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Clergy need patience, not silence for today's times

October is clergy appreciation month. It is a season in our life together where we give thanks for the faithfulness, compassion and dedication our pastors pour over all of us throughout their ministry—in our local churches, hospice settings, hospitals, academia and so many other settings where our clergy serve God’s people. Personally, it makes sense to me that we should acknowledge this all the time, but October is the “official season” for these acknowledgments.

Pacific Northwest UCC Conference Minister Phil Hodson

Our clergy are working incredibly hard, and the events surrounding all of us are compounding that work. There’s so much to get done, and much more to respond or react to that it can be overwhelming.

So, just as I lift up gratitude here, I also want to offer a few thoughts on how to keep our work in balance in this season. My hope some of these ideas might resonate with and be a blessing to both clergy and laity. When considering when to speak, when to keep silent and where to pour our energies, these are the steps I take:

Examine your own heart. What stirs within that you feel strongly about giving voice to? What breaks it? What brings healing to it? Advocacy and prophetic witness can call attention to what is wrong in our world. Calling out sin, bad behavior, inviting folks to live into another way is part of what it means to be the church.

The challenge here continues to be echo chambers: if we’re upset all the time, rather than calling out specific things and finding space to refresh and renew our own spirits, folks quit listening and the power of our voices are diluted. 

It is equally important to give voice to that which is good and life-giving, turning attention to things that offer hope. All around us, I believe, is a deep yearning for hope.

Know your context. Where can you focus your voice that will engage the community where you are? What can you give voice to that will bring care to those in your midst who need it directly?

The ministry of all believers that we profess invites each of us to engage directly with the work of the Church in the world, to be active agents in bringing about heaven on earth. There’s no exception to that participatory invitation. So what will energize the people where you are and how can you channel that energy in tangible, measurable ways?

Maybe you’re writing letters to representatives weekly and taking the time to pray over these letters, then organizing to follow up with phone calls and words of encouragement—as well as correctives—with those same representatives to advocate for the issues that are reflective of your faith.

Maybe you’re organizing food drives for federal workers in your community and talking about the importance of life and health and what it means to truly be just.

Go deep theologically. Articulate well the faith that calls for your actions. The gospel compels us to be active agents of the Divine in the world. To advocate, to offer both a corrective and encouragement, to be well-springs of hope and givers of grace. Know the Scriptures, share the stories that inspire the work you’re calling folk to do with you by God’s grace. These are our stories, too, and we need to both know and tell them.

Be patient. Be persistent. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Give thanks to one another for the good work you are doing. Give grace to yourself and each other when it feels like you’re not doing enough. Share what you’re up to—with me and with others—through the Google Group or the eNews or the quarterly Conference News, so that we can learn from and with one another and all be better at this work that God has called us into together.

Remember that patience is not silence. May it be so for you.

 

Pacific Northwest Conference UCC News © copyright Fall 2025

 

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