Pastoring Home to Home

Serving as a pastor is a sobering task. Our duty is the oversight of souls—a responsibility for which we will give an account (Hebrews 13:17). The primary means of carrying out this calling is through prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4). This work most consistently, visibly, and intentionally takes place in our preparation for and gathering in public worship on Sundays. Yet it is not limited to that time in the week, for we are called to shepherd the flock of God that is among us (1 Peter 5:2).

Since 2021, one practice our pastors have been committed to is not only the public ministry of the Word on Sundays but also ministry from house to house. As we begin scheduling another year of pastoral home visits, let me explain what these times are about.

While Scripture makes clear that the apostles carried out their shepherding duties in homes (cf. Acts 5:42; 18:7; 20:20), the classic renewal of this pastoral practice came through the influence of Richard Baxter. Baxter, a 17th-century English pastor, wrote The Reformed Pastor to exhort his fellow ministers to reform their ways. Many pastors in his day had grown lax in personally shepherding their parishioners—to their great detriment. Baxter urged a recovery of visiting church members in their homes and providing instruction, especially through the use of a catechism. It was a practice worth restoring then, and it remains valuable now.

We don’t conduct home visits merely out of esteem for a Puritan forebear; we do them because we believe this is how God’s Word instructs us to pastor. Consider three passages that shape this pastoral practice.

Peter exhorts the elders of the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you.” He goes on to describe how not to shepherd, but the context of this initial charge is key. Peter is not concerned for pastors to build a social media platform, comment with a hot take on every headline, or be caught up in what is happening at other churches. His command is simple: Shepherd this flock—the one among you.

The local church matters. There are names, faces, children, and stories to be known, prayed for, guided, corrected, encouraged, rebuked, and wept with. And that kind of shepherding can’t happen if a pastor doesn’t, as Jeramie Rinne puts it, “smell like sheep.”

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” The leaders in view are “those who spoke to you the word of God” (v. 7). There is a reciprocal relationship between pastor and member—each bears responsibility toward the other. But for this article, the emphasis falls on the pastor’s accountability for spiritual watchfulness.

The word translated “keeping watch” evokes the image of a night watchman—someone who stays awake while others sleep to sound the alarm if danger comes. General leadership, oversight, and vision-casting may be needed responsibilities for a pastor, but that is not what Hebrews keys in on. Who will sound the alarm if danger comes? The guard in the tower. Tragedy will ensue if he is negligent and falls asleep himself. The verse could be paraphrased, “they are losing sleep over your souls.” That is the heart of pastoral vigilance, carried out with joy. Home visits are one of the means by which we learn where dangers threaten and how we might sound the alarm. And, if need be, run to the fight.

As Paul journeyed ominously toward Jerusalem (cf. 21:11), he stopped to meet the elders from Ephesus, where he had served for over two years (19:10). In this farewell, he reminded them how he had lived among them, “not shrinking from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house.”

Paul’s ministry was not built on public persona or platform but on personal presence. He charged the elders to “pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock… to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (v. 28). The twofold pattern—public ministry and house-to-house ministry—ensures careful attention to the flock. It is a model we gladly seek to emulate millennia later.

Most of our members have not previously been part of churches that practiced pastoral home visits. Several have even said they’ve never had a pastor in their home. To help set expectations and encourage fruitful visits, here are a few specifics.

You can certainly reach out to your doctor when something feels wrong, but your doctor provides better care when there are benchmarks from annual checkups. Those visits establish your “normal,” allowing for small corrections before problems become serious. Similarly, home visits serve as a spiritual checkup—an opportunity to reflect on how you (and your family) are doing from different angles.

We’re not coming with our families for dinner. Rather, we’re coming to know you better and to discern how we might need to “lose sleep over your soul,” ensuring that spiritual dangers are guarded against. So we’ll ask probing questions, spend time in the Word—perhaps reflecting on a catechism question—and, of course, pray with you. After all, “unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain” (Psalm 127:1).

When we began home visits in 2021, I conducted all of them myself for our eighteen households (and ambitiously hoped for two per year—that never happened). As the Lord has added to our number, our other pastors have joined in shepherding through these visits. Each autumn, I assign households to each pastor, taking into account who visited whom last year and where relationships might be strengthened. Over time, this allows every pastor to know every household—and every member to know each pastor. Our goal is to complete all visits before summer. For those who join after September, the first official visit usually happens the following year, since the membership process already covers much of the same ground.

We don’t want these times to be one-sided. In the scheduling app I utilize, I ask what topics or questions you would like to talk about. Knowing in advance the areas of focus equips me to come best prepared. Sharing those in advance helps your visiting pastor prepare and ensures the time is most fruitful for you.

Serving as your pastors is a sobering responsibility that we carry out before the face of God—but we do so with joy. It is a privilege to be among you, Church—to pray for you and minister the Word to you. Thank you for welcoming us pastors into your homes and into your lives.