10 ways to affirm weekday ministers

Churches expand God’s reach when they celebrate the Monday-to-Friday activities of their members. The church can breathe new life into daily work—even into whole careers—by helping members reclaim the work week for God. Here are some ideas to suggest to your pastor and worship planners to help make your church a work-friendly zone.

1. Map your city. Get a map of your community and mount it on a bulletin board. Use colored pushpins to show where members work (or where retired members used to work). You’ll have a visual display of your congregation’s Monday-to-Friday outreach.

2. Invite your pastor to drop in for coffee break or brown-bag lunch at your plant or office. Encourage a few friends to do the same. Your pastor will gain valuable insights into the part of life where you spend a lot of your time.

3. Volunteer to organize a series of workplace testimonies in which selected members explain “How I connect Sunday and Monday.” Have them talk about their job, the day-to-day issues they face and how their faith helps them witness while they work.

4. Many churches commission people for mission work or voluntary service. Why not encourage your church to do the same for Theresa the Teacher or Arthur the Accountant.

5. Plan a Sunday school elective on the theme of work. Use resources such as Faith Dilemmas for Marketplace Christians (Wipf & Stock), which is designed for a 13-week quarter. You’ll find that many people are energized to talk about their work in the context of the church.

6. If you have a church newsletter, suggest that it carry anecdotes featuring members’ jobs and the challenges they face Monday to Friday.

7. Work strikes a responsive chord in worship (and not just on Labor Day weekend). Here’s a suggestion for your planners: Ask members to show up some Sunday wearing their usual work garb to illustrate the diverse cultures the congregation penetrates every week. Imagine the sight as electricians, nurses, mechanics, firefighters, medical technicians, janitors, waitstaff and office workers sport their uniforms.

8. Offer to arrange a “tools of the trade” worship display to showcase goods and services put forth by members during the week.

9. Suggest a special benediction to signal that the work week is an important part of the Christian life. Sample: “Sisters and brothers in Christ, we are not dismissed; we are not just free to go—Christ sends us. Go forth into the world in the power of the Spirit; go to help and heal in all that you do.”

10. Post a sign over the main exit door that says “Service Entrance.” But post it on the inside, not the outside. That way it’s the last thing worshipers see as they leave, reminding them that they are heading out into the world to spend the next week as ministers.