Baptist Pastoral Ministry, Missions, and Church Leadership — Unit 2: Pastoral Care and Visitation

Key Verse

"Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds." (Proverbs 27:23, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain from Scripture why caring for people is central to the pastor's work and the work of the whole church.

2. Describe the main kinds of pastoral visits: the sick, the bereaved, new members, absent members and the aged.

3. Explain how deacons share pastoral care under the Deacon Family Ministry Plan, and what the pastor still does himself.

4. State the basic safeguards of pastoral care: confidentiality, safety, and knowing when to refer a person to others.

5. Answer the common objections about house visitation, deacon-led care, and anointing the sick with oil.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Baptist tradition, for Baptist pastors. It is conservative in doctrine and practical in purpose. When Baptists or other Christians disagree about a practice, we state each view fairly and then give the answer most conservative Baptists would give. Church government and the deacon office are taught in Course 3. Here we look at the work of care from the pastor's side.

Why Care Is the Pastor's Work

In Unit 1 we saw that the pastor is a shepherd. A shepherd who only speaks to the flock from a distance is not yet doing the whole work. Through the prophet Ezekiel the Lord judged the shepherds of Israel because they fed themselves and did not strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the broken or seek the lost (Ezekiel 34:2-6). The Lord Jesus, by contrast, knows His sheep by name (John 10:3, 14).

Paul gives a living picture of pastoral care. He reminds the Ephesian elders that he taught them "publicly and from house to house" (Acts 20:20) and that for three years he did not cease to warn each one night and day with tears (Acts 20:31). To the Thessalonians he wrote that he was gentle among them "just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children" (1 Thessalonians 2:7), and that he dealt with each one as a father with his own children (verse 11). Notice the words "each one." Paul taught the crowd, but he also cared for persons.

Care and preaching belong together. A sermon feeds the whole flock. A visit lets the pastor see what that sermon has met in one home, one marriage, one sickbed. Pastors who visit preach better, because they know the people they are talking to. Pastors who preach well but never visit find that their people respect the sermon and feel no closeness to the man.

Care Belongs to the Whole Church

No pastor can know every person well if the church is large, and no pastor should try to do it alone. Scripture does not ask him to.

Galatians 6:2 says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Romans 12:15 says to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. In 1 Corinthians 12:25-26 Paul says that the members of the body should have the same care for one another, so that when one member suffers, all suffer with it. Care is a duty of every believer. Baptists, who teach the priesthood of all believers, should be the last to say that care is the pastor's job alone.

The first deacons show how this works. In Acts 6 the widows of the Greek-speaking believers were being overlooked. The apostles did not neglect the word to serve tables. They asked the church to choose seven men full of the Spirit and wisdom, and those men took over the work of serving. The result was that "the word of God spread" (Acts 6:7). Ephesians 4:12 states the principle: the pastor equips the saints for the work of ministry.

The Deacon Family Ministry Plan

Chapala Theological Seminary offers a full course on this subject, Deacon Family Ministry Plan, written by Wayne Cook. It has ten units. They deal with the need that gave rise to servants in the church, the qualifications of deacons, the name and office, the plan itself and what it means to cover every family, whom to serve and how many families one deacon can reasonably care for, visitation, the marks of a disciple, ministry in crisis, sickness and death, the deacons' meeting, and why such plans fade away. Course 3 of this specialization, Units 6 to 9, condenses that teaching for Baptist polity. A student who wants to carry out the plan should take the full course. Here we explain how a pastor uses it.

The central idea is simple. Every member family of the church is assigned to a deacon, so that no family is overlooked. This is called total coverage. The deacon becomes the first friend and first visitor of the families entrusted to him. He learns who is sick, who is out of work, who has a new baby, who has stopped coming to church, and he tells the pastor and the church. Because each deacon cares for a limited number of families, he can really know them.

This does not make the pastor unnecessary. In a church that follows the plan, the pastor does these things:

• He teaches and trains the deacons for the work.

• He meets with them regularly to receive their reports and pray for the families.

• He goes himself to the hard cases, such as a death, a serious illness, a family in crisis, or a person in deep spiritual trouble.

• He keeps watching for the one who is slipping through, because no plan is perfect.

Howell's The Deaconship (1846), the older Baptist book on which the CTS textbook for Course 3 is based, treats this service to the sick and the poor as part of the deacon's duty. The plan is not a new invention. It is a very old Baptist idea made practical.

Kinds of Visits

The sick. Jesus said that on the last day He will say to those who served Him, "I was sick and you visited Me" (Matthew 25:36). A sick-bed visit should be short and gentle. Greet the person, listen, read a short passage of Scripture such as a psalm, and pray simply. Do not give medical advice. Respect the doctors, nurses and family. If the person is tired, leave early. Do not make a sick person entertain you.

The bereaved. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35). Paul comforts the grieving with the hope of the resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The pastor's first task is to be present and to listen. Many people find that visitors come in the first days and then disappear. The pastor and the deacon should return after the funeral, at two weeks and at two months, because that is when the home is quietest. The funeral service itself is covered in Course 4, Unit 10.

New members and new believers. A person who has just professed faith or joined the church needs to be welcomed in the first weeks. A visit in the home shows that the church is a family and not a meeting. It also gives the pastor a chance to explain baptism, membership and the way to grow, as we shall see in Unit 3.

Absent members. Jesus told of the shepherd who leaves ninety-nine and seeks the one lost sheep (Luke 15:4-7; Matthew 18:12-14). A member who has stopped attending should be visited, not scolded. The first question is "How are you?" and not "Why were you absent?" There may be illness, a lost job, shame, or an offense in the church. Paul says that if a man is overtaken in a fault, "you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1). If the person does not respond, the church's formal discipline is taught in Course 3, Unit 5, and it comes only after patient care.

The aged and homebound. Older believers have often served the church for decades. Visit them regularly. Listen to their stories. Read to them. Their prayers are a great strength to the church. Baptists differ on whether to bring the Lord's Supper to the homebound; some churches do, as representatives of the congregation, and others do not. This is discussed in Course 4, Unit 5.

Practical Wisdom for the Visitor

Prepare. Pray before you go. Make an appointment when you can. Know the names of the family members. Take a Bible but do not feel that you must read a long passage.

Listen more than you talk. James 1:19 says to be quick to hear and slow to speak. Many people say, "Nobody has ever listened to me like that." Ask gentle questions. Let silence be.

Keep confidences. Proverbs 11:13 says that a talebearer reveals secrets, but a faithful spirit conceals a matter. What a person tells the pastor in trust must not become the subject of conversation in the church. There is one limit. If a person says that he or she is going to harm himself, or that a child or other person is being harmed, the pastor must not promise secrecy. He must act to protect the person, and he should know the laws of his country.

Be careful about safety and reputation. A pastor must be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2). A male pastor should not visit a woman alone in a private home. He should take his wife, a deacon or another believer. Women of the church can visit women. These precautions protect the person, the pastor and the testimony of the church.

Know your limits. Pastoral care is spiritual care, and it is not a replacement for medical help. A person who is seriously ill in mind or body, who is addicted, or who is being abused at home needs a doctor, a counselor or other qualified help, as well as prayer. The wise pastor refers, and goes on caring.

Keep a record. A simple notebook with each family, the dates of visits and the needs noted is not unspiritual. It helps the pastor and the deacons to remember and to pray.

Objections and Answers

Objection 1: "House-to-house visiting is old-fashioned. People are busy, and we can use the telephone and messages." This is partly true. Telephone calls, messages and email are good tools, and a pastor should use them. But a message cannot sit with a grieving widow, pray at a bedside or notice that there is no food in the kitchen. Paul's practice of going from house to house (Acts 20:20) was not an accident of his century. In many communities, especially in Latin America and Africa, a visit to the home is a great honor. The method may change; the duty to know and care for the sheep does not.

Objection 2: "The pastor is paid to visit. Deacons should not do pastoral work." Some members hold this view, and some pastors do too. The Baptist answer is that the New Testament does not divide the church into paid workers and an audience. Acts 6 shows servants chosen to relieve the apostles, and Ephesians 4:12 shows the pastor equipping the saints. Where the deacons carry part of the care, more people are visited and the pastor is free for the hardest cases and for prayer and the Word. The deacon does not take the pastor's place. He shares his work, as Acts 6 shows.

Objection 3: "James 5:14 says to call the elders and anoint with oil. Should we?" James writes, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." Baptists have read this in several ways. Some understand the oil as a medicine of that day, used with prayer. Some understand it as a symbol of setting the person apart to God's care. Some Baptist churches practice anointing in worship or at the bedside, and others do not. Nearly all conservative Baptists agree on the heart of the passage: the sick should call the church leaders, who pray in faith, and the Lord alone heals as He wills. We pray with confidence because He hears us, but we do not promise a cure in a particular case, and we never blame the sick person's faith if he is not healed. Where anointing is practiced, it should be done in the church's name and with the person's wish, and without any claim that the oil itself has power.

Pastoral Application

Pastor Samuel, a fictional example, leads a Baptist church of about one hundred and twenty members. On a Tuesday morning a deacon, Brother Luis, telephones him. The husband of Sister Rosa, one of Luis's assigned families, has died suddenly in the night.

Samuel and Luis go to her home that evening. Samuel listens, prays briefly and says little. Luis asks what must be done first and tells the church family so that meals and help can be arranged. Samuel plans the funeral with the family and leads the service. Luis visits again after two weeks and after two months, and keeps Rosa's children in mind when the church gathers. At the deacons' meeting he gives his report, and the group prays for the family by name.

No one in this story did everything. The church was the family's hands, the deacon was the friend, and the pastor was the shepherd.

Summary

Pastoral care is central to the shepherd's work, as Ezekiel 34, John 10 and Acts 20 show. It belongs to the whole church, and Acts 6 and Ephesians 4:12 show that the pastor equips others to share it. The Deacon Family Ministry Plan assigns every family to a deacon so that none is overlooked, and the pastor trains the deacons, hears their reports and takes the hardest cases himself. Visits differ for the sick, the bereaved, new members, absent members and the aged. A good visitor prepares, listens, keeps confidences except where someone is in danger, guards safety and reputation, knows his limits and keeps records. Visitation by telephone does not replace presence. Deacons share pastoral work and do not replace the pastor. On James 5:14, Baptists agree that the sick should call the leaders, who pray in faith, while the Lord alone heals as He wills.

Further Reading

• CTS course Deacon Family Ministry Plan (CTSDeaconFamilyMinistry), by Wayne Cook, the practical companion to this unit.

• Course 3 of this specialization, Units 6 to 9, on the deacon office and the plan.

• Howell, The Deaconship (1846), in the CTS adaptation.

• Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (1656).

• Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students.

• J. M. Pendleton, Church Manual (1867).

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