Pastors' day ?

Last Sunday was “pastors ‘day” in Togo...A bit like our “Father and Mother's Day”, it is a day “in honour” of pastors and elders. But, obviously, the EGCT does not have to pay attention to this day, and our churches do not have to follow the customs of other Togolese christians. It is clear...only the Bible is the guideline for church life and in the Bible, of course, we read nothing about a “pastors-day"'! Also, our elders realise all too well that it is not themselves, but Christ the Head of the Church, who should be at the centre.

Yet the elders of the EGCT decided not to let this day go unnoticed... Why? I asked Alexandre and after his answer, I realised that their motivation is definitely grounded in Biblical principles! Elders are given to churches by God and should be respected by the congregation. They are called by God to teach the congregation and to live before them that which they teach; therefore, their example should also be followed. Finally, it is Biblical for the local church to provide that what the pastors need to live. (1 Cor. 9: 1-15). Since the inception of the EGCT, all elders have always had full time jobs to support themselves. So, they have always done the work in the church in their remaining free time. As a result, everyone has become accustomed to this and the Sunday offerings are never enough, even allowing the elders to partially free themselves from their daily work so that they can spend more time preparing their sermons and doing pastoral visits. For the survival of the EGCT, it is vital that this changes! For example, one of our congregations now has the practical problem that their pastor has now become too old to continue. But how can this congregation ever call a pastor if they cannot recompense him for the work for which they are calling him?

So, the elders did decide to pay attention to ‘pastors’-day'. But besides giving the congregation an opportunity to reflect on God’s good gift of elders to his church...it became very clear from the sermon how the congregation, biblically speaking, are supposed to express their gratitude to God for those who feed them spiritually each Sunday in the giving of sufficient offerings. And besides, the elders concluded that it also was just a good reason to have a meal and a time of fellowship together as a congregation at the end of the service!

Please join us in praying that EGCT church members will heed the call of the elders? And that they will do this...not because the elders, but because God asks them to?

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)