About how often should a pastor OR church rep. visit a local hospitalized member (non-life-threatening situations)?
Poll Results
About how often should a pastor OR church rep. visit a local hospitalized member (non-life-threatening situations)?
Generally ideally daily Votes: 2
Generally 2 or 3 times a week Votes: 4
Generally weekly Votes: 3
Generally not at all Votes: 2
Depends upon what the patient expects Votes: 4
Depends upon how connected the patient is to the church Votes: 2
Other (please make common assumptions and avoid this choice if possible) Votes: 0
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The D word is “depends.” Of course it depends! We are assuming a member or regular attender of a church is in a hospital not too terribly far away and is in a non-life threatening situation.
Suppose he or she has a replacement hip or knee, or has had bariatric surgery (bariatric hospitals live off the fat of the land, they say). It takes 15 minutes to drive to the hospital, and church activity levels are normal, it is not a holiday, etc. All is as close to normal as it gets.
What we are looking for is the rubric or routine you (or your church) have for such things, even if not written down or stated.
By “church rep,” we mean someone RESPONSIBLE (whether a layman or not is irrelevant in this survey) to visit them. If visiting “just happens” and there is no one responsible (no flock group leader, etc.), then choose “Not at all.” Even if the person would get 20 visitors from the church, our concern is the typical routine.
Expectations vary by region, rural or urban, size of church, denomination (if any), etc., etc., etc.
I wrote a paper a few years ago that is adapted to the Midwest medium sized church. If interested, here is the link:
http://www.highlandpc.com/leader/hospvis.php
Comments about how you or your church policies/procedures/habits have changed over the years are welcome too.
"The Midrash Detective"
I really did not want anyone to visit because I was very sick [not dying sick … just sick]. My pastor called (phone) a couple of times and I thought that was just about right
But I think you ask the patient and follow their wishes. In some cases, visits are not only unwanted, but actively discouraged. On the other hand, a young lady in our church was very lonely when she was hospitalized a few years ago, and it did her and her parents a lot of good to get a ton of visitors (at one point, it was the family, my wife and I, and ten other people from the church - we finally left because they were running out of space in the hospital room).
Someone that’s been hospitalized for cancer may only be up to a visit a day. Someone in a horrific accident might not be aware of visits. When I was hospitalized as a boy with a serious illness, I would have appreciated visits from anyone at church.
So it varies. And I didn’t use the D word. :D
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
Best to ask the person or the spouse.
Gone are the days of the very long hospital stays. Anymore it is get out as soon as one can.
Depends on the patient. I was recently in the ER and then hospitalized. My pastor came to the ER to offer his assistance. He had prayer with me and my wife and then said, “Call me if you need anything.” Thankfully, I’m in a church where, if anyone needs anything (including attention), all they have to do is ask and someone o more than one will be there. Me? I just wanted to rest and i knew that help was available.
Then it depends on the church. Some people expect the pastor to visit regularly and are more than willing to tell you what they mean by “regularly”. I remember having a family threaten to leave our church because i didn’t visit a family member who was having day surgery and that I even walked by his room TWICE and didn’t stop in. The fact that my wife was in heavy labor with our first child at the time didn’t ease their anger.
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
How come no one commented on my funny
bariatric hospitals live off the fat of the land
That is funny, isn’t it?
"The Midrash Detective"
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