Most  pastors spend a great deal of time with hospitalized persons. It's part of our calling (not to mention our position description). Nowadays, some pastoral leadership models argue pastors ought not to spend time on hospital visits. Instead, pastors should invest themselves in promoting the church's vision and preaching.

I disagree.  

I've visited hospitalized church members since I first became a pastor around the age of 19. Looking back, I now know I did not realize the importance of hospital calls. Part of the problem was that I had not yet been exposed to pastoral care literature. More importantly, I simply had not lived long enough to empathize with the hospitalized. What 19 year old can imagine what it is like to be sick, bedridden, dependent upon others, and at the mercy of the insurance industry?

The longer I continued to visit the sick, the greater my empathy grew. When grown men start to cry while you pray with them, even someone as emotionally challenged as me begins to understand something special is at work. Slowly I came to understand and appreciate the special role a minister may play in the life of the sick.

I don't think I fully grasped the matter, though, until I was hospitalized myself. My ailment was not life threatening. Still I was in pain, exhausted and disoriented. Two ministerial friends paid visits. Their presence and prayers touched me deeply. While my mind knew I was in little danger and certainly not alone, my emotions told another story. The two pastors broke through the grip my emotions had on my imagination. They comforted me in a way I had not known I needed.

I commend the practice of hospital visitation. In my experience, it's good for all involved, both "the patient" and the pastor.