We must come down from our ivory towers, our stations of apartness, and meet with our people where they are. This statement still holds true. Congregations would do well by respecting a pastor’s time and giving him ample opportunity to study and prepare. An aggressive, wide-ranging visitation program can run up the expenses of the pastor, so they should explore ways of saving money, such as visiting with congregants in the pastor's study. Koenig says, “ In counseling elders who complain of feelings of loneliness, it is important to listen to them and validate their feelings. Be intentional. What a privilege for the Pastor to be able to listen carefully and seek to answer biblically the questions that many Christians have about Scripture and holy living. Matt Ward is an Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church in Thompson, GA. Exercise tact and common sense during the visit so as to protect the individual or family from concluding that you are either prying into their affairs or snooping around. We preach with the glory of God always in view, but also with the express concern for people growing in their faith. He also shows that the congregation is very involved, contrary to what Stairs maintains, and actively provides valuable support for the pastoral carer and counselee, in the form of support groups such as those which focus on specific problems, (e.g. Pastors also can encourage members to visit one another. Perhaps nothing more characterizes the life and ministry of Jesus than His identification and empathy with people, including and especially those whom society condemned as sinners. 2002, Pastor, Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, God’s Words Have Been Perfectly Preserved in the King James Version of the Bible, The Polluted Streams of Modern Bible Versions, Letter to a Reformed Pastor About the Gospel, Predestination: God’s Love for Lost Sinners, Westboro Baptist Church and Hyper-Calvinism, Bart Ehrman: Discrepancies in the Gospels, Bart Ehrman: The Authenticity of John’s Gospel, Bart Ehrman: The Authenticity of the Synoptic Gospels, Bart Ehrman: The Illiteracy of the Apostles, Stephenie Meyer, “Twilight”, the Occult, and the Mormon Connection, Anthony Venn-Brown and the Dilemma for Gay Christians, Colby Martin and the Clobber Passages: Abomination, Colby Martin and the Clobber Passages: Sodom and Gomorrah, Satan: Who Carries His Business On? I came away from that session believing that there is a place for a virtual church for people in certain situations. "3 But she doesn't end there, going on further to state that "no minister is sufficiently equipped for his work who does not know how to meet the people at their homes, and come into close relation to their needs."4. In such circumstances they need pastoral care from a trusted confidante, rather than a tasked consultant. If you want to be encouraged then you should prioritize regular pastoral visitation of your members. It is great intel for your prayer and preparation. Again, this all helps us in our task of feeding the flock. Visitation fosters unity and is key to establishing a warm and caring congregation. Spiritual preparation before visiting is important. From this it can be seen that pastoral care and visitation are not simply mechanical duties that have to be performed in order to earn a wage, or keep people quiet. By listening in on the lives and struggles of our brothers and sisters we are reminded constantly of what the ‘real’ world is like. It is true that the primary job of the pastor is to preach and to lead. Sign up for our newsletter by entering your email below: The Center for Pastor Theologians is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Paul might have wanted to go to Rome to encourage the believers there, but he also needed to be encouraged by them (Romans 1:12). However it is very important that the pastor be a pastor, not simply a secular counselor. Trending . They considered it their solemn duty as a minister of the gospel and a maker of disciples. Jesus often visited people in their homes, where He listened to them, ate with them, and generally met their needs (Mark 1:29-34; 5:35-43; Luke 19:5). Be genuine in your words. The time spent with people in the non-crisis moments of life opens the door to ministering to them meaningfully at those times when the wheels come off. I am under constant supervision from several experienced supervisors at the same time I'm supervising others. The role of pastoral carer is to be a guide. Thank you so much for this. Members whose leaders visit with them are more apt to feel a part of the church. As Jesus noted, a good shepherd would personally guard the gate to the sheepfold. Setting aside the hours and energy to visit takes planning. When they saw him they wept and mourned with him; “they sat with him on the ground” for a full week, day and night; and significantly, “no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great”. Add that up over a month or a quarter and it is a lot of time. Our presence in their lives and homes provides opportunity to share our lives and the gospel with non-Christians whom we would never otherwise meet. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" (John 3:17). Willimon states that CPE training has been “of immense help” to pastors, but finishes with the statement “however, CPE may have left its trainees with a very limited concept of ‘pastoral care’” (drawn from p176-177). Each day their minds are bombarded with unwelcome ideas. … He shows that there is a vital sense in which the ideas of visitation and shepherding are connected, and they reflect God’s concern for his people. Include an explanation of the place of an active presence, empathetic listening and intentional follow-up in visitation ministry. The following are, however, offered as aspirational statements. But that is not the model of the pastor that we find in the Bible. MinistryMagazine.org is an official website of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church, © 2020 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Look for opportunities to affirm the individual. Let me first tell you what I am describing.