Pastors visit church members and others in the hospital. It’s what pastors do. Most patients appreciate the ministry and efforts of these pastors.
But that doesn’t mean the pastors’ visits are uneventful. I turned to social media to learn about some of the unusual visits pastors have experienced. Here are my top fifteen submissions:
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- Amen and Die. One pastor prayed, and the church member died just as he said, “Amen.” That’s not all. This happened with three different members on three separate occasions—right at “Amen.” I’m glad I got his name on social media. He is not coming near me. Do I hear an “Amen”?
- Flying Bedpans. There was no further explanation, but it’s worthy of a high ranking.
- Nude Runner. Indecent exposure stories were common, but my favorite was the elderly woman who chased the pastor down the hallway. She was completely nude.
- Quiet Conversations. A family introduced the pastor to the patient when he arrived. The pastor had a pleasant conversation with the patient until one family member finally revealed that the patient was deceased.
- Jailbreak. An elderly patient asked the pastor to lean in so she could speak to him. As he complied, she grabbed his shirt and yelled, “Get me out of here! They are trying to kill me!”
- Bad Timing. One pastor learned the hard way that walking into the patient’s room with the doctor can really scare the patient.
- Bad Timing 2. Another pastor discovered it’s even worse to walk into the room with the local funeral home director.
- Bad Word Choice. A pastor told a patient, “See you on the other side,” right before surgery. He meant after the procedure, but the timing was less than ideal.
- Bad Word Choice 2. A pastor walked in while the patient’s daughter and wife were telling the doctor to unplug the patient, saying, “He wouldn’t want to live like this.” The doctor responded, “He will recover just fine, and he can hear you.”
- Too Much Company. A pastor’s visit turned awkward when the patient’s two current girlfriends showed up, followed by an ex-girlfriend and an ex-wife.
- Missing Starbucks. A heavily sedated patient insisted that the pastor was her barista and became agitated when he didn’t have her latte.
- Know When to Fold Them. A pastor closed his eyes to pray for an accident victim. Unknowingly, he grabbed the rail and pushed the button that folded the patient in half.
- Emergency Call. A patient called the church office, requesting an immediate visit. When the staff member arrived, it turned out the patient just needed help cutting her hamburger steak.
- Only One-Half? The student pastor was sent to visit a church member in the hospital. The family introduced him as a “half pastor.”
- Wrong Guest. A pastor began speaking to another guest in the patient’s room. When he asked where she attended church, she gave the name of his own church. Of course, he had never seen her before.
So many great stories! I’ll probably need to do a part two at some point.
In the meantime, let me hear your hospital visit stories!
Posted on March 17, 2025
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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10 Comments
This happened in 2006 or 2007 (a while ago). I had left a member’s room and was walking to the elevator when I passed a room with an open door. I sensed the Spirit saying, “Pray with that person.” I, of course, said, “That person doesn’t know me!” — and left the hospital.
I went to the local mall and began reading a theology book (to make this even better). The Spirit wouldn’t let it go. I closed my book, left the mall, and returned to the hospital, convinced I was about to meet hospital security.
I walked to the room, knocked on the door, and told the person sitting beside the patient, “You don’t know me, but I’m a pastor, and I’m supposed to pray with your patient.” She invited me in, and I prayed with them.
As I prepared to leave, the woman sitting with the patient said, “My son’s down in ICU. Would you please go pray with him?”
I walked to ICU, prayed for the woman’s son, and left the hospital feeling much better.
Story 2: This happened this year. I had just left the Cardiac ICU where I had prayed with a member’s family. I saw a family in the waiting room and (again) sensed the Spirit say, “Pray with them.” After story #1, I had learned something. I prayed with the family, only to realize they were lapsed members of my last Southern Baptist pastorate (those you saw once a year if you were lucky). I had baptized the patient’s daughter in 2010 and hadn’t seen him since. After I prayed with the family, I went back into CICU and prayed with the patient, his wife, and the daughter I had baptized.
BTW: I’m not Pentecostal. I was Southern Baptist at the time of incident #1, and I’m now Presbyterian. I don’t go for “signs and wonders” stuff, but I’m smart enough (now) to obey when the Spirit says to pray with someone.
As a young pastor, I went to visit an elderly lady in the hospital. I knocked on the door and she said “Come on in honey”
We had a lengthy conversation that day. All the while, she was on the portable toilet. Months later she brought it up. She hadn’t realized until after I left.
I went to the hospital to visit a friend but I stopped at another room and was talking to another patient and I prayed for him and I told him I’ll be wright back went across the hall to the restroom 2 minutes after the doctors were covering him…he went to be with the Lord
From Snyder, James L.. The Life of A.W. Tozer: In Pursuit of God . Gospel Light. Kindle Edition.
Tozer’s reputation for not visiting the members of his parish was widely known. He felt that he could not devote necessary time to visitation and still be the pulpit minister his congregation expected him to be. That matter he had settled with the church board before he accepted its call. So he limited his visits to the critically ill among the church’s membership. One story quickly made the rounds and has now achieved legend status. Tozer had flown in from an out-of-city speaking mission, and in the course of the drive from airport to home, the member who had met him remarked that so-and-so, a church elder, was in the hospital recovering from minor surgery. Since their route would take them right by the hospital, Tozer suggested that they stop and visit the man. When the elder saw Tozer enter his room, he blanched. “Surely, I’m not that sick, am I?” he exclaimed in alarm. Turning to his wife, also in the room, he asked, “Are you sure the doctors told me everything?” Years later, Tozer tried to deny the story, but then weakly admitted, “It could have happened.”
I got a call from an elderly lady in the hospital who wanted me to bring her a rope. So I did. When I got there she had me tie one end to the bathroom door and the other end to her bedrail. She said “every time someone comes in they close the bathroom door and I can’t breathe with it closed. This way when they leave I can open it with the rope.”
You gotta breathe.
These are great Thom! Another… I was 25 and just starting out at my first full time pastorate. I went to visit a long-inactive, elderly church member who was in the hospital for a procedure. After a few tense comments from her (I was forewarned that she could be crotchety), I said, “I’m new at church and I’m still getting to know people, so I’m glad to have the opportunity to meet you. I noticed from our records that you haven’t been to church in a while… years, in fact. What’s that about?” She replied, “I’m not going back to church until they get a younger pastor!” To which I retorted, “They don’t come much younger than me! Hope to see you next Sunday!” I didn’t. Nor anytime in the next 15 years.
Now that’s funny.
I sat with a guy for close to four hours as he was waiting for surgery. We talked about why and how he should attempt reconciliation with his estranged daughter. In previous attempts to discuss this, he was hard-headed, but was finally understanding and reasonable in this conversation. After we prayed and they wheeled him into surgery, I left drained, but satisfied regarding the progress. A week later, he asked me if I was really with him at the hospital. It turns out that he had no memory of me visiting him and no recollection of our conversation. He wouldn’t have believed I was even there had his wife not told him. A few weeks after that, he came by the church to discuss his daughter again and it felt like we were back at square-one with this issue. As I type this, it feels less funny and more frustrating.
I totally understand.