Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - July/90

Contributor - Honken et al

Title - House Visitation

Topic - Ministering

In his book Twelve Keys to an Effective Church, Kennon L. Callahan lists "Pastoral and Lay Visitation" as the second important key. "Though a lost art in many churches," he states, "the missional church does consequential visitation with the unchurched, newcomers, constituents, and members on a weekly basis!" . "House Visitation" as we like to call it in our Reformed Church, has been a time honoured tradition with us. To comment on the value of the practice, we have asked a Minister and two Elders to give us their assessment of house visitation based on their experience. Rev. Henry Van Essen also shares a personal experience with readers, of his first house visitation assignment as a newly ordained pastor.

Rev. Alvin Honkin

At the first consistory meeting, after arriving in Whitby, the elders informed me: "Reverend, we have most of our house visits completed."

Without looking too shocked or Ignorant, I asked "what do you mean by that?"

With that I was cued in on the visitation program conducted by the Elders of Emmanuel Reformed Church.

The Apostle Paul said: " . . . encourage one another and build one another up . . ." (I Thess. 5:11 RSV). The best way to carry out that mandate in the life of the church is through regular contacts with the congregation. We use the following procedure at Emmanuel which works for us.

In January, the elders are assigned a number of families for which they are directly responsible throughout the year. If a member of that family is hospitalized, confined to his home, absent from worship, experiencing a joy or sorrow, it is the Elder's responsibility to contact and encourage that person the best he can. The Elders also schedule an annual visit with each family of the congregation, however, not everyone wants a visit and we respect that. The visits are intended to give the family an opportunity to speak about what is on their heart concerning the church or their own spiritual life.

With such a program, there is always the possibility of it being misused. Even though visits are made with the best intentions, the Elders are given a few basic instructions:

Phone ahead of time to arrange a visit. (The Elder must earn the right to visit in a home.)

· Treat the visit as something sacred.

Be sensitive to what the family is saying.

Keep the conversation up-beat.

Do not talk about other people.

Do not overstay your welcome.

Do not deliver a sermon, or conduct a Bible Study, but instead share God's love and grace, and offer encouragement from the Word.

If a problem is evident, arrange a follow-up visit with either the Elder and/ or the Pastor.

Never share the conversation of a home visit with anyone else without permission, and never use it for gossip or as an illustration.

The primary task of the visit is to communicate God's love and grace. In doing so the church is edified and the parishioner is drawn closer to the fellowship, but most of all into a deeper relationship with the Lord.

Elder Martin deVos

I believe that no church should be without house visitation, writes Elder Martin DeVos. We know from the writings of the Apostles that after the resurrection of our Lord, and His ascension, the Apostles not only continued to preach continuously in the synagogues, but afterward visited the houses of the faithful to continue their preaching and Christian education there.

I would say that without house visitation we would not have a Christian church. Scripture tells us that soon after the death of Christ, persecution started, and the only way of communicating and preaching the Gospel was by way of meetings in the houses of the faithful.

The Christian church has continued this practice. Our Reformed Church believes in it. During the winter months, a system of house visitation is organized where every family is visited by either two Elders, or one Elder and one Deacon. Often the Pastor himself' who I usually arranges his own appointments, will visit.

The task of visiting should be taken seriously, because it is an opportunity for the Elders of the local church to have dialogue with their parishioners, and learn from them how strong they are in the faith. Very often we, as leaders of the church, may learn from those we visit how to put the Christian religion into practice.

The book of Acts describes the necessity and the blessings derived from house visitation. (See Acts 2:46; Acts 5:42; Acts 20:20; Hebrews 3:6).

It is important that we know why we go on house visitation, and what we are going to talk about. In order to help Elders and Deacons in this task, several churches organize a visiting plan with a topic which will then be presented to each of the church members at their homes. The drawback of this idea is that the Elders and Deacons talk only about one topic all through the visiting season. For that reason I have never been in favour of this.

Personally, I like to think in advance about who we are going to visit and what possible discussion could be helpful. Then I find a Bible section that would help in setting up a good discussion.

I believe that we go on house visitation not only to learn from the people and to share our faith with them, but also to help build them up in their Christian faith.

Some church leaders seem to have the habit of asking, towards the end of the visit, whether there are any complaints. It think this is the wrong thing to do. When we go on house visitation, we should try not to get engaged in negative discussion about a person's disatisfaction or complaints, or what-ever. It could have a very detrimental effect upon the quality of the house visitation. Rather, if there are any complaints, it would be better to go back and make a special visit to deal with those matters.

House visitation, therefore, should be nothing else but the preaching and sharing of the Gospel of Christ.

It has been my privilege to be an Elder in the Reformed Church since I was twenty-five years old. I have visited many people over the years in several congregations. I have always been very happy about the privilege that was mine, to get together and share my faith with others.

At times the evenings became very long, but I am sure that the time and energy spent on house visitation is a great builder of unity and faith among Christians.

As Pastor, Elder, and Deacon, we should be very careful not to use these visits as a forum for debates, but rather strive for the edification of all concerned.

Elder Martin DeVos, is a member of Maranatha Reformed Church, Wainfleet Ontario.

Elder Fred Algera

In the philosophy of ministry statement of the Elmwood Community Reformed Church in Winnipeg, there is a section on MEMBER CARE. It states: We are a congregation of people who want to grow together in the Christian faith and who want to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others."

Now that we are currently without Pastor, each Elder/Deacon team follows up on this commitment to visit the members. On the agenda of each consistory meeting is an item called, "follow-up on house visitation." Each team shares what they have learned at their visits without using names and individuals.

To announce and introduce the visitation program a letter is sent to each member or friend of the congregation.

During the pre-arranged visit with the family or individual member several points are followed closely in order to give the visit a definite direction. They include: opening prayer and Scripture reading; inquiry of emotional, spiritual, physical joys and concerns; stewardship; church concerns; closing prayer; and fellowship. A visit may last from 1-2 hours.

The consistory attempts to visit each family or individual member once each year. The congregation is divided into four districts. Each Elder and Deacon team is responsible for the same number of visits - 16 families.

The visitation ministry proves helpful in the areas of communication and member care support.- Joys and needs are shared and consistory takes back expressed concerns for further deliberation at their meetings. The visits are constructive and create a feeling of belonging. Our people look forward to these visits and will check with their Elder if a visit has not been made.

As a consistory we feel that the visitation program keeps us in close touch with our congregation and is an important vehicle in building up Christ's people and His Church.

Elder Fred Algera is a member of Elmwood Community Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Rev. Henry Van Essen

It happened in the fall of 1960. That summer I had been ordained as a minster of the Gospel. The seminary training was behind me. But there was still much unknown territory in church work. One such area was that of house visitation. Our professor of Practical Theology had instructed us how to do it. But we had never actually done it. Nor did I have any experience from home, for we never received such visits from the church in the village. So how does a new minister learn? In my case was a senior Elder in Vancouver, B.C. who taught me.

At one consistory meeting a family who had stopped attending church was brought to the attention of the brothers. They lived far away. It then became clear that it had been quite a while since they had had house visitation. At that point Elder Van Slageren offered to visit the family. But he did not drive. At that moment he looked to me and asked, "Has dominee ever done house-visitation?" I shook my head. "Well, that is settled. Dominee will drive me and I will do the visit."

Thus some days later we were on our way. Before arriving Elder Van Slageren in his customary abrupt manner declared, "I will open with prayer, read Scripture, and lead the visit. Dominee can contribute, and would dominee close with prayer?" Thus we entered the home. We shook hands, spent less than five minutes on the weather and personal health, and were led in prayer by Mr. Van Slageren. After that he read his Scripture selection, gave a bit of commentary, and then asked questions on the basis of that Scripture. Soon the reasons for lack of church attendance surfaced and were discussed. At no point did Mr. Van Slageren permit the discussion to drift away into everyday things. When all had been said he simply asked me to close with prayer. Following that he stood up, thanked the people for receiving us, and proceeded to leave. On the way home he said to me, "Now dominee has seen how house visitation is done."

Naturally I have never forgotten this practical field experience. I was amazed how Mr. Van Slageren's approach agreed with the instructions from Dr. Henry Bast, our professor at seminary. Dr. Bast had pastored churches for many years. He told us:

1. When you arrive do not waste time with talking about the weather, the business, or whatever. The people know why you are there. Lead in prayer and read Scripture.

2. Do not try to gently ooze into a discussion of spiritual matters. Most times people will try to avoid and evade it. Do not try to sneak up on them through the back door. Just march through the front door.

3. One hour- to one hour and a quarter is sufficient for a visit. After that you usually start repeating yourself, or the level of conversation deteriorates. Close with prayer and leave.

4. Where it is obvious that more work is necessary, make an appointment to come back for a follow-up visit. House visitation is to find out how things are in the families of the church. Follow up visits should be a normal result of the annual visits.

5. Do not have a social visit at the end of a house visitation. That takes the impact of the visit away. If refreshments are to be served, make it clear that they are to be served immediately upon your arrival, so that nobody half way during the visit disappears into the kitchen. Finally, ask that the whole family be present.

Elder Van Slageren and Dr. Bast never met to the best of my knowledge, but they practised house visitation in the same manner. Ever since, I have followed my teachers. There is no bet- . ter way for a young minister to learn than by the positive example of an experienced Elder. Thank you Elder Van Slageren. Thank you, Dr. Bast.

Rev. Henry Van Essen is the pastor of Bethel Reformed Church, Exeter, Ontario.

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