1. Pray before you arrive.  You are representing Jesus, ask how He wants to use you.
2. Sanitize your hands.  Observe signs regarding masks and other contact precautions when entering a room. If you have been sick talk with the XP about whether you should actually visit.
3. Turn off your cell phone or set it to silent.
4. Have a plan.  Know what verses you are going to read.  Always have anointing oil.  When visiting shut-ins always take communion. 
5. Introduce yourself.  If you don’t know the person, be sure to identify yourself and the fact you are from Calvary.  If the door is shut when you arrive, knock before entering. 
6. Complete the visit, but donâ€t obstruct the flow.  Let the hospital staff do their job, at the same time make sure you do yours, even if you have to be assertive.
7. Keep it short.  Being a patient can be exhausting.  Keep your hospital visits to about 10-15 minutes.  For shut-ins, a lot depends on the situation, but 30 minutes is a good rule of thumb.
8. Don’t rush out the door, or even seem rushed.  Take the time to sit down, always in a chair and never on the bed.  Take your coat off and don’t make it seem like you are stopping by just to do a job.  If you sense you should stay, then stay.  Even if that means you are sitting quietly with the person, not even talking.
9. Be sensitive, but not timid.  Ask questions about what is going on in their life, but if you sense they are being private don’t press.
10. Pray.  Always pray for the person you are visiting.  Ask permission, but always offer to anoint with oil.
11. Remember the family.  They often require pastoral care too.  A great practice is to call the family after visiting with their loved one.
12. Send your report.  You should email a report of your visits to *******@*********.***. 

Recently, I conducted a training with our church staff.  Here is what we covered:

Why do this training? 

We want to provide the safest place for people to work and worship.  This includes an environment that is free of all kinds of harassment. This training is designed to define and give examples of harassment, outline what to do if you experience harassment while at Calvary, and to explain the consequences of engaging harassing behavior while an employee of the church.

Please keep in mind, as an employee of the church, you can be accused of sexual harassment from other employees, parishioners and even from people you interact within the community.

What is Calvaryâ€s official policy on harassment?

The Church is committed to providing a work environment that is free of discrimination, harassment or hostile work situations.  In keeping with this commitment, the Church maintains a strict policy prohibiting unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment.  Sexual harassment involves not only unwelcome touching and demands for sexual favors, but also any unwelcome sexual oriented behavior or comments that create a hostile or offensive work environment.  It is important for every employee to understand that jokes, stories, cartoons, nicknames, and comments about appearance may be considered offensive to others.  In no way should the above listed examples be considered all-inclusive, but they are intended to provide guidance as to what may constitute a form of harassment.

Sexual harassment of employees by supervisors, coworkers, or others who visit the Church (i.e. vendors) is prohibited.  Information providing further details in regard to sexual harassment is posted on a bulletin board in the Church staff kitchen.

If an employee believes he or she is being, or has been harassed or discriminated against in any way, or has observed harassment in any way, they must report the facts of the incident or incidents to the Executive and/or Senior Pastor immediately, without fear of reprisal.  In determining whether the alleged conduct constitutes unlawful harassment, the totality of the circumstances, such as the nature of the conduct and the context in which the alleged incident occurred, will be investigated and documented in writing.  Every complaint will be taken seriously, investigated promptly and held highly confidential. The Church will take affirmative steps to ensure that such behavior is not allowed or tolerated. Offenders may be disciplined up to and including termination and the loss of any accrued benefits.

What constitutes harassment?

Harassment, legally defined, is unwelcome verbal or physical behavior that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), gender/gender identity, nationality, age (40 or older), physical or mental disability or genetic information.

When does harassment become unlawful?

Although the law doesnâ€t prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision, such as the victim being fired or demoted.

How are churches different when it comes to discrimination? 

“Religious organizations” and “religious educational institutions” are exempt from certain religious discrimination provisions, and a “ministerial exception” bars Title VII claims by employees who serve in clergy roles.

Religious Organization Exception: Under Title VII, religious organizations are permitted to give employment preference to members of their own religion. The exception does not allow religious organizations otherwise to discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Thus, a religious organization is not permitted to engage in racially discriminatory hiring by asserting that a tenet of its religious beliefs is not associating with people of other races.

Ministerial Exception: Courts have held that clergy members generally cannot bring claims under the federal employment discrimination laws, including Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. This “ministerial exception” comes not from the text of the statutes, but from the First Amendment principle that governmental regulation of church administration, including the appointment of clergy, impedes the free exercise of religion and constitutes impermissible government entanglement with church authority. The exception applies only to employees who perform essentially religious functions, namely those whose primary duties consist of engaging in church governance, supervising a religious order, or conducting religious ritual, worship, or instruction. Some courts have made an exception for harassment claims where they concluded that analysis of the case would not implicate these constitutional constraints.

What does non-sexual harassment look like?

Harassing conduct may include, but is not limited to:

• Spreading malicious rumors, gossip, or innuendo.
• Excluding or isolating someone socially.
• Intimidating a person.
• Undermining or deliberately impeding a person’s work.
• Physically abusing or threatening abuse.
• Removing areas of responsibilities without cause.
• Constantly changing work guidelines.
• Establishing impossible deadlines that will set up the individual to fail.
• Withholding necessary information or purposefully giving the wrong information.
• Making jokes that are ‘obviously offensive’ by spoken word or e-mail.
• Intruding on a person’s privacy by pestering, spying or stalking.
• Assigning unreasonable duties or workload which are unfavorable to one person (in a way that creates unnecessary pressure).
• Underwork – creating a feeling of uselessness.
• Yelling or using profanity.
• Criticizing a person persistently or constantly.
• Belittling a person’s opinions.
• Unwarranted (or undeserved) punishment.
• Blocking applications for training, leave or promotion.
• Tampering with a person’s personal belongings or work equipment.
• Using racist slang, phrases, or nicknames.
• Making remarks about an individual’s skin color or other ethnic traits.
• Displaying racist drawings, or posters that might be offensive to a particular group.
• Making offensive gestures.
• Making offensive reference to an individual’s mental or physical disability.
• Sharing inappropriate images, videos, e-mails, letters, or notes in an offensive nature.
• Offensively talking about negative racial, ethnic, or religious stereotypes.
• Making derogatory age-related comments.
• Wearing clothing that could be offensive to a particular ethnic group.

Some states have broad definitions of what constitutes harassment. For instance, a court in Florida determined that “fat jokes” made about an obese employee violated the American Disabilities Act. A New Jersey court ruled that a person could bring a claim for disability harassment based upon two remarks made about his diabetic condition.

What does sexual harassment look like?

Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to:

• Sharing sexually inappropriate images or videos, such as pornography, with co-workers.
• Sending suggestive letters, notes, or e-mails.
• Displaying inappropriate sexual images or posters in the workplace.
• Telling lewd jokes, or sharing sexual anecdotes.
• Making inappropriate sexual gestures.
• Staring in a sexually suggestive or offensive manner, or whistling.
• Making sexual comments about appearance, clothing, or body parts.
• Inappropriate touching, including pinching, patting, rubbing, or purposefully brushing up against another person.
• Asking sexual questions, such as questions about someone’s sexual history.
• Making offensive comments about someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

What should I do if I experience harassment?

• As a first step, assuming it was a minor incident, generally, we encourage you to talk with the person first, before filing a formal complaint. You can do this yourself directly, or feel free to ask a trusted coworker to be present with you.
• If the incident was not minor, was repeated, or you simply do not feel comfortable approaching the person, we encourage you to report the harassment immediately.  The Executive Pastor is the primary contact for harassment claims.  If for some reason you do not feel comfortable going the Executive Pastor, or they are unavailable, you can also report your complaint to the Senior Pastor.  In case that both the Executive Pastor and Senior Pastor are both unavailable, or you feel uncomfortable approaching either of them, you can go to any pastor (for example, a woman who feels that she has been sexually harassed may feel more comfortable going to a female pastor) to file your complaint.

What can I expect when I report harassment?

• You can expect to be taken seriously.
• You can expect that your complaint will be followed up on as quickly as possible.   This will include sitting down with you to take your statement, which will be written down in writing and kept on file.   It will be helpful if you know the time, dates, witnesses, etc. of the harassment when taking this statement, but even if you donâ€t have them, again, you will be taken seriously and your complaint will be followed up on.
• You can expect to be protected.  Harassment is a protected activity (i.e., you cannot be fired or otherwise retaliated against for a good-faith report).
• You can expect that everything will remain highly confidential.

What are the potential consequences of being found guilty of harassment?

The Church will take affirmative steps to ensure that such behavior is not repeated. Offenders may be disciplined up to and including termination and the loss of any accrued benefits.

Sources

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm

https://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/qanda_religion.html

https://www.thebalance.com/examples-of-sexual-and-non-sexual-harassment-2060884

Introductory Class – We require everyone serving in ministry to go through a course introducing them to our church.  We call this class Starting Point.  The course is four weeks long and covers a variety of topics including our church staff and structure, how we do ministry, handle conflict, handle finances, our core values, our doctrine, and more.  We cover a lot in Starting Point, however, we use this class for far more than a chance for people to get to know us.  Additionally, we use it as an opportunity to get to know them.

Written Application – We require everyone to complete a written application.  You can see a copy of our application here.

Background Checks – Part of the written application is permission to do a criminal background check on every applicant, not just children’s and youth workers.  We assume that everyone will at come into contact with a minor from time to time, and therefore, we do a check on everyone.   First, we do a Massachusetts State CORI.  These are free to us in Massachusetts as a church.  We also use a company called First Advantage to run everyone’s name against the National Sexual Offender Registry.  We also use First Advantage to run out of state or country background checks on anyone that has lived outside of Massachusetts.

References – We require at least two references for every volunteer.  You can see our online reference form here: Online Reference Form

Minor Protection Policies – We have every applicate read and sign our minor protection policies so they know what is expected of them when dealing with children and youth.   A copy of our current policies can be found here: Child Protection Policies

Ministry Interview – We have a one-on-one interview with every ministry applicant to cover their application, to get to know them better, and to allow them to ask questions.

Staff Check – We run every name by our entire staff in staff meeting just to make sure that no one knows of any reason why the applicant shouldnâ€t be allowed to serve where they are applying to volunteer.

6 Month Minimum – We require that every volunteer attend the church consistently for at least 6 months prior to beginning to serve.

Reducing the Risk – We require every childrenâ€s and youth volunteer to take the Reducing the Risk course the next time it offered at our church after they apply to serve.  This is a course offered by Christianity Today and Church Law & Tax.

This is what we are currently doing to keep our church safe.  What about your church?  What are you doing to provide a safe place for your families to come and worship?

However, help would not come.  Scotland hadn’t held royal court since 1603.  Help from their federal government was about as likely as suddenly finding cell service when your car has broken down on a deserted mountain highway.   People would also not get any assistance from their local city government.   The city which had limited resources, was also led by a buffoonary of men.  They often held their meetings in taverns, acting more like drunken frat boys than officials running a city.  The possibility of the citizens of Edinburgh receiving help from anyone in government seemed bleak.

The people of Edinburgh faced a choice.  They could have left.  Truthfully, that is what I might have done.  I might have packed up my family and my possessions and headed out to the countryside.  I could have found a bit of land, livestock, and lived on my own far away from the problems found in the decaying prison of Edinburgh.  One man, however, did not leave.  He chose a second option, reform.

George Drummond was a hard worker.  He had to be to get ahead, as he wasn’t born into money or power.  George worked his way up through the ranks, first serving on the board of customs, then as city treasurer, and finally as Provost of the City.  It was as Provost where Drummond began his life’s work.

Revolted with what his city had become, Drummond launched the Commission of Proposals for Public Works, with an ambition to “improve and enlarge the city and to adorn it with public buildings which may be for the national benefit.”  It was an audacious goal, considering he had no money, government support, policy, or even the belief of the citizens that it could be done.  Undeterred, he fought like a heavyweight boxer to get legislation passed.  Slowly, over the course of more than ten years, legislation was developed and money was raised. City administrators, however, dug their heels in and drug the planning on for another year before finally approving the architect’s designs.  It was arduous work, but Drummond met the challenge.

Eventually the city would be improved.  George would begin the Royal Infirmary, one of the world’s chief teaching hospitals.  He was pivotal in seeing the University of Edinburgh expanded. The crown jewels of his accomplishments, which he wouldn’t live to see their completion, was the building of Edinburgh’s “New Town” and the draining of the Nor’ Loch.  The work would take most of his life, but Edinburgh would go from ghetto to renowned city because one man did not give up.

Unfortunately this would not be the last ghetto this world would ever see. The world we live today in is becoming increasing polluted. Hatred is ravaging our streets. The internet is littered with trash. Our schools are papered with violence and drugs. The sense of despair leaves millions worried and concerned. Society is hurting.  However, our society is not the ghetto, at least not yet.  The ghetto is actually created by the church’s response to this culture. One author put it this way:

Today, the lack of a “critical mass” of Christians who are visibly present in their communities may be the biggest single barrier to churches becoming local movements. With the secularization of the West, a great many churches have circled the wagons, often withdrawing into Christian enclaves or networks in which Christians socialize with each other; buy their homes, furniture, appliances, and cars from Christians; exercise at the churchâ€s gym (rather than the local health club); homeschool their kids or send them to private school (rather than the public school); and send their kids to Christian colleges (rather than state or secular colleges), while preparing to eventually retire in a residential facility for senior Christians. As Pope Francis has observed, far too many Christians now live in “a ghetto of our own making.”  George Hunter III in Go: The Church’s Main Purpose

A ghetto of our own making.  Many Christians, often with great intentions, make a choice to abandon the society around them.  They witness the hatred, violence, drugs, despair and decide to go live a life that is separate, more Godly, more pure and holy.  What they end up creating is indeed separate, however, it is something that is inbred, ungodly, and unholy.

The dead sea is an overplayed illustration, but it’s overplayed because it is often the perfect illustration, as it is here.  The dead sea is just that, dead.  It is dead because although it receives all sorts of nutrients from the everlush Jordan River, it has no natural outlet to let nutrients go.  Great nutrients come in, nothing goes out, things get overloaded, and everything dies.  It’s just what happens when you get too much of a great thing.  Unfortunately, this is also what the lives of many Christians look like.  They obtain all their healthy nutrients and vitamins from their walk with God, daily devotions, churches, and faith.  Then, like the Dead Sea, that is always receiving and never letting anything go, they too get overloaded and die.  Lots of christians dying in this way creates some rather abhorrent christian ghettos.

Other illustrations from the Bible make the point equally well.  Christians are to be the salt of the earth, a city on a hill, and the light of the world.  When Christians withdraw they end up being nothing more than salt in the cupboard, cities hidden behind walled gates, and lights only to their own homes.  We are not living the way God intended if we withdraw from society.

I can hear people saying, “yeah, but shouldn’t we support christian businesses?”  “Yeah, but are we not suppose to fellowship with other believers?” “Yeah, but God invented education, and christian schools to teach His word and values.”  Please don’t get me wrong, we should faithfully support christian businesses, fellowship with believers, and pray about whether God would have us send our kids to christian schools and colleges (in fact, I personally have attended three christian colleges and seminaries); however, we should also pray about how God wants us to be involved in our community.  The challenge might simply be, do we at least put as much time and prayer into how we influence our neighbors for Christ as we do trying to avoid them influencing us?  Do we actually think about how we can be a light into our kid’s schools, or do we just think about how to afford getting them out of the public school system?  Do we invite our neighbors over for dinner, or do we just enjoy hanging out at church potlucks?  Jesus, our best example, ministered to a lot of ungodly people, however, many christians spend all their time avoiding them.

Edinburgh was a ghetto.  The only way to fix it was to drain the swamp and build some new buildings.  Ignoring the problem wouldn’t have fixed it.  Moving might have saved some individuals some pain, but ultimately the city would have went completely to ruin.  Thankfully there was one man that stood up, worked hard, and made something better.

The lives of many christians today are ghettos.  The way to fix them, like in Edinburgh, is to drain the swap and build some new buildings.  We need to get out into our communities and build some new relationships with those around us.  We need to be involved in our children’s schools, coach their soccer teams, volunteer in community organizations and serve in city government.  We need to engage our neighbors and be the light to them that God has called us to be.

I said earlier that our society is not the ghetto, at least not yet.  I hope and pray that it never will be.  It is no doubt hurting, but if christians will stand up and engage the culture around us, like George Drummond stood up for Edinburgh rather than running the other way, I believe we can make this a great place once again for God’s glory.

Although reviews come quickly for restaurants, vacation destinations, and good deals on getting a used car, when it comes to sharing about the most important recommendation we can ever give, our faith, many remain conspicuously quiet.  If we found the perfect restaurant, that served the most delicious food, and was unbelievably cheap, we would recommend it to every person we knew.  In fact, we would probably go into work the next day and literally rave about the spectacular service and fantastic Banoffee Pie.  However, for those who believe and follow Christ, who have received the free gift of eternal life, who have literally had their life changed, and who have experienced something far greater than getting great meal at a great price, we rarely share about our experience.

Think about that for moment.  When it comes to our favorite ice cream stand we recommend it to friends, take friends to there all summer long, and post pictures of ourselves there on Instagram eating Moose Tracks out of giant waffle cone.  However, when it comes to our faith, our belief in Christ, or even our church, many of us never bring it up with others.  We don’t mention it to the coworkers we spend eight hours a day with.  We don’t mention it to friends we share our lives with.  We rarely even ever go there in conversation with family.

Maybe its because we don’t know that we are supposed to.  Perhaps churches are not preaching on evangelism and on sharing our faith, so we don’t know that we should.  Maybe we don’t know how, because churches are not teaching on how to share our faith.  Maybe it is because we don’t have many great role models for sharing our faith, because even pastors are not leading the way and telling others about Christ.  These are all valid possibilities, and are no doubt true in some churches, but I think their are actually three other reasons people don’t share their faith:

1. We do not really believe what we believe.  Most Christians say they believe in a literal hell.  A hell that is a place of eternal punishment, torment and separation from God and all that is good.  Yet, if we really believed that, and believed that our friends and family without Christ were going to spend eternity there forever, I think that would cause us to share our faith more vigorously.

2. What we believe has become routine.  We wake up on a Sunday, go to church for 75 or 90 minutes, sing some songs, listen to a sermon, chat with some friends in the foyer, go home and watch the football game.  Church, faith, and God is only a small part of our life and our weekly routine.  It’s not really something that is important to us so it never comes up in our daily lives.

3. We don’t really love other people.  If we believe in hell, but don’t warn other people about it, then we need to ask whether we love the people around us or not.   If we won’t take the time to tell them about eternal damnation, you have to wonder if we even care.

I am sure there are other reasons people don’t share their faith more often, but for Christians, who say they have had this most wonderful experience, we do have to wonder why they don’t talk about their faith more often.  The greatest recommendation a Christian could ever share is Christ.  So, who have you recommended Him to recently?

This one day local conference, on Tuesday, June 13th,  is designed to help pastors and church leaders create fresh momentum and energy in their ministries, promote and market their churches better within their communities, and so much more!  In order to make the conference as accessible as possible, the cost is only $30, which includes a catered lunch.

If you are a pastor or church leader in New England you do not want to miss out on this special day!  To register, or find out more information, simply go to nepastorsinitiative.org.

George Barna identified the top stressors pastors face several years ago, and I don’t believe the list has changed much at all.  Here is what he discovered:

1. Thirty percent of all pastors said the lack of commitment from the laity was their number one stressor in ministry.  The number one challenge that pastors say they face is the feeling that they are expected to do it all on their own.  Regarding the ministry at the church, they often hear verbally or through innuendo, “that’s what we pay you to do.”
2. The handling of financial and administrative duties was listed by 13% as their number one stress in ministry.  These are the bible college and seminary graduates who took classes in preaching, counseling, biblical interpretation, but never once took a class on budgets, contracts, project management or human resources.
3. Twelve percent of pastors said the number one question they are grappling with is how to do effective outreach.  Whether do to limited budgets, not understanding the demographics of their community, or just not being sure what to try first, slightly more than one out of ten pastors said they struggle with how to best reach out to their community.
4. One in ten pastors (10%) say that implementing change is their greatest concern.  They know the things that need to change in church, but they don’t know how to make it happen.  Personally, the first class that I can remember having taken that focused exclusively on implementing change in the church was in my doctoral program.  I wonder how many pastors have never had a single class, or even lecture, on how to implement change in their churches?
5. Counseling was listed by 9% of pastors as their greatest challenge.  This is probably not due to a lack of concern for people, or an unwillingness to counsel.  This is likely due to a feeling of ineptitude.  Parishioners bring heavy issues to their pastors such as addictions, severe dysfunction in their lives and families, pending divorce, secrets that no one knows about, and personal sin.  Often, a pastor, who maybe has only had a few classes in counseling, feels in over their head.
6. Developing community within the congregation was listed by 8% of pastors as their greatest challenge.  They see people who attend a service for 75 or 90 minutes on a Sunday, but never relationally connect with anyone beyond that.  They see people who call themselves “regular attenders” but only attend church once or twice a month, and never forge any real friendships in the church.
7. Eight percent said the low level of spiritual maturity found in the people of the church caused them great concern.  They see people who have relegated the entire spiritual life to attending on Sunday, and are not praying, studying their Bible, or talking about faith around their dinner table at home throughout the week.  Pastors see that their people are not growing but they don’t know what to do to change this.
8. How to gain greater leadership involvement by the laity was listed by 7% as something they struggle to answer.  Pastors know that their primary calling is not to do the work of the ministry, rather it is to train people to do the work of the ministry, but they struggle to find people who are willing to step up and take the lead.   Too many other things are vying for people’s attention and to make a commitment, certainly a commitment to leadership in the church, gets pushed to the side.
9. Church politics was listed by 4% as their greatest pastoral challenge in ministry.  This could be official politics of boards, deacons, trustees and the like, that don’t let the pastor lead the church as they should.  It could also be the unofficial politics of the real power brokers and influencers in the church controlling things from behind the scenes. Whichever direction the influence comes from, politics that control, slow down, and chart a course different than the vision that God has given the pastor for the church was listed by 4% as the number one difficulty they face.
10. Relational difficulties was also listed by 4% of pastors as their greatest challenge.  This could be quite a few different things.  It could be relationships and conflict within the church.  It could be a lack of feeling like one has genuine friends in or outside the church. It could be the toll that ministry places on the relationship the pastor has with his family.  It could be a number of things, but relationships, or the lack thereof, was listed by nearly 1 in 20 pastors as their number one concern in ministry.

This was Barna’s list, and again I don’t believe it has changed much in recent years.  What about you though, do you think there is something missing from this list?  If so, what?

In Genesis 2 we read, “The the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.'” Think about that verse for a minute.  When God uttered those words, Adam was living in the Garden of Eden.  His relationship with God was perfect. God wasn’t just nearby, but apparently even used to walk around the garden with Adam.  Adam and God enjoyed an intimate relationship that is beyond something we have ever experienced. Yet, even in the midst of this perfect relationship, something was still missing, and this was not good from God’s point of view.

Jump over to the New Testament.  Paul, writing in 1 Corinthians 12, uses one of his favorite illustrations.  He shares how the human body is the perfect representation of how believers are to be connected to both Christ and one another, that each part is to be perfectly interrelated with the others.  In this passage, Paul explains that we are supposed to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.   He shares that life isn’t meant to be lived alone and that we are supposed to be part of a community.  We’re suppose to serve one another, rely on one another, worship with one another, and be a part of one another’s lives.

God designed us to live in community.   The idea of living out our Christian life on our own, just us and God, doesn’t jive with who we are created to be.  Just like it wasn’t good for Adam, who had a perfect relationship with God, to do life alone, it isn’t good for you or I either.  We need to be in community.

What does community look like?  It means worshiping together at church.  It means being a part of a small group together, growing closer to others as we grow closer to Christ.  It means serving in ministry with others, using the gifts, talents, abilities and passions that God has given us.  It means spending time with others and caring for others.  It means laughing and crying with one another.  Community living means inviting others to be a part of our life, and caring enough to be a part of theirs.

Sometimes it is easy to want to be on our own.  Living in community can be hard, and even frustrating, when people let us down.  Community requires you take a risk, step out, and show up to a group on a weeknight.  It requires you taking the time to sign-up to serve in ministry alongside others.  It means thinking about others, and not just yourself. It can be hard to live in community, but it is worth it.

Why? Because again, in one sense, God is not enough for you.  He can’t care for you as much you need him to, but he has designed a community to care for you as much as you need.  He can’t support you as much as you need him to, but he created a church that can support you as much as you could ever require.  We can’t do this life on our own, at least not as God intended it.

Living alone wasn’t good enough for Adam, and it isn’t good enough for you.

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?

Funding – Every week my church transfers 1% of the general tithes and offerings to the church benevolence fund.  This fund is then used to help provide financially for those that are a part of our church family and who are in need.  We also provide free food through our churches food bank to anyone.  The food bank is provided for through our church, but also through a partnership with the Greater Boston Food Bank and grants from other agencies.

Forms – We use a Benevolence Request Form to get people’s basic information and the gist of what their need is.  A few notes on how we use the information on this form:

• How long they have been attending, what service do they attend, and what pastor knows them best – We only help people with financial support who regularly attend our church.  There are just too many needs represented in the community to pay everyone’s gas or electric bill.  If we are uncertain if they have been coming regularly, we’ll wait to process the request and look for them in church for a week or two.
• Have they requested assistance from the church before – We are pretty willing to help someone the first time they need help, but before they can receive assistance a second time they must take the Financial Peace University class that we offer and meet with a member of our Financial Peace Team.
• Are they working, what do they make, do they tithe, are there adult children in the home – If someone is submitting a benevolence request that makes $75k+ a year we are less likely to help them than someone who is making far less.   If there are adult children in the home, and they are not working or contributing, we ask them to start charging their kid’s rent of some kind before we help them out.
• Circumstances that led to them requesting financial aid and what steps are they taking to prevent them from needing assistance again – We will not put good money after bad.  If someone needs help with a bill this month, but has no plan to correct the problem so they will not need help with the same bill the next month, then we will not help them out.  If they are unemployed, they need to be able to at least say that they are actively looking for a job and name a few places they have applied.
• Attaching the bill – We ask that people attach a copy of the bill that they are asking for help with.  We never give people money directly, rather directly pay the vendor to whom the bill is due.  Although it should go without saying, we only consider helping with bills that represent needs such as utility bills.  We do not help with cell phone bills or other non-necessities.  Also, if it is a larger bill, like rent or a mortgage, we do not pay the entire bill but are only able to help with a portion.

Family Connection – We don’t just have people fill out the form and turn it, we personally talk with each person that is applying for help.  This is a time to go over the form they submitted, making sure we understand things correctly, but is also a time to talk, pray and be there for them.  Behind every form is a person, and often an entire family, so it is important that they know we are here for them as their church family in a way that goes beyond simply responding to their need for financial assistance.

This is the basics of how my church has set up their benevolence ministry for helping with financial needs.  What are some other ways you have seen churches address this issue?