Encouraging mission and ministry across the diocese of York
Unit 2: Pastoral Care
Session 7 ~ Parish Visiting
Participant’s Notes
Pastoral visiting is just one way a church can structure and focus its compassion towards
different groups of people.
Our Purpose

To consider the likely ingredients for a structured parish visiting scheme

To explore the practicalities of the visit
Who do we visit?
Explore the different groups of people within a ‘typical’ congregation.
Fringe
Congregation
Core
1. Leadership – clergy, Readers, RPA’s
2. Core members – deeply committed, often very busy in the church, usually regarded as
leaders in the church. The irreducible minimum of the Core is the formal leadership of
the church, the PCC or DCC or other leadership body.
3. Congregation – regular committed attenders who are involved in worship, participate in
church activities like house groups, and may have a formal role outside of the PCC.
4. Fringe – people who have just started coming to church or who come occasionally,
maybe through links with their children’s activities or involvement in church community
events. The fringe members are those who worship with varying degrees of regularity
but are not necessarily members of the church.
York Diocese RPA Scheme Unit 2 Pastoral Session 7 – Parish Visiting
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Encouraging mission and ministry across the diocese of York
Parish Visiting Scheme Structure
1. Aim. The importance of knowing your ‘target’ group and their likely profile. ‘Who are we
visiting?
2. Purpose: The importance of knowing what motivates the visiting team and its members.
‘Why are we visiting?’ ‘What is our hoped for ‘outcome’ for: a. the scheme b. each visit?
3. Visiting Team Members: The importance of having suitable visitors, what criteria for a
visitor would the team have? What life experience and/or training should be expected?
Is there to be a team ‘ethos’ shared by its members? How does the team come to
understand and own the aims and purposes? What training have the visitors had and
what do they need? Key principles such as confidentiality and offering prayer may be
examples of ‘ethos’.
4. Organization: The importance of good organization including clear lines of leadership
and accountability. ‘Who is visiting who and how often?’ A shape for the way the team
operates could be agreed in terms of frequency of visit, respecting boundaries and
either individual or collective feedback. Should someone keep a record in case of
visitors moving on, going away etc? What is the role of the priest?
5. Supervision: The importance of collective feedback to ensure good practice,
organization and wellbeing of the visitors. The need to agree frequency of sharing
together about how the visiting is going, what practicalities need to be known by the
priest/rest of team. Is an outside person a good and practical idea for facilitating the
team’s supervision? There needs to be recognition of the personal support visitors might
need given the pressures of keeping confidentiality, of visiting and listening, of needing
pastoral care and support themselves (receivers and well as givers). Supervision also
monitors potential over involvement and the maintenance of the ‘ethos’. Also to maintain
the parish perspective in what can become an overly personal ministry.
Supervision Issues
It is rare of parish visiting schemes to give supervision a proper role. Why? What benefits
should it bring?
1. Keeps us humble and focused on the aims.
2. Situations that are hard to handle: It is important to have a culture of talking and
praying about the cases each pastoral visitor may have. Situations may get difficult for a
range of reasons: beyond the visitor’s experience or expertise; beyond the visitor’s
emotional strength or resources to handle; over dependence; difficulties in the visitors
own life etc. Make a list and discuss how to address such circumstances.
York Diocese RPA Scheme Unit 2 Pastoral Session 7 – Parish Visiting
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Encouraging mission and ministry across the diocese of York
3. Boundaries: physical (male/female, lifting, housekeeping, personal hygiene….) ;
emotional (too close to visitor’s own difficulties, too distressing, repetitive; spiritual
(respecting different views, aim of visiting and what it’s not); time (self-discipline, saying
‘no’); family (keeping own life separate and not consumed by needy people); friendship
(as family)….
4. Role of Priest: Needs discussing what is appropriate for the priest to do or have
handed on, and what is not. Will depend on circumstances of priest time available, gifts
etc.
5. Confidentiality: i.e. working out what issues arise from this; and how to keep the
confidence of the people being visited.
Having a skilled supervisor visiting the team from time to time may be a benefit.
The visit.
The way you do the small things says a great deal about the big things!
1. Preparation: prayer, time and timing, transport, weather, knowing the person you are
visiting their daily routine and their environment.
2. Time: when to call and when not to call, being aware of other regular visitors e.g. family,
home helps, daily routine and habits of the person to be visited especially with serious
medical conditions, avoiding favourite TV slots!
3. On spec or by arrangement? What are the merits of each?
4. The conversation/listening accepting hospitality, having conversational ‘props’,
discerning when listening method is appropriate.
5. Use of prayer is there a team ethos? Ex tempore or pre-prepared? General, blessing
type or healing prayer? The possible effects of prayer e.g. for the bereaved may require
time afterwards. Listening, reflecting back in prayer.
6. Physical practicalities especially for Eucharistic visiting which requires certain furniture
and positioning. Dealing with pets, hygiene issues, not being a nurse (don’t move or lift
a person).
7. Having an exit strategy!
York Diocese RPA Scheme Unit 2 Pastoral Session 7 – Parish Visiting
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