Our pastor has accepted a call and is leaving at the end of August. We are looking for ideas to celebrate our pastor and his wife in responsible, physically distant, and meaningful ways at the end of August. We don't have much time to plan! Does anyone have suggestions or ideas that might help us plan this?
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What about inviting members of the congregation to record a short video of themselves giving a message to the pastor and his wife? It could be as simple as "Thank you, ____ & ____ for serving us" or a passage of scripture or a blessing. Include the kids of the congregation. If you have someone in your congregation who is tech-savvy, they could compile the individual ones into a nice video presentation that could be shared with the whole congregation as well as treasured by the couple. Our precious previous congregation did this for us as a part of our farewell last summer, and our current congregation just did this a couple of weeks ago as a surprise for a 50th birthday.
Thank you for that idea. We just did a video for our youth director, who left this week. We need to come up with three unique ideas, as three of our staff are moving away this summer :(
You could encourage the congregation to send cards or notes if you have a lot of non-techy members. Depending on your area's guidelines, you may be able to have a drive-through or drive-by celebration of some kind.
Thank you, Rachael, for the ideas. We'll be discussing ideas early next week and I'll be sure to mention these. I appreciate the help!
Check out Reformed Worship issue #123 which includes "Saying Goodbye to a Pastor: A Litany of Farewell" by Joy Koning of 3rd CRC in Kalamazoo, MI. https://www.reformedworship.org/article/march-2017/saying-goodbye-pastor
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From Reformed Worship #80 "When Pastors Come...and Go: Litanies for Services of Installation and Parting" by Mary S. Hulst and Gerald Kramer https://www.reformedworship.org/article/june-2006/when-pastors-comeand-go
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