Most church officers would agree that personal contact with new people who are visiting the church and with members who have special needs is a good thing. Religious institutions are unique in that regard. Not too many organizations have ready access to people in the privacy of their own homes, and service providers and businesses are not expected to suggest that they have an obligation or a right to pay customers or clients a private visit.
In the church the desire to call on people in their homes comes from sincere Christian motives. Most church members know that this is one of the responsibilities of the pastors as they provide prayers for the people [W- 1.4005 a. (3)], offer pastoral counseling (W-6.3003), meet with prospective new members, visit those who are in the hospital, call on shut-ins in their homes or in senior care facilities, console those who have lost loved ones, and assist those with special health, mental, or spiritual needs (G-6.0202).
According to our constitution, elders and deacons also share in this ministry in significant ways (W-6.3002). The session is intimately involved in the fellowship of mutual support [G-10.0102 (e)] and elders are directed to visit, comfort, and care for the people (G- 6.0304). The primary responsibilities of deacons are to provide brotherly and sisterly love and sympathy to members of the church and minister to any who may be in distress (G-6.0401-0402). Beyond that, all members of the church are called to offer mutual ministries to one another and to care for one another at times of birth, death, personal loss, changes in the circumstances of life etc. (W-6.3000). “Pastoral care is the support which Christians offer one another in daily living and at times of need and of crisis in personal and communal life” (W-6.1003).
The question is not so much whether or not pastoral visitation should take place but its form, organization, and purpose. Who has primary responsibility for this important task, how should it be done, and what do we expect to achieve?
Recently these questions have come up in our own congregation as we consider the fact that some of our members, who were once active, have recently dropped from sight. When members ask me, “What happened to Bobby Smith and his family?” or “How come John Jones does not sing in the choir anymore?” they seem to be assuming that I had better come up with some good answers to these questions. Often when I visit these people in their homes or call them on the phone satisfactory responses are not forthcoming. I have no idea why some of these people have dropped out. Is it because the pastor’s preaching no longer appeals to them? Are they going through an emotional or spiritual crisis they will not or cannot discuss? Did someone say something that really made him or her angry (like the time a church officer told a mother that her daughter was taking too many cookies during fellowship hour!)? My imagination is very creative and without solid answers I could conjure up multiple scenarios that may have caused the loss of the members in question.
Think about your own congregation. Who has the primary responsibility for calling on inactive members? Is it reasonable to think that the pastors are the only ones who should be doing it? Are the pastors always the best people to be asking personal questions about health, changes in life, dropping out of church fellowship? Do your pastors have the time and energy to take on this task all alone?
Who should make the really difficult calls when a member is dissatisfied, hurt, angry, or unhappy with decisions the pastor and session have made? Who really wants to do it? Who should be talking to the member who has a serious personal conflict with another member, with an officer, with the choir director, with one of the staff? When is this desire to visit people personally unreasonable, irrational, or compulsive? Are we really treating our members as adults if we have to go with our emotional hats in hand, nearly begging them to tell us why they do not attend church, why they are hurt or angry etc.? What responsibility do they have to tell the truth in love or meet their obligations without being cajoled or intimidated?
How often does your dentist visit you if you do not keep an appointment to have the new crown replaced? Does your physician offer to come to your home if you do not like her diagnosis that you are overweight? Does your financial advisor call for an appointment because you are drawing down your investments too fast? What limits should be placed on the obligation to visit other church members and when do such visits become a waste of time and energy and turn out to be counterproductive?
In our own congregation I am going to suggest that we put together a small pastoral care committee that will consist of myself, two elders, and two deacons, and one other staff person who will carefully review the names of members who appear to need visitation and develop an individual strategy of pastoral care for each person or family. The assumption is a fundamental one, i.e. that the Holy Spirit can work more effectively and powerfully among a small group gathered in love and prayer than through one person working alone. And while we are making our list we are going to struggle with some of the tough questions that arise about the benefits and drawbacks of pastoral visitation.
EARL S. JOHNSON JR. is the pastor of First Church in Johnstown, N.Y. and adjunct professor of religious studies at Siena College.
