Visitation: Old Christian Custom – new challenges to the Church

	2010
	Lutheran Church in Southern Africa   Wilhelm Weber

 

 

[ VISITATION: OLD CHRISTIAN CUSTOM - NEW CHALLENGE TO THE CHURCH ]

This paper investigates the origin of visitation to establish a way forward for the LCSA under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through God's word in Holy Scripture in establishing the present situation where we are right now having been brought here by God's goodness and forbearance. Therefore we also look back at our history to understand the foundational principles of both our Lutheran confessional theology and its faithful practice today in the hope to find positive solutions in these Lutheran treasures for the future challenges facing us and our children. May the triune God have mercy on us in this and the coming Ages as he has had in the past. To him be all glory now and forever. Amen.

 

 

1. Introduction: Visitation in our History
   

   1. Reformation (Melanchthon, 1529)
      
   2. Dr. Martin Luther: Large and Small Catechisms
      
   3. LCMS (Walther, 1992)
      
   4. Dr. Herb Mueller: South Illinois District
      
   5. VELKD [LWF] (Hahn, 2006)
      
      1. The church is continuously being visited by the public
         
      2. Visitation needs to be public/transparent
         
      3. Visitation facilitates publicity
         
      4. The public has a right to visitation
         
         1. Does Church do, what it proclaims?
            
            1. Proclaim the gospel [Liturgy]
               
            2. Teach the faith [Mission]
               
            3. Help people [Works of mercy]
               

2. Practise of visitation
   

   1. Evaluation and organisational Management and counselling, which follows up an preparatory phase using letters, papers, questionnaires and evaluation sheets with personal contact/visitation by experts/supervisors/counsellors and a follow-up phase.
      
      1. The visitor shares his ideas, plans and wishes with congregation/pastor/dean.
         
      2. A working group/committee is put in charge of the canvassing and reporting on the congregational realities concerned: Worship, teaching and training, personnel, resources, liabilities, facility, finance, plans and development.
         
      3. A questionnaire like that used in LCSA twenty years ago might be helpful: What does God want of us? Where are we? Where does God want us to be? Bible study is required to determine this.
         
      4. Talks with pastor, elders, committees, congregants – alone, in groups and as congregation.
         
      5. The bookkeeping, library and statistics of the congregation should be scrutinized/investigated to establish whether they serve the purpose of the congregation and the mission of the Church.
         
      6. The development of the pastor and his co-workers, possible moves/shifts in the Church [calling] and optimization/best-fit solutions are tabled too.
         
      7. Less paper and more meeting/talking face to face.
         
      8. Development of a joint vision for the congregation/church based on God's word and guided by that. That should lead to a mission statement [Leitsatz]
         
      9. How is this vision to be achieved/reached? Concrete steps to achieve this goal are planned and laid down. What projects/activities need to be carried out, left out, changed to achieve this?
         
      10. It could be a good idea to have a team of visitors – like Melanchthon/Luther had cf (Melanchthon, 1529) – to promote the competency in service and ministry [Project planning/fund raising/utilization of facility etc] even over and across church borders.
          
      11. The visiting bishop/superintendent should take the opportunity to preach in the Sunday worship service – and celebrate the Lord's supper with the congregation/diocese. This goes a long way to show that both he and the congregation are "under the word" and live from there.
          
          1. Mourning about negatives
             
          2. Expression of appreciation, Joy and gratitude
             
          3. Celebration of the gifts in the Church, diocese and congregation
             
          4. Guidance by the gospel
             
          5. New steps and plans integrated into the prayer to God and his divine support, mercy and peace.
             
      12. Perhaps a "Thank-you-party" would be in order.
          
   2. Congregational development and renewal is to result from the self-analysis process making use of the basic ideas put forward in the SWOT principles:
      
      1. Strengths: attributes of the person or company that are helpful to achieving the objective(s).
         
      2. Weaknesses: attributes of the person or company that are harmful to achieving the objective(s).
         
      3. Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective(s).
         
      4. Threats: external conditions which could do damage to the objective(s).
         
   3. Congregational situation is analysed and evaluated:
      
      1. Analysis and evaluation of the teaching and practice of the pastor, co-workers and the congregants
         
      2. Plans and developments
         
      3. Buildings, facilities and finances
         
      4. Advice of ongoing training and education at all levels
         
      5. Advice of ongoing training and education at all levels
         
   4. As part of the development of strategies and plans to enable the organization to achieve its objectives, then that organization will use a systematic/rigorous process known as corporate planning.
      
      1. Set objectives – defining what the organization is going to do
         
      2. Environmental scanning
         
      3. Internal appraisals of the organization's SWOT, this needs to include an assessment of the present situation as well as a portfolio of products/services and an analysis of the product/service life cycle
         
      4. Analysis of existing strategies, this should determine relevance from the results of an internal/external appraisal. This may include gap analysis which will look at environmental factors
         
      5. Strategic Issues defined – key factors in the development of a corporate plan which needs to be addressed by the organization
         
      6. Develop new/revised strategies – revised analysis of strategic issues may mean the objectives need to change
         
      7. Establish
         critical success factors – the achievement of objectives and strategy implementation
         
      8. Preparation of operational, resource, projects plans for strategy implementation
         
      9. Monitoring results – mapping against plans, taking corrective action which may mean amending objectives/strategies
         

3. Goal:
   

   1. Visitation est reformation et gubernatio
      
   2. Unity/Catholicity of the one holy Christian Church is to be strengthened, encouraged and practised even at congregational level and care should be taken to prevent negative developments at local level putting the church at large at risk.
      
   3. The visitation by the Bishop in the local congregation signifies and encourages this overarching unity/catholicity of the congregation in the Church.
      
   4. The local congregation is entirely church, but never the entire church. (Gruenwaldt, 2006, p. 86)
      
   5. By visitation the Church watches by means of its supervisors that the Word of God is proclaimed scripturally/purely and that the sacraments of the Lord Jesus Christ are administered according to his institution so that the Church of Jesus Christ lives and grows in his congregation.
      
   6. Visitation is to serve a policy orientated/guided by the gifts of its personnel.
      
   7. Biblical vision and mission of the Church
      
      1. Body of Christ
         
      2. God's migrants/people on the go
         
      3. House of living stones
         
      4. Letter of Christ
         
      5. Vine and grapes
         
      6. Ship/fishers of men
         
      7. Shepherd and flock
         

4. Biblical associations
   

   1. Vocabulary: ἐπισκοπεῖν
      – visitare
      
      
      1. Ex.3,16
         
      2. Ps.79,15
         
      3. Jer.15,15
         
      4. Gn.21,1
         
      5. Lk.1,68
         
      6. Acts 15,14
         
      7. Lk.1,68.78
         
      8. 1.Pt.2,12; 5,6
         
      9. 
         Ez.34,12
         
      10. Sirach 7,39
          
      11. James 1,27
          
      12. Jos.8,1
          
      13. 1.Sam. 11,7; 15,4;
          
      14. 2. Sam.24,2
          
      15. Ezra 7,14
          
      16. Acts 15,41
          

5. Preliminary questions?
   

   1. Is Visitation more like comfort, encouragement, admonition and consolation or more like supervision?
      
   2. Mutuum colloquium et consolation fratrum et sororum
      
   3. 
      Migrant missionaries had authority, practiced "out of the box-thinking" and were weaving an ecumenical network
      
   4. Is it a correct observation that previously visitation concentrated that there would be "no other gospel!", whereas today it probably faces mainly problems of relationships and teamwork.
      
   5. There is not so much room for decrees and ordinances, but rather cooperation in thinking, planning and execution of ideas should have precedence.
      
   6. Visitation is more like a "treasure quest" than a "search for mistakes/faults" (Krause, 2006, p. 53)
      

6. Present challenges
   

   1. Limitation and shrinking of resources
      
   2. Demographic developments [urbanization; orphans; migration; depopulation of rural areas; aging congregations;]
      
   3. What kind of Church/congregation/diocese is financially sustainable?
      
   4. What kind of Church structure and social setup is required to awaken and grow faith and promotes a spiritually vital development of congregations?
      
   5. It is not only a question of finance, but rather one of the gospel: What optimally serves the spreading of the gospel?
      
   6. Communication needs to be transparent, truthful and open. Hide-and-go-seek is not the name of this game.
      
   7. Tension between "control and contact" (Krause, 2006, p. 52) should be addressed with the "authority of the pleading Christ" (ebd) i.e. non vi sed verbo
      

7. Visitation and other means of guidance and counselling
   

   1. Visitation and supervision
      
      1. Supervision applies the paradigm of pastoral-psychological therapy
         
      2. Help for self-help
         
      3. Assist with conflicts and confusion concerning ones role to play
         
      4. Promotes reorientation in ones relations and occupation
         
      5. Ecclesial questions are mostly disregarded
         
      6. The "burn-out" syndrome or "Elia's exhaustion" is also a matter of personal spirituality.
         
      7. Pastors often work predominantly from a realization of their deficiencies, rather than being orientated from Christ's promises.
         
   2. Visitation and team-talk
      
      1. Here we look at the paradigm of financial corporations.
         
      2. Questions of motivation and performance, optimization of work conditions and efficiency of labour efforts. Measurable goals determine the evaluation.
         
      3. Although it is clear that the Holy Spirit remains Lord of all and the giver of life, we should not fall into the trap of excluding efforts to work as efficiently as possible. Good administration and stringent organisation are not satanic.
         
      4. Continual visitation can make good use of setting goals jointly to enhance and promote accountability and responsible stewardship.
         
   3. Visitation and congregational guidance
      
      1. Here the paradigm of organizational development is utilized
         
      2. Clarification of congregational goals, evaluate its means of communication and to enhance the chances of development.
         
      3. Procedures and structured processes for decision making are laid down to enable congregations to find ways to communicate smoothly and find solutions "outside the box". That is its chance, but also its limitation; because this process is not primarily interested in determining what the gospel demands, but rather to establish what the congregation "wants". The gospel vision is however vital to move forward under the promise of the Lord.
         
   4. Visitation in context of ecclesial fields of tension
      
      1. Grow and "let go"
         
         1. Bishop Axel Noack says: "Joyfully grow smaller – bravely grow bigger" = fight against the resignation and desperation.
            
         2. Less congregations, pastors, facilities and localities. This demands some work at mourning [Trauerarbeit]
            
         3. Necessity of setting criteria to differentiate between essential and necessary, superfluous and dispensable.
            
         4. An important axiom is: "The inversion of reason is that we should no longer just see the upkeep of good and beloved tradition as decisive, but rather its impact on the future."
            
         5. Find hidden potential for growth and positive development for growth inward and outward.
            
      2. Tension between independence and regional/international cooperation and partnership
         
         1. Desire for independence and the necessity to cooperate in joint ventures
            
         2. Restructuring and regionalization [compare the LTS, but also the Arcadia Lutheran Ministry; Themba; Ntshongweni; Tshwane leadership foundation]
            
         3. It is vital to realize that these projects are not just a result of deficiencies, but rather the optimal chances of cooperation/teamwork.
            
      3. Tension between Churches taking care and serving others through pastors – or having these Churches having people participate in this ministry/service.
         
         1. This needs a clarification of professionals and volunteers
            
         2. Too much demand on full-time workers and the delegation process spirals out of control. [Manfred Seitz writes: "The pastor is nurturing the congregation, but she devours him" (Krause, 2006, p. 61)]
            
         3. Unity of the body of Christ
            
         4. Professional assist volunteers to become of age as responsible congregants.
            
      4. Tension between the orientation towards the inside and the outside
         
         1. "Hold on to what you have!"
            
         2. Faith is never a mother tongue – but requires the learning of another language – the language of the liturgy and of Church dogma!
            
         3. Diakonia: Faith active in good works/works of mercy!
            
            1. Practical neighbourhood service
               
            2. Hospital and prison ministries
               
            3. Suffering and mourning amongst your people
               

8. Possible developments
   

   1. Inclusion and support of laity as important participants in the work of the Church
      
   2. Growth of missionary competence by cooperation with MLC/missionaries
      
   3. Agreement in concrete goals, which are attainable and don't lead to frustration because they are beyond realistic achievement. The "visitation continua" is an requirement for this and the willingness to work on these things: correct, apply and adapt on the go.
      
   4. Fulbert Steffensky writes: "We don't have time for self-pity and mournfulness. There is lots to do. Perhaps most of all we need serenity and pride in the task entrusted to us to combat the spirits of sorrow, which hold us captive and tend to paralyse us." (Krause, 2006, p. 69)
      

9. Bibliography
   

 

Gruenwaldt, K. (2006). Bericht ueber eine Klausurtagung. In K. G. Hahn, Visitation - urchristliche Praxis und neue Herausforderung der Gegenwart (pp. 85-92). Hannover: VELKD.

Hahn, K. G. (2006). Visitation – urchristliche Praxis und neue Herausforderung der Gegenwart . Hannover: VELKD.

Krause, B. (2006). Herausforderungen der Gegenwart. In K. G. Hahn, Visitation - urchristliche Praxis und neue Herausforderungen der Gegenwart (pp. 51-69). Hannover: VELKD.

Melanchthon, P. (1529). Instruction for the visitors of parish pastors in eclectoral Saxony. St. Louis .

Walther, C. F. (1992). Duties of an evangelical Lutheran Synod. In C. F. Walther, Essays for the Church Vol.2 1877-1886 (pp. 6-63). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House .