The sick, the bereaved, the member who drifts away, the one who does not want a visit. Each door calls for a different way in.
At the bedside, you do not bring healing: you bring the presence of God. Listen, hold the hand if it is offered, pray briefly. Adventism practises the anointing of the sick as an ordinance, grounded in James 5:14: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church.” It is offered, never imposed · and never as a last sacrament: it is an act of faith for the living. Never promise immediate healing.
The crowd leaves quickly; the bereaved is left alone. Pastoral visiting often begins where the burial ends: coming back, keeping watch, not letting the silence settle in. All of this has its own track · the sheet “Accompanying after the funeral” gives the schedule (day 7, months 1, 3, 6, 12) and the warning signs. Do not reinvent here what is already there: refer to the funeral corpus.
Someone comes less often, then not at all. Visiting is the very prevention of drifting away: going to him while he can still be reached, not six months too late. Without reproach (“we don't see you anymore”), without a summons. Simply: we miss you, how are you? Often, behind the absence, there is a wound no one asked about.
Some do not want a visit · an overloaded schedule, distrust, a closed home. Respect it. Do not force your way into a life that does not open to you. Leave a door: a word, an offered availability, a “whenever you like.” The visit refused today sometimes prepares the one that will be accepted two years from now. Patience is a form of respect.
Discipline is not banishment, it is care: we visit to restore, never to punish. It never springs from one person's initiative — it is mandated by the church board. At the side of the one a measure has struck: listen before correcting, keep absolute confidentiality, and leave the door of return open — reinstatement is always possible, through repentance and a fresh vote of welcome. The detail is in the action sheet and the « Listening » module; the framework is in the Church Manual.
When a member stops returning the tithe, it is rarely about money: it is a symptom. We do not visit to claim — never, and never through the treasurer: the confidentiality of giving is sacred. Speak to the heart, not the wallet; look for what has gone out — a wound, a doubt, a trial. The tithe will come back of itself once the relationship is mended, or it will stay between him and God. The detail is in the action sheet.
Time is always short; priorities keep you from visiting at random. Arrais names seven groups that call for attention first.
After J. Arrais, “Wanted: A Good Pastor” (GC Ministerial Association, 2011). Ch. 8.