CAROLINA BEACH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Guidelines for 8:30 Service Ushers

Church ushering is an important part of the service of worship. It is a service rendered to God and to fellow worshipers, and it can do a great deal toward setting the tone for the service. Therefore, the ushers have an important role in preparing for worship, ensuring order and reverence, acting as a host/hostess of the church, and serving the cause of good public relations.

You may be the first contact a visitor or prospective member has with this congregation. Such things as attitude, conduct, appearance, and preparation are important parts of church ushering. The attitude of the usher should be one of having been called to a holy privilege and duty, a task which requires good judgment and sincere commitment. The usher’s conduct should reflect courtesy, friendliness, and reverence.

Meeting people is what ushering is all about. Help people to feel welcome, at home and wanted. Always speak to people, but remember that while you’re ushering someone into the sanctuary for worship is not the time to strike up a lengthy conversation.

BEFORE the service: Arrive by 8:10 A.M. (Please get someone to cover for you before the week-end if you will not be there on your Sunday.) Turn on all sanctuary lights. Prepare a glass of water for the preacher (no ice please; it clinks in the glass!). Check to see if offering plates and reserved signs (if needed) are in place, that the bulletins have been brought from the office. Also check to make sure that the correct paraments is on the pulpit. (The other paraments are located in a cupboard in the choir room.)

Greet and hand out bulletins in the narthex. Try to keep the double doors closed except to let people enter for noise control.

During the service: Remain in the narthex long enough to seat late worshipers. IF POSSIBLE, LATECOMERS SHOULD BE SHOWN INTO THE SANCTUARY THROUGH ONE OF THE SIDE NARTHEX DOORS.

Discreetly count the congregation attendance (including musicians, minister, ushers and nursery attendants). It is most helpful for ushers to sit on a back pew and keep alert to possible situations that may arise (including temperature in the sanctuary—if you see people fanning themselves, or shivering, please adjust the air accordingly). Be ready to tend to emergencies/disturbances. Try to respond quickly, courteously, and as quietly as possible to every special situation.

The movement of the offertory part of the service will be outlined in your usher training.

After the service: As the postlude music is being played, assist anyone who needs help moving to an exit or—preferably!—to an Education Hour class. Please extinguish candles and collect the plate from the table and deliver the offerings to the receiving treasurer’s box in the main office. Count the people in the nursery, add that to the number counted in the sanctuary, and leave the total attendance on a note on the secretary’s desk (being sure to write “8:30” on the note). IMPORTANT: Please remove all 8:30 bulletins—regular and large-print—from the narthex. Leftover bulletins should be returned to the main office.

THANK YOU for this tremendously valuable service to the mission of the Church!