I love this time of the year, the cool crisp air, the leaves changing colors.  It encourages me to stop and contemplate God’s beauty reflected in nature, enjoy the transition as it happens while realizing that it is part of God’s plan and design.  As I do so, I can’t help but think as our church navigates through our own season of change, that this too is part of God’s greater plan and design.  I am most hopeful in our Lord and am grateful for how HE has and continues to fulfill his promises to us corporately and individually. 
One of those promises is the promise God gives in Jeremiah 3:15 “And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”  Isn’t this so true?  I am so encouraged when I see our pastors passionately seeking after God’s heart and sacrificially serving us through the good times and tough times.  They are truly heroes and prove it to us each and every day!  
As October is Pastor’s Appreciation month, I encourage you to take time today and say thanks in your own way.  Exercise the power you have to bless…
- Elder Michael J. Park

Like every year, the EC Elders, Deacons and Oikos Leaders have prepared gift cards and flowers to demonstrate our appreciation toward our EC pastors.  As I was going through the same routine of “collecting resources” from our EC Elders, Deacons and Oikos Leaders to purchase gift cards and flowers, I could not help but wonder if we truly understand the meaning of the word “Appreciation.” So I looked it up via an online dictionary.  Appreciation means “an ability to understand the worth, quality, or importance of something”.
Although gift cards and flowers are nice, I believe our pastors feel the most appreciated when we take time to get to know them, to thank them, to pray with and pray for them…you get the picture. 
Please bless our pastors today and any other day by delivering your “thank you” personally.
To our pastors:  Thank you from our hearts!
- Elder Alex Guo

From the Hearts of our EC Elders
October 20, 2013

If you have been attending our church for many years, you know by now that we set aside the month of October to appreciate our pastors. It’s not an official holiday, but many churches across the nation mark October as Pastor’s Appreciation Month and the 2nd Sunday as “Pastor’s Appreciation Day.” Out of curiosity I googled how this wonderful tradition got started and found some interesting facts. According to SBCvoices.com, in 1992, a layperson Jerry Frear, Jr., was brainstorming with church colleagues about how they might be of help to their minister when he glanced at a calendar and noticed that it was almost Groundhog’s Day. So he thought, if they have a day for groundhogs, there ought to be a day for the 375,000 clergy people in America. Hallmark sold their first pastor’s appreciation card in 2002. These are some interesting facts for sure.
As I was doing this research, I came across a cool song titled “Pastor’s Song” by Donna Jackson. It had a very nice melody and flow to beautiful lyrics that express appreciation of a pastor’s dedication and how God will consider his job well done. I encourage you to check it out on Youtube. Perhaps you can learn the song and sing for the pastors. =)
I also read a good article that I wanted to share with you. I will only quote only a part of the article, the entire article can be found at http://thrivingpastor.org/clergyappreciation/ 
The nature of the service provided by pastors and their families is unique. God has entrusted to them one of the most precious of assignments — the spiritual well-being of His flock. When a pastor becomes ineffective, the very souls of his or her parishioners are endangered. When eternity is in the balance, we should all be concerned.
Pastors and their families live under incredible pressures. Their lives are played out in a fishbowl, with the entire congregation and community watching their every move. They are expected to have ideal families, to be perfect people, to always be available, to never be down and to have all the answers we need to keep our own lives stable and moving forward. Those are unrealistic expectations to place on anyone, yet most of us are disappointed when a pastor becomes overwhelmed, seems depressed, lets us down or completely burns out.
That’s why God has instructed us to recognize His servants. “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17).
I subscribe to many leadership blogs and Christian articles so I can continue to learn and grow as a pastor. On a blog on Sharefaith.com, someone listed 8 ways you can show appreciation to your pastor. Though I enjoyed reading and agreed with all 8 ways, I could not agree more with his last point on how people can show their appreciation to their pastors by Growing in Grace. We, the pastors, take greatest joy when we see changes or growth in people’s lives as a result of our ministry and of what God is doing in their lives.
These past few months have been a tough season for our church but it definitely helped us to grow and mature together. And what more appreciation do we need from you when you already brought so much joy in our hearts by the way you responded with such love and grace? Just continue to hunger and thirst after God and grow in your walk with Him.  

From Pastor Brian’s Heart
October 13, 2013