People In Your Church You Don't Say "Thank You" to Nearly Enough

One of the most important things you can do as a leader is to say “thank you.” However, pastors and ministry leaders rarely make the time to go out of their way to express their gratitude to those who give freely of their time and resources to help their local church do what God has called it to do.

Be honest: when was the last time you intentionally thanked the following people—with a note, gift, or phone call—for their service to you and your church?

Volunteers: the people who get there early to set up, rehearse, make the coffee, and make sure everything is ready to go in the kids ministry. If we’re honest, we probably spend more time as ministry leaders complaining about volunteers than thanking them (did that sting a little bit?). We should never allow the small minority of flaky volunteers overshadow our gratefulness for the vast majority who just love to show up and serve each week.

Your kids’ children and student ministry leaders: Sure, all volunteers matter. But if you’ve got kids or teenagers, hopefully you’re aware of the fact that really good student and children’s ministry volunteers make a big difference. Make sure you go out of your way to thank the specific teachers, small group leaders, and volunteers that work with your own kids each week.

Coffee/Kitchen Crew: I’ll let you in on a dirty little secret…almost no one really thinks about the coffee at your church unless it’s out (or there aren’t any more cups, or it’s too cold/hot/strong/weak. Most coffee/hospitality volunteers are rarely seen, but they work really hard.

Givers: If you don’t usually go out of your way to thank givers, it’s probably not because you aren’t grateful; you just might not know how. Maybe you feel uncomfortable talking about money with the people who pay your salary. Or perhaps you are of the opinion that you shouldn’t know the giving habits of your congregation, to avoid favoritism. But it’s important to thank people for giving sacrificially of their resources, just as you thank them for giving sacrificially of their time and skills. Even if you don’t want to know how much someone gives or even whether they give at all, you can still write general thank you notes and have your treasurer or finance manager send them to everyone who gave something to your church last year. 

Custodians: This one should go without saying, but it needs to be said: when was the last time you thanked the people who clean up all the messes around your church? Even if your facilities are large enough that you can pay a team of custodians, take a minute to express your gratitude that everything looks great week in and week out.

Who else doesn’t receive thanks nearly often enough that should be added to this list?