By Cathryn Stout, Ph.D.
Each year, the first full week of May marks Public Service Recognition Week, a time to honor those who serve in local, state, and federal government. But in a climate increasingly hostile to public workers, one week is not nearly enough. We need a constant reminder that public servants, too, are created in the Imago Dei—the image of God—and are worthy of respect.
Some lawmakers now portray public servants as a taxpayer burden. But this rhetoric isn’t just mean-spirited—it’s morally wrong. It erodes trust, scapegoats workers for political gain, and disregards the sacred ways they answer God’s call to serve the common good.
For generations, a “good government job” has meant proud service and a path to upward mobility. From the post office to public schools, government work has offered fairer hiring practices, stronger workplace protections, and a reliable road to the middle class—especially for veterans, Black Americans, women, people with disabilities, and others who long faced documented discrimination in the private sector. We must remember: the 1963 March on Washington was not just for civil rights; it was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. These two pursuits—economic justice and civil rights—have always been intertwined.
And yet today, public servants are under attack. Over the past 100 days, an estimated 200,000 federal employees and contractors have been laid off. State and local workers, myself included, have felt the ripple effects of yanked federal funding.
On April 2, I received a voicemail informing me that my role in public health communications had been cut due to federal budget reductions. Just three months earlier, I was commended and promoted. Then, on a dark day in April, I was told to return my equipment immediately and walk away from the programs I had developed. No severance. No team thank-you. Just silence.
But this crisis isn’t only about jobs; it’s about vanishing services. In real time, we’re witnessing the dismantling of:
- AmeriCorps teams that staff food banks and respond to natural disasters
- Public broadcasting divisions that create early learning shows like Sesame Street
- Public health offices that monitor disease outbreaks to prevent them from spreading
- Safe to Sleep initiatives that help protect babies from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
- College success offices that guide first-generation students through financial aid and tutoring—transforming families and the workforce
When these jobs disappear, so do the services, and the extra burden falls on already-stretched churches.
This erosion of respect for public service isn’t new. It includes President Reagan’s 1981 declaration that “government is the problem” to recent claims that “federal employees do not deserve their paychecks.” But Jesus reminded us: “The worker is worthy of their wages” (Luke 10:7). Labor and reward aren’t just heavenly promises; they should be earthly realities.
Combine the vilification of public employees with the attacks on unions and the rise of outsourcing, and a troubling pattern emerges: shrinking public accountability and expanding private contracts. If efficiency were the primary goal, we might revisit the imperfect but orderly reforms of the 1990s, when President Clinton launched a five-year effort to downsize government with bipartisan Congressional support. Instead, we’re witnessing an ideological campaign to dismantle trust in public institutions. Whose agenda does this serve? Not God’s who calls us to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly” (Micah 6:8).
Let us raise a righteous standard, not just during Public Service Recognition Week but year-round. Let our sanctuaries honor school administrators who show up daily despite morale-deflating classroom culture wars. Let us support sanitation workers, whose dignity Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died defending. Let us uplift public health officials who shield our communities from COVID-19, measles, and pollution. Let us celebrate the social workers, librarians, case managers, park rangers, and public defenders in our pews—those who quietly and consistently work for the common good.
This week, and every week, let’s do more than say thank you. Let’s stand with public servants and affirm this truth without apology: Public servants are not a burden—they are a blessing.
-Dr. Cathryn Stout is a communications consultant, American history scholar, and graduate student at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.
