Loading ...Visitation Programs on Lifesupport
I do not believe there is a church within America that does not have a visitation program or had a visitation program. A lot of churches of desired to have a strong and active visitation program in the church but often these programs start but fade away. There is always a remnant of the program, but generally the program is on life-support. I have always wondered why these programs seem to be dying, then there is the push to reactivate the program with the cycle ending with the program on life support again. Here are a few thoughts on why this program does not work. 1. Typically we make this a congregational wide program in the church. Everyone is expected to be involved with the work. The problem is that a lot of people would never feel comfortable going to a person’s house. We always guilt people into this work. Instead of having a congregational visitation program, churches should have a small team of visitors. Typically this is the case, we just pretend that all of the church is doing this work. 2. Also, we always start these programs to big. This is a mistake in most church programs. We get all excited, start a big ministry and then watch it die because it is too time consuming for the average member. Instead of starting the program big, start small with a few people and selectively invite others to the work. 3. Some of these programs are attempting to facilitate fellowship as well. There are meals together, home get together, but mostly these are scaring events for the newcomers to the congregation. Church people love other church people. New people are scared to death of us. Having a meal together sometimes with a bunch of other church members is a terrible time to introduce newcomers to the church because often church people will talk to other church people. If there is a meal, it must be a small group in a small setting. It is too easy for the newcomer to be lost in the crowd. The concept of the whole church being involved in visitation is a thing of the past. A church would do best to have a team of dedicated members who are gifted in this work.
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About The Author
What do you think?
There are a lot of ministries that are going the way of the Dodo bird. The bus ministry is another example. I remember when I was a child my Dad drove the bus for the Turnpike church of Christ. We would get up early and drive around and pick up kids take them to church and drop them off afterwards. It was great but most of the church really didn’t have anything to do with it. In fact I think many people were glad when we loaded them up to go home because they were not “church people”. First most of them were not white middle class, then most them used foul language, and most didn’t have any church clothes and some had not had a bath in a few days. I still remember an elder getting up and announcing that since there were only a few baptisms that came from this ministry we were going to stop it because it was not effective for the Lord’s kingdom. What he really should have said was the culture of this church is not set up to care for these children so to make everyone else comfortable we will cancel the bus ministry. I was recently sitting in meeting for a ministry that houses, feeds, and trains homeless families along with other area churches on rotating week basis. The problem was they had run out of volunteers to stay the building over night and cook meals. The culture of the church had changed so that this ministry was no longer important. The culture of the church is what determines what ministries make it and which are disbanded. Many churches do not have people who are passionate about visiting people in and outside the church’s membership. It is seen as an old person’s ministry because that is who started it and who has volunteered the most.
The other irony in this that church has become so impersonal and disconnected, so business and program like that we have to assign people to visit the sick, incarcerated and shut in. This I think tells a greater story of who we are spiritually. If we as Christians saw the verses that talk about visitation as a personal call rather than just a good thing to do then we might want to go visit the people we know who fall into these categories. This tells a story that we don’t know very many people in our church very well or very deeply so we don’t feel comfortable in going to visit them. So one solution is for the people who go to church together to get to know each other on a deeper more spiritual level.
This is hard to do in our larger churches. In fact, somewhat impossible in a big church.
May your life be filled with happiness as you daily experience the blessings of God in the New Year!
Bill Williams
I agree with much of what you are saying.
Having grown up in a Christian home, being a PK and exposed to all things ‘church’ related, the very thought of visitation still makes me cringe. I think that is a talent that I just don’t have. I am friendly at church and about town and in my everyday walk, but I don’t like to vist – OR be visited. I use the Golden Rule when it comes to visitation….I don’t visit because I don’t want to be visited. That is just a peculiar quirk of mine. I go to people’s homes when I am invited and have been known to invite people to my home – but I am not comfortable with forced or spontaneous visitation.
I think some people have been blessed with the talent for visting others and that is wonderful. It is especially wonderful when the minister and one or two – or all – of the elders have that talent. It is especially wonderful when different women of the congregation have that talent. Those visits are vital to many of the members spiritual and emotional and sometimes even physical well being.
My dad was great at it and much loved – my older sister loved to go with him to visit hospitals and nursing homes and shut-ins – and she became a nurse. I on the other hand was the one who was always willing to go to the funerals or teach a class or work in the pantry.
I think we need to respect each other’s talents – but also encourage those who have the talent of visitation. I have seen success when someone who is talented in visiting invites someone to go with him/her – especially for a hospital visit. The invited person is more likely to initiate a visit of his own and call someone to go with him/her…and then the visitation ‘program’ may spread.
These are just some of my thoughts on vistation.
I think the guilt trips put on those who aren’t comfortable in a visitation program are shameful and shouldn’t be allowed. I also think that the society we live in today isin’t as social as that in days gone by. But I also think that visiting
I really meant what I wrote but not so emphatically as to state it twice!
I tried to erase the second and couldn’t figure out how – please erase the second comment
I think we shoot ourselves in the foot with “programs.” Programs are helpful to coordinate work already taking place (Acts 6–”Meal On Wheels” was already happening but needed wise, spirt-filled helpers to regulate not initiate.) In theory, bus ministry was needed because car ministry was inadequate (as opposed to non-existent). If I visit because of a visitation program rather than because of God’s love and call, I am more guided by organization that organism. Visitation programs, in theory, are to keep us from bombarding folks with 100 invitations–instead, you invite your neighborhood and I’ll invite mine.