How to Organize a Church Visitation Ministry

One of the most fundamental ministries that the church performs is visitation.  A church, no matter how big or small, will have people who are sick, in the hospital, shut-in and in need of a visit.  As a result, pastors spend a significant amount of time visiting people from their church and community.   As the church grows the amount of visitation required can bury a pastor unless structures and systems are put in place to spread the load of visitation out.  Developing systems ensure that the pastor does not burn out, but at the same time ensure people receive the care that they need.  There are no doubt a variety of ways that a church could set up a visitation system but here is how one church takes on this need:

shutterstock_410997181

Visitation & On-Call Pastors - Every day there is one pastor that is assigned to do all the hospital visitation for that day. If the church is aware going into the day that someone is in the hospital, and in need of a visit, then this is the pastor that goes.  Additionally, there is another pastor that is on-call each day.  This pastor handles any pastoral care that cannot be planned ahead.  This would include anyone who is rushed to the hospital or anyone who calls or walks in wanting to talk with a pastor.

Hospital Visitation Frequency - A pastor from the church does hospital visitation every day of the week, except Sunday.  This means that someone who is in the hospital for multiple days will get a visit from a pastor every day unless they are in over an entire weekend.

Visitation Frequency for Rehab & Long Hosptial Stays – If someone leaves the hospital for rehab, or is in the hospital over a weeks time but is not in critical condition, then the parishioner will receive visits only three days per week from the pastoral staff.  If they stay in rehab for an extended period of time, then the visits may be reduced to only two visits per week.

Shut-Ins Visitation Frequency – Shut-ins, those who are physically unable to come out to church, are visited by one member of the pastoral staff monthly.  They also receive a weekly DVD of the church service so they can watch the service from their home, and if the shut-in doesn’t have a DVD player the church will purchase one for them.

Pastors Who Visit - Every single pastor of the pastoral team is a part of the visitation ministry.  The associates pastors, even the associate pastor of youth or kids, is assigned one day per week to do visitation ministry.  The senior pastor also participates in pastoral visitation but their visits are in addition to the schedule mentioned above.

Others Who Visit - The pastoral visitation team is just one layer of the visitation ministry of the church.   In addition to the pastors, there are also ministries in place that visit shut-ins, another ministry that writes cards to shut-ins, a nursing home ministry that performs services in nursing homes where some parishioners live, and more.  There are also trained lay leaders in the church that visit people when they are in the hospital, including one lady whose ministry is to walk with people as they are facing life-threatening illnesses or those who have been brought into hospice care.   There are lay/retired pastors, board members, interns and others who all participate in the visitation ministry of the church.  Finally, there is the church family.  People from small groups throughout the church visit one another when they are in need of care.

It All Works Together - All of this visitation works together to provide the love of Christ to each member of the church family throughout their time of need.  Take shut-ins for an example  Although it probably doesn’t happen this perfectly often, it is possible that a shut-in will receive a visit from an associate pastor one week of the month, another visit from the visitation ministry another, perhaps a visit from a friend in the church another and then from the senior pastor another.  In one month, even though they can’t get out to church, the church will get to them every week.  Additionally, they receive a copy of the service each week on DVD, and even receive the church’s weekly newsletter.   They could receive contact from their church three times a week, every week of the month, even though they can’t leave their home.  Whether shut-in like this, or in the hospital, this visitation ministry ensures that no one is forgotten.

It Scales – Some might argue that a church with multiple staff can do visitation like this, as they have multiple pastors for multiple days.  However, this church did visitation like this even when it was much smaller and didn’t have the staff that it does today.  When the church was smaller, there were fewer people who were in the hospital, thus requiring fewer visits and time per week.  As the church grew, no doubt because of the level of care and attention people were receiving, they were able to add staff and volunteers to keep up with the increasing demands of pastoral care.

This is how one church structures their visitation ministry, how have your seen other churches handle this vital minsitry of the church?

Posted on
Categories: Church Life, Staffing

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

11,933 thoughts on “How to Organize a Church Visitation Ministry”

  8. Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it, you happen to be a great author.I will
    make certain to bookmark your blog and will come back later on. I want to encourage you to continue
    your great work, have a nice holiday weekend!

    Reply

  11. An interesting discussion is definitely worth
    comment. There’s no doubt that that you need to write more on this subject matter, it
    might not be a taboo matter but usually people do not talk about
    these subjects. To the next! All the best!!

    Reply

  18. Hi there, I discovered your site via Google even as looking
    for a comparable subject, your site came up, it seems good.
    I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

    Hi there, just was aware of your blog thru Google, and found that it’s truly informative.

    I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful when you continue this in future.

    Many folks can be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!

    Reply

  26. Thanks for your marvelous posting! I truly enjoyed reading it, you can be a great
    author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and will come
    back sometime soon. I want to encourage yourself
    to continue your great job, have a nice morning!

    Reply

  27. Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like to send you an e-mail.
    I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested
    in hearing. Either way, great website and I look forward to
    seeing it improve over time. https://elev8live.blog/question/pourquoi-engager-une-agence-pour-votre-optimisation-du-page-web-web-les-avantages-expliques/

    Reply

  33. Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew
    of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest
    twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like
    this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have
    some experience with something like this. Please let me know
    if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look
    forward to your new updates. https://www.google.fr/url?sa=t&url=http%3A%2F%2FTechuswiki.xyz%2Findex.php%2FUser%3AKandaceRagan38

    Reply