Pastor Hatcher's Message
March 2010
Greetings in Christ,
Most folk agree that pastoral visitation is important, there will also be a range of opinions on what type of visitation is the most important. The pastoral visitation is different from one parish to the next. What works well in a congregation that has an average attendance of 50 or less is may not function in a congregation where the average attendance is 200 plus. There is no ‘one size fits all’ program of visitation. Visitation has to be tailored to the congregation’s unique needs for ministry.
I have a priority of visitation that looks like the following:
- Church member’s traumatic experiences: serious illness, accidents, surgery, deaths and funerals
- Traumatic events outside the Parish: Death, accident, serious illness of member’s relative, community, pastor’s acquaintance.
- Prolonged support of grieving people: after everyone goes back to their normal routines the grieving continues.
- Spiritual Care: support and guidance for members on matters of faith.
- Emotional Distress: marriage counseling, loss or significant change in employment, family crisis, depression
- Sudden change in member’s participation: may signal serious underlying problems.
- Homebound: members who cannot participate in the day-to-day life of the congregation, either long or short term.
- Short Term Illness: non-emergency and/or chronic illness, either hospital or home
- Prospective Members: New people in the community
- Evangelism: ongoing outreach to unchurched
- Well Member: general, non-crisis visitation
These are not carved in stone and inflexible, rather they are an outline of visitation I have found works well in a congregation our size. The days of the pastor just being able to drop by are past as our lives are filled with things to do and places to be.
Some situations require a great deal of time and energy on the part of the pastor. Others may not require as much, but are important to the people experiencing them. Often the pastor has to rely upon his/her instinct and experience when determining which pastor visit(s) need the most immediate attention. There are many times when the pastor is unaware of a family’s need or crisis. If a visit does not happen, it often means the pastor does not know of the need.
Pastoral visitation is important, but we don’t want to under emphasize the great value that one Christian visiting another can have. As we support one another in Christ, we discover a depth of compassion and care that up builds the whole Church. Your visitation of one another is a gift from God.
In Christ,
Pr. Hatcher