The meditation today was at first fascinating, then convicting, then discouraging, because I don’t know how to do it, or at least to my satisfaction. Do I know the sheep? Yes. I know them by name. I know their life’s situations. Most of the direct communication, however, takes place on Sunday. When requests go out on our google prayer group, I often pick up the phone and call. But I am in my office nearly every day. The reason for this is several fold: I have too much to do; most of the people from my church are not local but live within 100 mile radius of the Church building; people leave for work at 6:00 AM and often don’t get home until 8:00 at night and are not in the mood for a “pastoral visit;� Northern Virginia culture frowns on “drop by unannounced� visiting (found that out the hard way when I first got here; “Are all Yankees so rude?�); and although we have a lot of stay-at-home wives, I simply will not visit women alone except the widows. I try to spend time with each at the extended fellowship after the morning service (food and lingering for two hours or so in fellowship) and at various men’s meetings and events. Perhaps I shouldn’t feel guilty. Perhaps this is just an unconventional way of attaining the same thing. But I would like to have more day-to-day contact in-person contact with the folk if I could find a way.
Chip Hammond
Pastor, Bethel Presbyterian Church
Leesburg, VA