Public Proclamation of the Word Is Not Sufficient

Manetsch on the significance of personal ministry among Calvin's "Company of Pastors":

Throughout this study it has been evident that Calvin and Geneva's Company of Pastors were committed to a model of pastoral work that involved intensive, personal interaction with Geneva's townspeople and country folk. The proclamation of God's Word in public assemblies was crucial, but not sufficient in itself. The ministers believed that they needed to know and show personal care for the men and women in their parishes, helping them apply the truths of God's Word to their particular life circumstance and challenges to promote personal godliness and spiritual reformation. "It is not enough that a pastor in the pulpit should teach all the people together," Calvin once noted, "if he does not add particular instruction as necessity requires or occasion offers."

—Scott M. Manetsch, Calvin's Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536-1609 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 280-281.