Finding a mentor as I began my ministry was not easy because my large western Kansas district was a long way from the next district. So I turned to history to learn from successful pastors. One pastor who intrigued me was J. F. Oberlin, an Alsatian pastor well known for serving in desperately poor regions of France.
Oberlin poured himself into the people, heart and soul. He taught them how to grow crops to sustain themselves, build roads and bridges to connect themselves to one another and the larger region, and educate their children. He developed a sophisticated childcare center for the families while they were at work in the fields. Above all, he was a master at visiting parishioners and townspeople of his hillside villages, working and collaborating with them.
Loving and promoting his flock tirelessly and faithfully, he made it his life’s work to get to know everyone in the villages and learn as much as he could about them and their livelihoods. They saw him as a godly shepherd worth following. It was well known that at a certain time each morning, one should walk past his home very quietly because he was communing with God. To know his people with such devotion, he had to know his God in the same way.
This led him to be a great visitor, constantly seeking out his parishioners at home, work, and even play. Rain or shine, he could be found among his people. It was not a chore for him but rather his living sacrifice to them. I never took on the kind of role that Oberlin assumed as a trainer and educator, but I did catch on to the importance of visiting my church members.
Actualizing the lessons
Such a pastoral model and the recent pandemic and health crisis have brought a couple of thoughts together for me. We have known all along that pastoral visitation was important. Adding in the pain so many families went through during the pandemic taught me again that people crave genuine and compassionate visits from their spiritual friend and adviser.
I spent many hours holding my phone up with the speaker on in the room of a loved one while their family members were standing outside the window in the cold winds, trying to express their love for mom or dad. Many elder homes locked out everyone except nurses. The homes in my network allowed me in because they believed in the value of clerical visitation. Being a hospice chaplain gave me many opportunities to connect with families during difficult times. I witnessed many tears and offered many prayers as I connected many hundreds of people.
This experience, spurred on by the likes of Pastor Oberlin and the gravity of the painful time of the pandemic, was difficult. I would have always liked to have done more, helped more people. But I had to remind myself that just showing up to work every morning was in itself a success.
It all reinforced the conviction that we need to rededicate ourselves to visitation again. The personal touch and presence of a pastor are more valuable and connective than we realize.
At our second district, in New Jersey, one of my members asked me to visit a family in the hospital. I made my way there as quickly as I could. The beloved grandmother lay in bed, noncommunicative and seemingly peaceful. Although this happened back in the mid-1980s, I can still see the scene as if it were yesterday. I do not remember hospice care being very common in those days, but she was clearly close to the end of her life. I sat with that family for weeks, not every day, but three or four times a week. Each visit, I offered prayer, recited scripture, and spoke words of encouragement, none of which I remember, and I suspect the family does not either. But whenever they see me online or have a chance to update me on their families’ welfare, they do so with enthusiasm and gratitude for my part in their care.
Sermon in shoes
As pastors, we must take every chance we can to quickly and consistently schedule these types of visits. While I have boxes full of cards and letters thanking me and my wife for visiting like this, I do not have as many cards thanking me for my erudite and powerful sermons.
To your members, you are a sermon in shoes, the hands and heart of God, as it were. And your visit is a reminder that God has not left them and loves them all the more. When I served churches filled with young members, some people told me that the younger members did not like to be visited in their homes that much. I am not sure if that was true, and at times I ignored the advice, but I learned to visit in other ways, like after potluck or at their workplace, if possible.
I also discovered that the families of older, long-time members expected and wanted the pastor to visit mom or dad, often at a nursing home. Such ministry can be a special part of your pastoral care if you learn how to do it well. It is an art, as I found out during my years as a chaplain. But you do not have to be a chaplain to learn such skills—you just must be committed to your flock.
I want to offer several of the types of visits I believe a pastor can make and give some reasons for each.
Sabbath visits
Each Sabbath can be a multipurpose visit. It can start with your social media page, letting the members know that you are looking forward to greeting them at the door, what the sermon is about, and how valuable their time is to you. Then, when they see you at the door with your spouse nearby, they know that you are going to deliver on your promise to care about them, even enjoy their presence. You see them and learn about them and how they are getting along. This weekly visit has immense value. Making yourself available after church and at potlucks is just as important.
Phone visits
Calling on the phone has great value. Your members know you are busy, but taking the time to call means a great deal, especially if they are used to seeing you in person.
Card visits
A card ministry is wonderful. Personalized notes are often some of the best memories your members will treasure. When I visited people in the hospital, I often left my card with a scripture or personal note on the back. The cards became bookmarks in that chapter of their lives.
Learn the words of the psalmists as you visit. They will offer more courage and guidance than you or I can. Pastors make a lot of crisis visits where there are health or life concerns. I used to think I might not have wise and encouraging words for the family. The Psalms cured me of that fear. If you play music, take the instrument with you and play a favorite hymn or two. My harmonica goes along on every visit.
Recognition visits
Recognize service in your church community. Members who have taught our children for many years should be celebrated and learned from. In fact, a congregation will often miss the older members and their families as they advance into their golden years. Treat such families with special gratitude and care, and the church will take on this persona as well.
Keep your ear to the ground for information about the good things your members are doing in the community as well. They may be working in a food pantry, giving Medicare seminars, helping on missionary trips, or donating money to help with a large need at church. Do not miss the chance to let them know you noticed and appreciate their gifts. Such comments are a form of visitation.
Lay member visits
You can set up a system of elders, deacons, and deaconesses to handle visitation, and it can be very helpful in caring for the flock. Just remember, though, that a visit from the pastor is different and almost always has a little extra importance to it. I do not know why, nor do I always agree with the concept, but it is true. I did not like any kind of hierarchy or pedestal feeling applied to the pastor, but your members still find your presence to be special. They appreciate that you respect their methods of showing respect.
Nursing home visits
Elder visitation in nursing homes, hospitals, and other nursing facilities became a lot more challenging during the recent pandemic. Fortunately, I had an inside track because I had been going to such places every week. They knew me, and I was often like staff to them. The lesson here is to be well known in those homes before times of crisis. Find a way to visit people no matter the conditions. It may be that you can only reach them on the phone or by email, or a family member will take your wishes to them. Perhaps a chaplain or nurse will assist you in arranging some kind of visit to such often bedbound patients and members. Your efforts are doubly important in how you show care for those senior members who have given so much to your church. Jesus spent more of His time healing with His hands and presence than in any other way. You can too.
Privilege
Christianity is far more a community of people than just a set of doctrines. Communities thrive or die on the amount of social interaction their members have. Visitation is one of the strongest ways of binding a community together. Jesus constantly visited people. This can be our great privilege too. 
