Tyler C. Arnold, Pastoral Visitation: For the Care of Souls. Lexham Press, 2023. 200 pages.
Anyone who really knows me is aware of my deep affection and enthusiasm for pastoral visits.
I suppose it’s a reason I was invited to review Tyler Arnold’s new book, Pastoral Visitation. As someone who delights in both doing pastoral visits and encouraging pastors to do them, I’m always looking for good resources to refine my own thinking on the subject and to stir others to embrace visitations within their pastoral habit. It’s interesting how little writing exists on a subject that historically seemed to be a vital part of a pastor’s office. All this to say, I was initially excited to dive into the book.
After diving in, however, this isn’t a book I would recommend.
I do want to be clear: this conclusion is not owed to any discerned character deficiency in the author. On the contrary, the pastor who wrote this book seems like a gentle and gracious man, and his tenderness shines clearly in his tone. In fact, I think that’s the highest quality of this book! While I often found myself confused about his meaning, or in disagreement with
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