the care of souls is the radical idea of the pastor’s office. he is a shepherd to whom a flock has been committed to guide, to feed, to defend; and the divine command enjoins: “take heed to all the flock, over the which the holy ghost hath made you overseers” (acts xx. 28). he is to be the personal religious guide, the confidential christian friend, of his charge. our lord, in his description of the good shepherd, said: “the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. and when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him; for they know his voice” (john x. 3, 4). each member of his flock is a soul entrusted to his care by the lord; and if true to his trust, he is one of those who “watch for souls as they that must give account.” paul, when in ephesus, taught not only publicly, but “from house to house;” and in his farewell charge to the elders of that city he said: “watch, and remember that, by the space of three years, i ceased not to warn every man night and day with tears” (acts xx. 31). dr. cuyler, one of the busiest and most effective pastors in brooklyn, says: “young brethren, aim from the start to be thorough pastors. during the week go to those whom you expect to come to you on the lord’s day. in the morning of each day study books; in the [p. 79] afternoon study door-plates and human nature. your people will give you material for your best practical sermons. after an effective sunday work go around among your flock, as napoleon rode over the field after a battle—to see where the shot struck and who were among the wounded.”
dr. taylor, of the broadway tabernacle, new york, addressing theological students, says: “you will make a great mistake if you undervalue the visitation of your people. the pulpit is your throne, no doubt; but then a throne is stable as it rests on the affections of the people, and to get their affections you must visit them in their dwellings. i used to look upon my visitation as a dreadful drudgery, but it has now become my joy, so that whenever i am tempted to despond i sally forth to visit my flock; and as i look back upon those early years in which i had no such gladness, i am earnestly desirous to save you from blundering as i did.”
dr. john hall, of new york, speaking to a similar audience, said: “pains should be taken that nothing prevents your making pastoral visits. it is very necessary for you to know the people in their homes, and for the people to know you. the little children and the young people should know you. the men should know you. it is only in this way that you can get a distinct idea of the wants of your people, and so be enabled to adapt your preaching to them. do not begrudge the time thus spent. in freely conversing with humble people you will get side-lights, or particular testimony, that will make you a stronger man and a better minister for many a day to come.”
bishop simpson, alluding to the timidity often felt by young men in regard to pastoral visitation, gives this bit of experience: “i had much of this timidity when i [p. 80] entered the ministry. the palms of my hands sometimes burned at the very thought of going out to visit. but i felt i must go; the church bade me go; i had promised god i would go; and as the soldier in the army walks forward timidly, yet determinedly, into the thickest of the fight, so i went in my master’s name. if i could, i took with me some experienced christian friend. i spoke to the people kindly; drew out of them their religious condition and experience; found many a wandering one and tried to comfort many a sorrowing heart. such visits made me better, taught me to feel for the people, and to break for them the bread of life with more fitness. in a revival which followed, out of nearly three hundred who came to the altar for prayer there were very few with whom i had not previously conversed, and i knew how to enter into their sympathies and to point them to the lamb of god.”
the late eminent president francis wayland, in closing an earnest plea to pastors on this subject, said: “if, at last, it be said that all this is beneath the dignity of our profession, and that we cannot expect an educated man to spend his time in visiting mechanics in their shops and in sitting down with women engaged in their domestic labor to converse with them on the subject of religion, to this objection i have no reply to offer. let the objector present his case in its full force to him who, on his journey to galilee, ‘sat thus on the well’ and held a memorable conversation with a woman of samaria.”
pastoral visitation, therefore—this personal care of souls—is an essential part of the pastor’s work; and no minister meets the responsibilities of the sacred office who neglects direct individual religious contact with his flock. for the performance of this duty, however, it is obvious no rules of universal application can [p. 81] be given. men differ in their characteristics and modes of working, and each pastor will ordinarily succeed best with his own method. churches differ in their circumstances and modes of life, and a method adapted to one field may not be at all feasible in another. the main points here to be kept in view are that the pastor in some way come into personal religious relations with his flock, and that this be done by a fixed plan. the suggestions made, therefore, will be of only a general character, and will relate to the limits of this duty, the method of performing it, and the advantages of its faithful discharge.
i. its limits.
in the pastor’s plan of work, how large a place should be given to pastoral visitation?
the pulpit, without doubt, has the highest claim. the pastor is there surrounded by his whole flock, and stands forth before the world as god’s ambassador, the accredited expositor and defender of the gospel. no private duty can rise to the dignity and responsibility of this great public work, and no plea of pastoral exigencies or pastoral usefulness can excuse an habitual neglect of thorough preparation for the sacred desk. this is primary and essential.
but in the pastor’s plan he should also aim to secure the visitation of every family and, as far as possible, every person in his congregation. in most churches this could be done at least as often as once a year; in some, doubtless, more frequently than this. by employing system, laying out the work carefully, and rigidly devoting fixed seasons for its prosecution, a large congregation can be readily visited. suppose that, in addition to those made in cases of sickness and special [p. 82] urgency, six visits in regular course are made every week, even this, small as the number is, in half a year would reach more than a hundred and fifty families—a number above the average of households in our congregations. for this two or three afternoons each week would ordinarily be ample, and the pastor, by thus placing himself in living sympathy with the life of his people, would gain far more than that for his study by the increased facility with which his sermons would be prepared and their individual adaptation to the needs of the congregation. dr. john hall says: “i think a minister in good health, and doing his work easily and naturally, should visit some on at least five days in the week. i have done that for months together. . . . a few hours a day spent in visiting gives exercise, bodily, intellectual, and moral. one studies better for it.”
there are, indeed, positions in the ministry in which, from the extent of the church and the pressure of outside duties, the pastor can do little in this department beyond the visitation of the sick and cases of special religious perplexity. but these instances are rare and exceptional, and in such churches provision ought always to be made to supply the lack of pastoral visitation either by an assistant to the pastor, devoted to this work, or by delegating it to competent committees charged with its accomplishment. when the baptist tabernacle of new york, then worshipping in mulberry street, numbered over a thousand members, widely scattered over that large city, the late venerated deacon william colgate organized a plan by which the congregation was divided into convenient districts, each placed under the care of a competent brother, and it long proved a most effective organization for church watch-care and visitation.
there is here a further inquiry: does the pastor’s duty [p. 83] of visitation extend beyond the limits of his own congregation? the answer to this must depend on the number of his flock, his special aptitudes, and the amount of his own strength. the lord does not require impossibilities. but whoever carefully considers that even in the rural districts of new york more than one-half the population attend no evangelical church, i think, will anxiously ask how this mass of neglecters of the gospel shall be reached; and the pastor who looks down sunday after sunday on a half-filled church may well inquire whether it might not be crowded if, instead of waiting for these careless souls to come to him, he should go to them and carry the message of the gospel, with the urgencies of an earnest, prayerful heart, into the bosom of their families. or if this is not possible for him, ought he not to train and organize christian workers in his church to make this aggressive movement on the mass of indifferentism around him? the inspiring and organizing of such aggressive christian labor as faithful visitation from house to house are among the most important duties of the pastor, and no form of christian activity is more fruitful in blessed results, both in the higher christian development of the visitors and in the awakening and conversion of those who are visited.
ii. the method.
here no single method can be suggested that will be adapted to all positions in the ministry, but the following general views may be considered.
the pastor’s visits should be distinctly understood as designed for religious conversation. there are other occasions for visits of mere courtesy and personal friendship, but here his object is to place himself in religious contact with his people—to learn their experiences, to [p. 84] remove their perplexities, to comfort their sorrows, to stimulate their religious activities—and thus, as one entrusted with the care of souls, to help them heavenward. the minister who passes from house to house conversing only on topics of mere secular interest neglects the great business of his life, and in the eye of the master fails in the care of souls committed to his charge.
the visit should be religious, but it ought to be divested as far as possible of stiffness, formality, sameness. a sour visage and a formal style are not necessary to religious conversation. the pastor comes as a christian friend deeply, tenderly interested in the religious welfare of the family, and while dealing with their souls in all fidelity, he should use a natural, genial, winning manner such as to put them at ease and invite their confidence. he is to study character, and to employ his utmost tact and judgment in adapting his words to those addressed. some pastors have a few stereotyped questions and exhortations which recur in every visit. a process so stiff and unnatural lacks all moral power; it is soon felt to be mere formal professionalism. no duty is more delicate or tasks more fully the minister’s resources than the successful management of a pastoral visit, so as to leave a strong religious impression, and yet secure from old and young a hearty welcome for its repetition.
in visitation the pastor should overlook none. domestics and children, as well as the heads of the family, should share his attention and be made to feel that he cares for their souls. nor should any family or person be overlooked or passed by, but the visit should be strictly impartial, made alike to the rich and the poor, the converted and the unconverted. for this reason, it is better to have a regular course in visitation. then all know that there [p. 85] is no favoritism, and in their turn, they will alike share the regards of their pastor.
ordinarily, the visit should be short. circumstances will necessarily to some extent control this, but long visits almost inevitably lead to the introduction of secular topics and weaken or destroy the religious impression. thoughtless persons will often importune the pastor for a half-day visit, to be followed by a festal dinner or supper. but let him beware of yielding to such importunities; it is fatal to his work in the study, and fatal to the religious force of the visit. no earnest minister will waste his time and powers in the gossip of such a visit. as a rule, a brief visit—genial, but to the point—followed, when practicable, by a brief prayer specifically bearing the individual needs of the household before the throne, is the most effective, and it leaves time to visit the whole congregation without distracting from thorough pulpit preparation.
a pastoral visit should be confidential. no minister has the right to invite disclosures of the religious state of his people in the privacy of their families, and then go forth to retail these conversations through the community. it is the violation of a sacred trust. many a pastor has thus destroyed his influence and barred against himself access to the confidence of his people. if he would be trusted as the confidential adviser and friend of his charge, let him be true to the trusts reposed in him in these visits.
above all, the pastor must remember the injunction, “instant in season, out of season.” he should make the most of opportunities. in the store, the office, and the shop, on the farm, the roadside, and the car—everywhere—he is to seek to lead men to christ. wisely, indeed, he will observe the proprieties of time and place, but he [p. 86] should neglect no real opportunity of conversing on vital personal religion. the care of souls is his life-work, his solemn charge, and concern for their salvation ought continually to reveal itself in his conversation. especially must he seize on opportunities to speak the earnest, kindly word to the unconverted. ordinarily, this is better done when alone with them, as they are then more accessible, and the appeal comes with greater power. the lack of this personal dealing with souls is one of the saddest defects than can mar the life of a minister.
iii. the advantages.
the personal religious growth of the pastor is greatly aided by this direct contact with the souls of his charge. in a minister’s life the danger is that he may degenerate into mere professionalism. he may come to study god’s word and its great truths, not with personal application, but with respect only to the preparation of his sermons and their application to the people. he may lose a vivid consciousness of his personal relations to god and read and think and pray with reference only to others. many a pastor actually advancing in general knowledge of the bible and in professional power as to the composition and delivery and mental richness of his sermons is, after all, only retrograding in his inner personal life as a christian.
but the direct contact with individual souls in pastoral visitation brings religion before him less as a theory, more as a living, personal reality. he deals here with religion in the concrete rather than the abstract. he is the witness of its actual power to comfort in sorrow, to strengthen in temptation, to guide in perplexity, to triumph in danger, and his own soul thus enters into a more full realization of it as a living fact. how often [p. 87] when seeking to guide another to christ does he himself find new access to him, or when administering consolation to a dejected, afflicted spirit do new courage and hope spring up in his own heart! it develops within him broader, purer sympathies and makes him a truer, nobler christian.
visitation also affords the best means of studying the people in their actual life, their characters, opinions, temptations, afflictions and sins. the successful preacher must be a student of men, especially a student of his own congregation. many a recluse pastor wastes the greater part of his force because his preaching lacks adaptation and practicalness. his sermon, it may be, is faultless in its rhetoric and logic and learning and orthodoxy, but it fails to move the people, because it does not come within the range of their experiences. it removes none of their perplexities; it touches none of their special sins; it discusses no questions vital in their life; it is not ithuriel’s spear, to touch and expose the masked tempter charming and deluding their ears. the preacher is not in sympathy with the actual life of the congregation, and the sermon, however abstractly true and beautiful, does not move and bless them. it is with the actual life the minister has to deal; and the study of it in all its manifold phases, as developed under the power of sin and grace, is essential to the highest power in the pulpit. an old divine used to say: “the preacher has three books to study—the bible, himself, and the people.”
nor should i omit to say here that pastoral visitation is a mentally enriching process. in the study of life and experience, as a pastor meets them in passing from house to house, he is ever gaining new insight into character. in these conversations, new vistas of truth open before him, and from these visits he comes back to his study [p. 88] with new texts and subjects for sermons and new illustrations of experience and doctrine.
these pastoral visits, moreover, establish personal religious relations between the minister and the congregation, and thus greatly add to their interest in his sermons. they alter the standpoint of the hearer in reference to the preacher. the man with whom you have wisely and tenderly conversed on vital, personal religion cannot turn a cold, critical ear toward you on the lord’s day; nor does he—what is equally fatal to spiritual benefit—listen as a mere admirer of your pulpit performances. he has a deeper feeling. he turns to you, not merely his critical and intellectual, but his religious, nature, and the words you speak, as the utterances of one sincerely seeking his eternal welfare, come to him with a religious power. this is, without doubt, the secret of many a successful pastorate, even where there has not been the aid of brilliant pulpit eloquence. the pastor has established personal religious relations with his hearers, and to them even his least elaborate sermons are clothed with sacred power. brilliant sermonizing may secure popularity, but only this personal religious contact between pastor and people secures confidence; and a pastor’s real power in producing spiritual, eternal results is dependent on the religious confidence of the people in him.
these visits also enable him to meet many whom the pulpit could never reach. in every community there are the aged, requiring the supports of religion in their declining life; the sick and sorrowing, craving the words of christian consolation and hope; and the careless, needing the kindly invitation and warning. the pastor is god’s commissioned messenger to such, and in these personal interviews he may adapt instruction, encouragement, comfort, and admonition to each.
[p. 89] finally, pastoral visitation is a chief means of blessing and cementing the pastoral relation. of late years pastorates have become of short duration. hardly is a minister settled and fairly at work before the question of a change begins to be agitated. may not the decline of pastoral visitation, so faithfully done by many of our fathers in the ministry, be in part an explanation of this? the pastor’s personal religious life is not brought into contact with his people; as the result, their religious confidence is not won, and his ministry is not in sympathy with their needs. the only bond between them is the pulpit; and when the novelty of his voice and manner and modes of thought has passed away, they are tired of him and seek a change.
besides, when the pastor is not faithful to the souls of his people in private, they instinctively feel that he is not sincere—at least, not thoroughly in earnest—in his public preaching. on the lord’s day he comes before them proclaiming the most solemn truths and pressing these truths with the strongest urgency, but in the week, he meets them and has no words of kindly invitation and warning. he solemnly warns the impenitent from the pulpit of their imminent peril of everlasting burnings but meets them in their homes or on the street, perhaps year after year, without one word expressive of his interest for their eternal welfare. such inconsistency makes religious confidence impossible, and there is no adequate bond to bind pastor and people together.
but the relation of pastor and people, as god ordained it, is most sacred and enduring. charged with the care of souls, he is to move among his flock as their spiritual guide and friend. the confessional, terrible as its power for evil is, was after all in its origin only a perversion of the pastoral institution, based on a real and universal [p. 90] need—the longing of troubled souls for guidance, help in getting back to god. this need the pastor must meet as the confidential counsellor and helper of the individual members of his flock; and if true to this sacred trust, his resources of power are ever increasing, and new bonds of sympathy hold him more firmly year by year in the hearts of his church.
iv. visitation of the sick.
this is one of the most responsible and difficult duties of the pastor, for it often devolves on him the spiritual guidance of souls on the verge of eternity, when what is said must be said at once and words fitly spoken are of supreme moment. i have, therefore, reserved this subject for special suggestions.
1. the people should be instructed to notify the pastor when cases of sickness occur, for he is often blamed for neglect in visiting the sick when in fact he did not know of the sickness. he should make public request, therefore, that notice be sent to him of such cases, with the fullest assurance of readiness on his part to respond to such a call at all hours and in all places. of course, in cases of known sickness among his own people, a pastor will not wait to be invited, but will call as an understood part of his pastoral duty.
2. it is always prudent to visit the sick in a rested rather than wearied state of body, and with a full rather than an empty stomach; the liability to contract disease is thereby lessened. in contagious diseases a medical adviser should be consulted as to the best means of avoiding danger, and disinfectants should be carefully used after the visit to avoid endangering others. whether in such cases it is duty to visit no rule can be given; the decision must be left to the convictions of the pastor [p. 91] and the relations and circumstances of each. the words of van oosterzee, in his practical theology, deserve here, however, careful consideration: “the negative answer, favored by the theory and practice of some, finds an apparent justification in the natural desire for self-preservation and in the teacher’s relation to his own family. in opposition to this, however, stands the consideration that even the christian is bound to lay down his life for the brethren, how much more the shepherd of the sheep! and that, in this sphere also, loss of life in the service of the lord is the way to the preservation of life. without doubt, fulfilment of duty in this case may cost a painful sacrifice. . . . nevertheless, the lord and his congregation have unquestionably the right to demand that duty take precedence of everything; as accordingly luther, in 1527, during the prevalence of the plague, remained with pomeranus and two deacons at wittenberg, and in this way answers the question formally raised by him in his tractate, ‘whether we may flee before death?’ when, in 1574, the question here put was expressly deliberated at the synod of dort, the answer was given, ‘that they should go, being called, and even uncalled, inasmuch as they know that there will be need of them.’ with what right shall the physician of souls withdraw from a task from which even the unbelieving medical man does not too greatly shrink? . . . the risk incurred on that occasion finds its abundant compensation in the gratitude of the flock, the approval of our own conscience, and the ever-renewed experience that the lord supports his servants in this school of exercise also, and not seldom manifestly preserves them. of course, belief in his power and faithfulness can release no one from the duty of taking those measures of precaution prescribed under such circumstances [p. 92] by experience and science.” the question is sometimes one of the most difficult in a pastor’s life, and without doubt there is much danger that he may take counsel of timidity rather than of that faith which becomes a servant of god.
3. careful preparation should be made for such visits by previous study and prayer. in this he is to seek a spiritual frame of mind, to select and familiarize scripture passages adapted to the different spiritual conditions and needs of the sick, to elaborate fitting trains of thought, and to acquire brief, simple, and apt illustrations of the way of salvation, thus fitting himself for the different phases of spiritual condition in the sick. i hardly need add that at the basis, as underlying all preparation, there must be a sound judgment and a heart in genuine sympathy with the afflicted, so that the pastor comes into the sick-chamber as a wise and sympathizing friend and is felt as such.
4. in manner it is important to be self-possessed and natural, sympathetic and cheerful, putting the sick at ease and inspiring confidence. the voice should be tender and subdued, but not falsely keyed and whining. the visit, except in unusual circumstances, should be brief. a neglect of these things will destroy the advantage of the interview, and in some cases will exclude the pastor from the sick.
5. in regard to conversation with the sick, no fixed rules can be given, since the cases present phases so varied; the good sense and tact of the pastor will suggest the best method in each case. plainly, the matter of first moment is a clear, thorough, and accurate understanding of the spiritual condition of the patient, for without this the pastor’s words may be misdirected, or may even be wholly misleading. he may administer [p. 93] consolation where the heart is in rebellion against god and needs rather kindly warning, or he may encourage hope where the heart is self-deceived, and god has spoken only condemnation. an interview alone, if it can be arranged, will sometimes secure from the sick a more full disclosure of the heart, and will enable the pastor to speak with greater directness and freedom. if the sick person is a christian, the question then becomes, is he at peace, submissively, restfully trusting all in god’s hand? if not, ascertain what is preventing this, and if possible, help the soul back to god. if he is not a christian, seek to know what prevents him from becoming one, and lead him if possible to christ. but use a careful discrimination, distinguishing clearly between the true and false in religious experience, and avoid mere loose exhortations to come to christ, which leave unexplained what christ is, and what he has done, and what it is to come to him. in all cases, whether to saint or sinner, christ is to be presented in his fulness of grace and power as the one hope and the one helper for the humble, penitent soul, and the thought of the sick is to be lifted and turned to him as a living, present savior and an almighty friend.
6. prayer, when practicable, should always be offered in the sick-room. in severe illness it is sometimes advisable to do nothing more than offer prayer, and in such a case, where the sufferer may be near eternity, how fitting and weighty ought to be these words of petition! how tender, earnest, direct, should be the prayer, bearing the case with all its priceless interests into the presence of god! vinet strikingly says: “expect much from prayer—i mean not only from its power with god, but from its immediate effects on the sick. we may say everything in prayer; under the form of prayer we may make everything [p. 94] acceptable; with it we may make hearts the most firmly closed open themselves to us. there is a true charm in prayer; and this charm has also its effect on us, whom it renders more confident, more gentle, more patient, and whom it puts into affecting fellowship with the sick man, whoever he may be, by making god present to us both.”
these seasons of affliction furnish a pastor the surest access to the homes and hearts of his flock; and rightly improved they greatly add, not only to his pastoral usefulness, but also to his personal hold on the affection and confidence of the families of his charge. neglect of the sick and sorrowing on the part of a pastor, or a heartless, perfunctory manner in performing his duties to them, violates the most sacred obligations, and is justly felt alike by the religious and the irreligious as a reproach to him: it must in the end destroy the power of his work in the pulpit. he should use great care, therefore, to keep himself informed as to the sick and afflicted, to visit them promptly and frequently, and to come to their homes, in the spirit of his master, with the tender, earnest sympathy of a christian friend, and with the rich resources for christian help and consolation with which he is entrusted by god as a minister of the gospel.
