It’s October and this is Pastor Appreciation Month. With regular church attendance in the United States on the decline this observance could seem to be losing importance. As someone for whom faith is important, I maintain it is more important than ever.

A survey by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in the fall of 2023 found that more than half of current ministers had considered leaving the ministry.

It’s a stressful job.

My parents were devout Christians and we missed very few Sundays in church.

The first pastor I can remember is the Rev. Roskamp. He was the pastor who performed the funeral for my oldest brother who died shortly after birth when I was less than 3 years old. My parents often expressed appreciation for the Rev. Roskamp’s support and kindness and in my very young mind I thought he was someone special too.

When I was 4 years old we moved to another community and my parents joined our family’s ancestral church. The pastor was the Rev. Cramer, an older man with wire-rimmed glasses and a mustache. I thought he must be God’s assistant.

When I was 10 my parents changed churches and I became acquainted with Pastor Olson, an affable middle-aged man who often played softball with us kids during Vacation Bible School. Pastor Olson was the man who helped me understand my need for forgiveness and for a relationship with Jesus and I am forever grateful for his guidance.

Pastor Olson’s successor was Pastor McClun. I was a teenager by now and the year I was 16 Pastor McClun asked me to teach a VBS class. The next year he asked me to be his assistant VBS director. His confidence in a kid who suffered from a lack of it is remembered and appreciated to this day.

Then a brown-eyed young lady invited me to worship at her church and I met her pastor. The Rev. Eddy performed our marriage ceremony. I appreciated him too.

I promised my bride when we moved to Sioux City that we would get serious about our faith and get involved in a church in our new community. We appreciated the warm welcome of Pastor Wallinga.

He was succeeded by Pastor Ken, the first minister who I considered a friend as well as a pastor. I admired Pastor Ken and, when elected to the church board, enjoyed working with him. Unfortunately, Pastor Ken experienced a moral failing. This experience taught me the realities (and dangers) of the job and to exercise grace and forgiveness.

I was asked to serve on the search committee that ultimately called Dr. Louis Lotz to our church. Lou, as he preferred to be called, was my age, had a deep understanding of the faith and was a gifted teacher and preacher. We became friends and I learned much from him.

Leaving that church and Lou was one of the most difficult parts of our move away from that community.

In our new community I became acquainted with the pastors in our church there. In addition I became involved with the ministerial alliance in the community and enjoyed getting to know and work with several of the pastors in town.

Working for The Salvation Army from 2007-2014 I had an opportunity to meet and work with a host of pastors and appreciated each of them. It was during this time I met Father Jim Kiernan, a retired Roman Catholic priest.

Father Jim and I became coffee regulars. When my wife passed away, Father Jim took me under his wing and stayed in close and frequent contact. I deeply appreciated his pastoral care and concern.

Sadly, Father Jim passed away nearly 10 years ago.

Today, my pastor is an energetic young family man. Pastor Josh is young; 10 years younger than my son! I admire his leadership qualities as well as his exceptional preaching skills.

When I remarried 10 years ago my bride was the widow of a pastor at my home church, a man I deeply admired. I appreciate him too.

It has been my observation that serving a congregation as its pastor is a challenging and often difficult job. The least we owe our pastors is to appreciate him or her (and their spouse!)

Arvid Huisman can be contacted at huismaniowa@gmail.com. ©2024 by Huisman Communications.