Record a Pastoral Visit

This guide walks you through the complete pastoral care workflow: creating a care item for a member, logging a visit interaction on the timeline, updating the status as care progresses, and resolving the item when the situation is addressed.

Prerequisites

• The member you are visiting should exist in Flock
• Care Types should be configured (the system includes defaults: Hospital, Bereavement, Counseling, Prayer, etc.)
• SUPER_ADMIN, LEAD_PASTOR, PASTOR, ELDER, or CARE_MINISTER role

Phase 1 — Create a Care Item

1. Navigate to Care → Items
2. Click “New Care Item”
3. Fill in the form:
   • Care Type — select the category (e.g., Hospital Visit, Bereavement, Counseling, Marriage/Family, Financial Assistance, New Baby)
   • Member — search by name and select the person receiving care
   • Title — a brief summary (e.g., “Surgery Recovery”, “Loss of Parent”)
   • Description — details about the situation
   • Privacy Level — controls who can see this item:
     • Pastoral Confidential — only pastors and assigned care ministers
     • Staff — visible to all staff
     • Prayer Team — visible to prayer team members
   • Urgency — Low, Medium, High, or Urgent
   • Due Date — when follow-up should happen (optional)
   • Assigned To — the pastor or care minister responsible
4. Click “Save”
5. The care item is created with status OPEN

Phase 2 — Log the Visit

After visiting the member, record the interaction on the care item's timeline.

1. Navigate to Care → Items and click the care item to open its detail page
2. The detail page shows:
   • The timeline of all interactions and status changes
   • The member context panel (attendance, groups, other open care items)
3. In the timeline section, click “Add Interaction”
4. Select the interaction type — Visit Note for an in-person visit
5. Fill in the visit details:
   • Date — when the visit occurred
   • Duration — approximate length of the visit
   • Location — where the visit took place (e.g., hospital, home, church office)
   • Notes — what was discussed, how the person is doing, prayer needs, and any follow-up actions
   • Next Visit — optionally set a date for the next follow-up visit
6. Click “Save” — the visit appears on the timeline

Phase 3 — Update the Status

As care progresses, update the item status to reflect the current state.

1. On the care item detail page, find the Status field
2. Change it to the appropriate status:
   • Open — initial state, needs attention
   • In Progress — active care is being provided
   • Snoozed — temporarily paused (e.g., member is away, follow-up scheduled for later)
   • Resolved — the situation has been addressed
   • Closed — care is complete, no further action needed
3. The status change is automatically recorded on the timeline with a timestamp

Phase 4 — Resolve the Care Item

1. When the pastoral care need has been met, change the status to Resolved
2. Optionally add a final timeline note summarising the outcome
3. The item moves off the active queue but remains in the system for historical reference

Ongoing — Monitor Your Care Queue

1. Navigate to Care → My Queue to see care items assigned to you
2. Use the Care → Dashboard for an overview of all active care items across the church
3. Items past their due date are highlighted for attention
4. The Care → Reports page shows trends: open items over time, average resolution time, and care type distribution

What's Next