Visitation Pastoral or Home Visitation From a Biblical Point of View

FEB 05FHM2 Visitation House Calls Members’ Visits Elders’ Visits Lay Visitation Pastoral Visits Door-to-Door

Biblical Precedents… 1.Christ encouraged his disciples to go to homes 2 by 2 (Luke 10:5) 2.Christ went to homes as he saw need: 1.Simon and Andrew (Mark 1:29-31). 2.Mary and Martha. 3.Simon, the Leper. 4.Zacchaeus.

Biblical Precedents… 3.The pastoral care exercised by Timothy and Titus presupposed intimate knowledge of the home life of believers: 1.He must manage his own family well and see that his own children obey him with proper respect (1 Timothy 3:4). 2.See also 1 Tim 5:4-8; and Titus 2:4-5.

Biblical Precedents… 4.Paul visited and taught from house to house in Ephesus (Acts 20:20). 5.Paul commanded the Ephesian Elders to shepherd or pastor their flock of God (Acts 20:28). 1.Shepherding requires intimacy with the people of God. 2.Shepherding is a Stewardship obligation (Hebrews 13:17).

Biblical Precedents… 6.Peter commanded elders to feed or Shepherd God’s flock (1 Peter 5:1-4)

Ellen White, Testimonies, page 124 v9 “Remember that a minister’s work does not consist merely in preaching. He is to visit families in their homes, to pray with them, and to open to them the Scriptures. He who does faithful work outside of the pulpit will accomplish tenfold more than He who confines his labours to the desk”

9. Positive Reasons for, and the Fruit that Comes from, Consistent Elder visits.

Elders’ Visits… 1.Manifest personal care in a way that binds people to the church. 2.Inform the elders of the spiritual state of the congregation and are a way of checking the spiritual pulse of the congregation. 3.Build capital in people’s lives so that if the elders need to confront problems there is a relational context.

Elders’ Visits… 4.Afford the opportunity to remove misconceptions and misunderstandings otherwise unknown to the elders. 5.Displays to the members that elders are taking their spiritual respon- sibilities seriously and serves as an exhortation by example that each part of the body of Christ is expected to be faithful.

Elders’ Visits… 6.Demonstrates the parity between pastors and elders and shows people that the pastors are not the only ones they should seek out for counsel. 7.Allows members to express concerns directly to the leadership. 8.Families see pastoral care modelled in their own home.

Elders’ Visits… 9.Elders can pre-empt members who are tempted to make a bad decision or to complicate a difficult situation in some way.

9. Negative Reasons for Not Neglecting Elders’ Visits:

Lack of Elders’ Visits… 1.Depersonalises the leadership of the church, and it becomes easier to criticise the leadership and even fall into disaffection. 2.Mean that leadership make decisions with the congregation as an abstract concept.

3.When elders only become involved in crises the members may assume that the elders have no right to confront sin or administer discipline. 4.Misconceptions members have will remain underground, unknown to the elders. 5.Members may conclude that leadership is not working hard to fulfil their vows and neither should they

6.Members will go to the pastor for all their needs… and the office of elder will loose it’s significance. 7.Members will feel cut off from leadership. 8.Members will struggle alone and make decisions that complicate their lives before the elder can possibly know it and become involved. 9.By the time the elders know about it, it may be to late.

Problems of House Calls 1.Absence 2.Distance 3.Inaccessibility 4.Safety 5.Time

Possible Solutions… 1.When new to district, visit every member. 2.Give priority to visiting those in special groups. 3.Train and encourage members to contact the church. 4.Visit by Telephone. 5.Make yourself available at church.

Original presentation by Pastor Fred Mapp. The ’18 reasons for home visitation’ come from – Ordained Servant — Vol. 13, No. 4, p.92 Copyright by the Committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Published for the committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church under direction of the Subcommittee on Resources for Church Officers