My wife's uncle had a stroke and is in Vidant in Greenville. My wife's aunt said that their pastor doesn't make hospital visitations due to the large size of the church. Is this normal for larger churches?
Maybe not the head pastor in person for every visit. But, that doesn’t absolve the church from performing that ministry.My wife's uncle had a stroke and is in Vidant in Greenville. My wife's aunt said that their pastor doesn't make hospital visitations due to the large size of the church. Is this normal for larger churches?
It isn’t “a member,” it’s all the time that a pastor can end up spending doing nothing but visit the sick.So let me get this....the preacher, whom is paid well im sure "doesnt have time" to visit a member whom had a major life altering event in the hospital? What does he do all day then? People go to church on Sunday, for 2 hours and a 1 hour meeting on wdd or thurs where im from. Sure, he has other duties but one of those is supporting the members.
Prayers sent for him.My wife's uncle had a stroke and is in Vidant in Greenville. My wife's aunt said that their pastor doesn't make hospital visitations due to the large size of the church. Is this normal for larger churches?
First, define well paid. As a board member and finance committee member of our church, well paid is a relative term. Compared to what? I know what our preacher makes, and it is far from what he could make in the outside world. We are blessed to have 3 ministers on staff that are willing to do the Lord's work for so much less than the rest of us would take to do our daily jobs.So let me get this....the preacher, whom is paid well im sure "doesnt have time" to visit a member whom had a major life altering event in the hospital? What does he do all day then? People go to church on Sunday, for 2 hours and a 1 hour meeting on wdd or thurs where im from. Sure, he has other duties but one of those is supporting the members.
First, define well paid. As a board member and finance committee member of our church, well paid is a relative term. Compared to what? I know what our preacher makes, and it is far from what he could make in the outside world. We are blessed to have 3 ministers on staff that are willing to do the Lord's work for so much less than the rest of us would take to do our daily jobs.
Second, what does he do all day? Well, ours has to prepare for 3 services a week, in addition to pretty well running the church 8 hours a day, while the board members that are "in charge" are working our other jobs for more money. He works with cleaning crews, the maintenance folks that are in and out, talks on the phone a bunch, and ministers to walk-ins a great deal. He makes sure the music teams and volunteers are lined up for services. Last week was a work day, and he spent a lot of time getting ready for that, then supervising the crews on Saturday. I could go on and on. Now, we are blessed in that he does find time to visit the sick, but it comes at a high cost of time.
Finally, yes the people are in church 3 hours per week, max. Most are 1 hour. But our preacher is there 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, minimum, and the job doesn't stop when he gets home. Do we need to get him some help, yes. But that cost time and money, something most of the 3 hour visitors are not willing to support, either with time or money. Remember the 80/20 rule. 20% of the people do 80% of the work, give 80% of the money, blah, blah, blah. Volunteers and donators are the minority.
Sorry for the rant, but just wanted to throw a little info from someone who knows what our preacher does all day. Quite honestly, preaching, as most know it, is the least that he does.
I grew up the same way, my friend. Small southern baptist church of about 50-75 people. Preacher Hardy never missed a beat, was there if you were in the hospital every time, and most times when you were just feeling ill at home. I really miss that. Our current church has a membership of about 600, and average attendance each Sunday is about 300-320. We are still small-town compared to the mega-churches, but can't operate that way any more. I can't tell you how fortunate we are to have the preacher we have. He, along with our small staff, are true blessings. But yes, I miss the old days and old ways!Thanks for the insight on what a preacher does all day. I guess im just used to being in a church where the preacher is always there for you. When I was in a trauma and in chapel hill, the preacher was there. When my mother had brain surgery at duke he was there, many more instances can be given but those are but 2 examples and its a 1.5hr drive for each. Im not used to mega churches so I guess things work different.
Nothing in Bible that says it’s wrong for a Pastor to visit the hospital BUT the roles of deacons should be to do such. The literal meaning of deacon comes from the Greek word “Diakonos” and simply means to serve!Seems to be more and more so these days.... I had one tell me that is the role of the deacon..... Not sure I support that view.
Humans make up the Church, and biblical interpretation is well, up for interpretation.Some good responses to the post and some really “not so good”! Especially the “what do they do all day?”(which yes I see has been retracted)
I could go on a rant about the work of a Pastor since I’m now working mid level management for a major corporation HOWEVER... not the point
Point is ... read back through all the posts HOW MANY RESPONDED WITH A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE? A few did
Most were opinionated human responses
Humans make up the Church, and biblical interpretation is well, up for interpretation.
Matthew 25 is one of the more well known verses out there, but in my understanding it’s a general call to minister the sick.
James 5:14 specifically mentions Priests (Pastor.)
Growing up Catholic the churches always had a small crew of extraordinary ministers to deliver communion to those that were home bound, hospitalized, etc...I volunteered at a Nursing Home in HS and there were people every Sunday to bring communion to residents. The priest was on a monthly rotation with the other major churches in town where each took a Sunday to perform a service at the Nursing home.
Getting back to James 5, visits from priests were for last rites, Anointing of the Sick, typically performed when it looks quite bleak. Only a Priest can perform those, and generally there’s one on call at the Hospital for that reason.
As I reflect more on it, I think about how much joy the Eucharistic Ministers brought. I also get my uncles sense of humor when the Priest brought him the Eucharist; he was dying of cancer, and when he saw the Priest he commented “I’m not doing well but I didn’t think things were that imminent.” Gallows humor, or something.
If everyone agreed on the best way to do it we wouldn’t have as many denominations as we do, would we?
There is not a Catholic or Protestant section in heaven. Denominations are man made not GOD made.The verbiage “Priests” you speak of is from a Catholic interpretation which is very different than the Protestant interpretation. Regardless of human interpretations... which are subjective. Scripture is Gods Word and is absolute and means 1 thing. Otherwise, the Bible be used to justify any and every thing.
Anyway... with all do respect to your beliefs.. the OP was obviously speaking of Protestant church
Respectfully disagree (with exception to the references to the Sacrament of Last Rites).The verbiage “Priests” you speak of is from a Catholic interpretation which is very different than the Protestant interpretation. Regardless of human interpretations... which are subjective. Scripture is Gods Word and is absolute and means 1 thing. Otherwise, the Bible be used to justify any and every thing.
Anyway... with all do respect to your beliefs.. the OP was obviously speaking of Protestant church
That’s understood and agreed BUT doesn’t change the fact that Scripture is absolute. Man has and still does add to and takes from....There is not a Catholic or Protestant section in heaven. Denominations are man made not GOD made.
Respectfully disagree (with exception to the references to the Sacrament of Last Rites).
Don’t you think it’s much more likely a Hebrew Reference (ie Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father?)
And while OP seas referring to a Protestant church, it isn’t a problem unique to Protestant churches...or even Christian congregations...It’s a concern that you alluded to earlier; how best to balance the biblical calling to minister and care for the sick, the overall needs of the congregation, and maintaining respect and boundaries so you don’t run the Pastor (Priest, Rabbi) into the ground.