Közigazgatás a 16. századi református egyházban III.
The Organisation of the Reformed Church of Transylvania in the 16th Century (III.)

Pastoral Visitation of Congregation Members and the Visitation of Congregations by the Deans

Summary/Abstract: According to Wilhelm Zepper, church government has two distinctive responsibilities: the meeting (synodus) and the inspection or control (visitatio). The visitation of the members of a congregation (visitatio domestica) is the most useful and most important of all kinds of visitations in the Church. The duty of the local minister is not only to preach from the pulpit once or twice a week. He needs to know the members of his congregation personally. These personal meetings also belong to the area of pastoral care. Some congregation members could be prohibited to participate in the regular church service due to some kind of illness or weakness. They would, nonetheless, need to be strengthened by the word of God considering their special condition. The official visitation (visitatio specialis) of the inspector (dean) of the classis should take place at least once a year. The dean inspecting the life of the church is accompanied during these visitations by a few colleagues and the local state authority.

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