With the start of the new year of church work now behind us, in nearly all congregations much time will be spent on visitation. Elders make home visits, ladies from the women’s society will make their rounds, pastoral workers see to members who need their care and attention, and numerous members of the congregation bring a spontaneous (pastoral) visit, now here, then there. In an effort to serve all of them, I have a few observations on house visiting from a biblical perspective. I have no pretention to cover the topic in its entirety; I will only point out a few relevant items. My intention is also to stimulate, to encourage, and to sharpen each other; perhaps also to incite others to give themselves to this work.

As appears from God’s Word, the work of visitation is essential for the Christian congregation. To be sure, the Lord does not depend on it, for the congregation is Christ’s possession. Christ himself takes care of it (see Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 21). However, for this care God employs people to proclaim the gospel, to instruct believers and unbelievers, and to visit the members of the congregation. The Reformer Bucer puts it this way: “Visitation is part of the service of pastoral care that Christ himself extends to the church.” Whoever therefore devotes himself to the task of visitation lets himself or herself be enlisted by Christ for his work in and for the congregation.

Office-Bearers and Congregation Members⤒🔗

In the light of God’s Word, visits are a calling both for office-bearers as well as the members of the congregation. In the church, both have a task of their own. The fact that office-bearers are called to visit is clearly shown from Acts 20:28. Paul calls upon the elders of the church at Ephesus to pay careful attention to all the flock, the members over whom the Spirit has made them “shepherds.” This word is directly derived from the image of a shepherd and his flock, and has in focus the care of the flock. “Shepherding,” therefore, has two aspects: leading and caring. That will become reality by means of meeting and visiting them. The background to this is the message of Ezekiel 34, where pastoral care is identified concretely: to strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bring back the wandering, heal the wounded.

In short, visitation in the Christian congregation is first of all a task of the office-bearers.

However, alongside them the congregational members also share this calling. As Luther describes it, the congregation is a priesthood of believers. While in the Roman Catholic church all emphasis was placed on the “special office,” the Reformation once again focused all attention on “the office of all believers.” This includes to be concretely looking out for each other.

The Bible is rather clear on this point, especially in the New Testament. We can think of the apostle Paul’s letters, where often the call is sounded for the congregation to truly experience the real communion by supporting, encouraging, and admonishing one another.

Also James has described this in a very special and powerful manner. In James 1:27 he writes, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” To James, genuine religion and true piety is not first and foremost a matter of confession, of preaching, or of spiritual experience, but it is a matter of shepherding. True piety is unthinkable without us looking out for one another. Very concretely, James points out the orphans and widows, two particular groups of the population who in those days experienced real distress because any type of social provision was lacking. James’ notion is therefore: practicing pure religion consists of visiting the weak, the sick, and people in distress.

Anyone who makes himself available to this may know that he takes on an important task in God’s kingdom.

In Practice←⤒🔗

I will now make some observations about the practice of the home visit.

All work of visitation begins with some preparation. Concretely, we need to remember two aspects:

1. We need to think about our personal prayer in which we confess our dependence on the Lord, where we ask him for a good visit, and implore him for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

2. We need to reflect on the specific needs of the member to be visited, or those of his family. Who are they? What do we know of them? What was discussed in a previous conversation?

About the home visit itself, we need to realize that it is essential for a pastoral visit that we speak and meet together before the face of God and in the light of God’s Word. This distinguishes the pastoral visit from other type of discussions.

It also indicates that pastoral visits assume a broader content than simply the spiritual realm. Where possible, that certainly needs to have an important place in a pastoral visit. But it’s not the only focus. Life is a unity. God’s Word is authorative over all of our life. In the presence of God and in the light of God’s Word, therefore, a conversation can and should cover aspects from our whole life: situations and relationships, sickness, worries and blessings, the relationship to God and the neighbour.

Conversation←⤒🔗

The format of a pastoral visit is characterized by how we shape the conversation. There may be times where a conversation is impossible. In cases of, for instance, serious sickness, dementia, or psychological disorders, a conversation is beyond reach. In such cases the pastoral visit will consist mainly in simply being there, in encouragement, sympathy, and intercession. In most other cases the pastoral visit will have a conversational format.

What is a conversation, and what determines a pastoral conversation? Without giving an exhaustive list I will mention a few characteristics of a (pastoral) visit:

1. Characteristic of a good conversation is the encounter. A monologue of either the visitor or of the one being visited is not a conversation. It is a matter of communality. You are together and you meet each other. You look for a true encounter. Therefore, both visitor and the one being visited need to be present wholeheartedly and with their full attention.

2. Respect is our next characteristic ingredient for our conversation as we meet together. Based on Christ’s appeal to accept one another, the visitor needs to respect the one visited, even if for the visitor this causes inner difficulties. In no way does this imply that God’s Word cannot be used to teach, to comfort, or to admonish. On the contrary: it concerns here the basic attitude with which the visitor approaches the members of the congregation. For Christ’s sake this attitude may never have room to “denounce” or to “judge” the other. At all times we will need to show respect for his faith life, character, lifestyle, views, and situation in life.

3. Listening is the third characteristic of a conversation. Listening is more than merely hearing. To start with, listening is the art of allowing someone to express himself fully. Do not interrupt the other party, but give him or her the opportunity to explain what’s on their heart. Encourage this also by asking questions whether you have understood correctly what the other was trying to say. In addition, listening is also to allow what’s being said to penetrate, to allow the other to articulate what they mean. In that sense listening is not a passive but an active process. While listening, we digest the things we hear such that we can react to it most appropriately.

4. This leads me to the next aspect, which is to elaborate on the words of the other party. As noted, a conversation is not a monologue but a dialogue. Each visitor in Christ’s church needs to remind himself that he does not come for his own sake, but for the sake of the other. That means to address or to react to the matters raised by the other and so to continue the conversation.

5. Finally, biblical notions are essential to a good pastoral conversation. Sometimes spiritual heart-to-heart meetings occur spontaneously. That is not always the case. Then it is up to the visitor to bring those biblical notions into the conversation, not in a forceful manner, but modestly and through asking questions. These need to always be related to God’s Word, because a pastoral visit is, as we’ve seen, a visit in the light of the Word of our Lord. Let God’s Word speak. This can be brought about through opening our Bibles together and to compare and discuss what God is communicating. It can also mean that in our conversation we reference the biblical lines of thought, the divine promises.

Let us not forget these things in this new season. We know ourselves called to bring pastoral visits.