Pastoral Visitations

"And when they had come to him, he said to them: 'You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.'" (Eph. 2:18-21)

On July 22 we will begin a new round of pastoral visitations. Pastoral visits are very important in order for the sheep to get to know their Shepherd, and the Shepherd to know the sheep and their spiritual needs. Thomas Murphy, a 19^th century pastor wrote of how critical regular pastoral visitation with the members of the congregation was to the Christian ministry:

"The fact is, that in order to perform the duties of his calling with any measure of fidelity the pastor must come near to his people – nearer to them than he can possibly get in the pulpit – near to them as individuals. In the pulpit he must treat them in the mass, but never will he be able to influence them as he should until he gets into personal communion with them. Dr. John Hall has presented this thought in an impressive manner: ‘The experience of the Church is that that pastor effects the most in the end who comes into closest personal contact with his charge.’ No amount of organizing, no skill in creating machinery and manipulating committees, is a substitute for this. Who feels the power of a tear in the eye of a committee? The minister who would be like the Master must go, and like him, lay the warm, kindly hand on the leper, the diseased, the wretched. He must touch the blind eyes with something from himself. The tears must be in his own eves over the dead who are to be raised to spiritual life." – Thomas Murphy, Pastoral Theology

Remember you do not need to feed the pastor or spend hours preparing your house for the visit. While this is an amiable, friendly, and familiar visit it is also a professional call. Would you spend hours cooking and cleaning your house in order to receive a visit from a doctor making a house-call on a sick member of the family? So why spend time preparing your house for a visit from a physician of souls?