). Although I appreciated the teachings at this church, I desired to resume traveling. Before the cold weather set in again, the Lord released me to leave Fargo. Pastor Chuck felt led to close his church a couple of years later. He has since returned to Tulsa and then moved back to North Dakota.

Tom Breuner - Although he downplays the title of “pastor”, Tom and his wife Sue oversee Abundant Love Christian Fellowship that meets in their home in Washington, DC. Tom leads worship like a DJ, playing various MP3s and videos before he or a guest speaker ministers the word. I enjoy the casual atmosphere of this house church. We are free to dance, move around, and fellowship instead of being confined to chairs and pews. Food and coffee are also served there. 

Mark Robshaw - Mark and I first met during a 2009 evangelism outreach in Tarboro, North Carolina. At the time he and his wife Donna were traveling missionaries based in eastern Virginia. Three years later, Mark invited me to live and work with him at a church plant in South Hill, Virginia. A few years later, he moved his family back to his hometown of Buffalo and eventually started a church there. We have done many crosswalks and other street evangelism outreaches in both cities.

Mark Dorn - In 2022, I met this pastor of Vertical Life during an outreach by a strip mall in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. We soon connected on Facebook. Then in January 2024, Mark spotted me at Rodney Howard-Browne’s church during their Winter Campmeeting and commended my evangelism outings. Little did he know I was going through personal issues then. A few weeks later, I returned to the Twin Cities area for a lengthy stay. One Sunday, I visited Vertical Life for the first time and returned there many times. Pastor Mark encourages all believers to become soul winners. Many Sundays I got to share testimonies from the streets.

There are approximately 350,000 pastors in the United States. Most of them spend long hours praying, studying the Word, making hospital visits, dedicating babies, marrying, and burying people. Many are bi-vocational because they aren’t being paid for what they are worth. They carry burdens that are often unreasonable and need our prayers as well. 

Even if most of what pastors do appear unrecognized and unrewarded on this side of eternity, you are appreciated!

“Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance.” (1 Thessalonians 5:12 NLT)