Pastor, if I don't get a response soon, I'm going to write to a minister of some other church!"
Mrs. A. was upset and disappointed, and rightfully so. As a member of my congregation, she had written to the pastor of an Adventist church in a neighboring State, requesting that he visit her grand daughter, whose husband was stationed at a military base near that church. No response. In time her granddaughter and husband had been transferred to a base in another State. Another letter went to an unknown pastor at the address given in the SDA Directory of Churches. Again, no response.
Mrs. B., who was recently baptized in my church, has a sister in a Western State. Mrs. B. promptly shared her new faith with her sister through letters, tracts, and phone calls. Now the sister wanted a pastor to call on her. I wrote and wrote, and finally in desperation called the local conference to get the pastor's address and phone number. He finally made the visit, rather reluctantly it seemed. One visit; nothing more. No appeal for Bible studies, no attempt to befriend or to invite to church. The sister is now attending a church of another faith.
Unfortunately, stories like these are all too common. They betray a serious lack of interest on the part of some workers in following up names.
Names! The very word stirs in me visions of people looking and longing for salvation, people that I must reach.
Why are some ministers careless about names? I can think of at least three reasons:
1. Wrong priorities. As ministers, our primary responsibility must be people. We must learn to maintain a balance between the amount of time we spend in study, preaching, visiting church members, giving Bible studies, counseling, office work, and other duties. But if we are not spending many hours a week in the homes of people, something is woefully wrong with our priorities. And if we cannot find it in ourselves to change this imbalance, we do not belong in the pastoral ministry. To those who place strong emphasis on preaching (as I do), may I say that the greatest fire for preaching comes not from reading books by the fireside but from being out on the firing line!
2. Lack of organization. Names written on odd-size bits of paper scattered about, poorly organized and classified (or worse yet, trusted to the memory), will never produce the baptisms that we seek. The minister who has not learned to organize his names for visitation is seriously handicapped. A little time spent cultivating an interest file is well worth the trouble. Lack of organization becomes, for the minister, a veritable sin, allowing candidates for the kingdom to be neglected or lost sight of.
My own system of organization may not necessarily work for you, but I mention it here by way of example. It revolves around the names themselves, the geographical location, and the time allotted for visitation.
All names from whatever source are typed on 4" by 6" Rolodex cards (available from the Evangelistic Supply Center, P.O. Box 4353, Washington, D.C. 20012, phone [202] 291-2035). I place names of inactive interests in a file card box or drawer, alphabetized by last name within each city or post office section. These names are used for mailing purposes and for visitation during the first two weeks of an evangelistic series to ascertain any change in the level of interest. Incidentally, on all mailings for whatever reason, the words "address correction requested" appear under the church's return address, so that we can continually update our files.
Names of semiactive interests go in a section of the file used for addressing our monthly church newsletter, which goes to semiactive and active interests as well as to church members. The newsletter is always slanted to make these individuals feel a part of what is going on in our district. These semiactive names receive an occasional visit.
Names of active interests and current Bible studies are organized both geo graphically and also by the day of the week in which I visit that area. Four solid afternoons and evenings a week are devoted to this, supplemented by visitation on other days as needed. The church list is also divided geographically so that visits to members can be interspersed through the day in each visitation area.
Such record-keeping may seem ponderous to some, so the best time to make notations on visitation cards is right out in the car following the visit. Of course you should do so out of sight of the house you have just called on
3. Difficulty in learning names. The old saying "I never forget a face, but I can't remember names" is true for too many. Sometimes this problem can result in names that are overlooked in our visitation program. However, rather than throwing up our hands in despair, let's do something about it.
It would be well if all pastors could take a Dale Carnegie course and learn its excel lent name-memorizing techniques. But even without such training, a little extra time to work on this weakness will do wonders for us. When meeting a person, get a clear vivid impression both of that person's face and his name. Then repeat the name both mentally and verbally. We need not be embarrassed to ask someone to repeat his name, since most people love to hear their names repeated. We can also learn to play certain games of association, or use various memory devices. More complete information is found in the booklet How to Remember Names, published by Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc., 1475 Franklin Avenue, Garden City, New York 11530.
Our minds are far more capable of remembering details than we give them credit for. Usually we don't remember names simply because we haven't applied ourselves to the task.
What's in a name? A soul for God's eternal kingdom hides behind each one. That visitor to church, the new family that recently moved into town, that person in the hospital, that backslider, the Voice of Prophecy interest—all are worthy of our dearest and closest attention.
When a brother pastor asks me to follow up a name and I let the matter slide, a serious breach of ministerial ethics has been made. But of even greater seriousness is the fact that I have failed the sacred responsibility placed on me by God.
May He forgive us for our strange neglect and impress us anew with the privilege of working with names.
