Security! Do This First!

Transcription

1 Emmanuel Church Ushering Guidelines

2 Security! Do This First! Suspicious package: One usher should walk around the sanctuary outside to check for any packages or luggage placed against the outside of the wall or on the roof and check the Sanctuary for any suspicious items placed among the pews or in the back of the Sanctuary. If you see something suspicious, then inform the Rector immediately (and discretely lest you cause panic)! If the Rector is not yet in the Sanctuary, then find him immediately! If you and the Rector agree that the item is indeed suspicious, then you should immediately call 117 (Police) and report the problem. If you cannot find the Rector, then use your own judgment whether to call the Police. Disruptive person: If someone in the Sanctuary (or outside) is disrupting the service, then you should call 117 (Police) and request their intervention. Meanwhile, do not physically confront the disruptive person unless he or she is threatening a parishioner in which case you need to use your judgment as to how to handle the situation. Remember that a soothing and soft voice can favor a more peaceful outcome than an aggressive voice. Types of Service Note the type of service by looking at the upper right part of the service bulletin s first page. 1. Eucharist ( Holy Eucharist ) 2. No Eucharist ( Morning Prayer ) 3. Eucharist with Prayers for Healing 4. Special (eg. Christmas, Easter, Confirmation, etc.) Page 1 of 8

3 Before the Service 1. Arrive at least 15 minutes before the service starts i.e. no later than 09:45 for a standard Sunday service. 2. Check that the correct hymn numbers are displayed on the board next to the pulpit and correct if necessary. 3. Pin a flower on the lapel of each usher. 4. Rope off the last 3 pews on both sides for late comers. Resist opening these pews until the service has begun. 5. Healing service: block off the left rear area behind the pews to reserve it for the healing prayer station. Donʹt let anybody in that area other than to hang up coats or if they are in a wheelchair or with a child in a stroller. 6. Eucharist service: make sure that the communion bread and wine are ready on the small table on the left behind the last full pew. If not, find an altar guild person or the rector and inform him or her of the problem. Note: the bread and wine are to be taken forward by the ushers at the same time as when getting the empty collection plates. 7. Prepare an attendance form (blanks are located in the same plastic folder). If no blank forms are available, make one from a piece of paper and label the items of information: Service servants, Left side, Right side, and Total. Please wait until you pass the collection plates to count the left and right sides as many people arrive after the service has started and it s best to include them in the count. 8. One usher should stay just inside the swinging doors to greet parishioners and distribute service bulletins and to keep both rear areas clear. The other usher should be prepared to escort elderly or handicapped parishioners to the pew of their choice. 9. Inform visitors with small children that we have a tended nursery for children up to 4 years old. It is located at the bottom of the outside stairs around the left side of the church building. However, don t insist if the parent(s) want their child(ren) to stay with them.

4 Security! Please keep an eye out for anyone leaving luggage or packages in the back of the church. Make sure you know to whom the luggage/package belongs. If you have a doubt, ask the rector for guidance or take the piece outside. Do NOT make a public request for the owner to identify himself as people may panic (it s happened before). During the Service 1. Just after the prelude and before the Processional hymn, one of the ushers should ring the church bell, unless a choir member does it. To do so, use the white turning switch in the entrance anti chamber: turn it to the right ¼ turn, let the bell ring about 5 times, then turn the switch ¼ turn back to the left to stop the bell (it continues ringing a short while). 2. Open the last 3 pews and encourage late comers to sit toward the wall so as to leave the pews easily accessible for other late comers. 3. Allow late comers to sit in the forward pews if they wish but ask them not to go forward during a reading or the sermon. The best times to go forward are during hymns or other times when the congregation is standing. 4. Count the total number of service servants (clergy, acolytes, organist, choir, lectors, and ushers) and enter it on the attendance sheet. 5. Immediately following the Peace, the rector will ask for the offertory using any of a number of phrases, so pay close attention because that is the cue for two ushers to go forward and receive from an acolyte the empty collection plates. Remember to take the communion wine and bread with you if itʹs a Eucharist service. 6. Pass the collection plates down the pews toward the rear remembering to count the pew attendance as you go. 7. When the collection is finished, prepare the collection plates and the attendance form. Wait until the organist starts playing the doxology, then march forward to the bottom of the stairs in front of the altar and hand everything to the acolytes. Wait until the doxology has been

5 sung and the priest has finished blessing the plates, then immediately walk back to the rear of the sanctuary. 8. At communion, the choir will assemble in a semi circle at the altar to receive communion first i.e. before the congregation. When you see the chalice being offered to the choir, two ushers should walk forward to the bottom of the altar stairs and wait until the choir has started to leave the altar area. 9. Then, working your way towards the rear of the sanctuary, invite the congregation forward (and rearward if there is a 2nd communion station at the rear) to receive communion. Please try to always have about 8 people waiting on each side in the aisle in front of the altar steps. If there is a rear communion station, motion to the parishioners that they can go either forward or rearward as they choose. 10. Only when all the parishioners have taken communion should the ushers then take communion themselves. 11. Please pay special attention to any member of the congregation who may not be mobile and might need to have communion brought to him or her. Ask if that is their wish then, when you take communion yourself, discretely inform the Rector or other communion servant of the need and then make sure that you help locate the parishioner when the bread and wine are brought. 12. During the Recessional hymn, open and secure the two swinging doors and open and secure the large outer door that has the handle. If itʹs warm outside, open both outer doors. After the Service 1. After the postlude is finished, collect any service bulletins left in the pews and straighten kneelers. Put the service bulletins in the wastebasket under the ushersʹ table at the right rear. 2. Currently, another group, Christ Dynamic, is using our sanctuary for their service immediately following our service. If you see the Christ Dynamic people setting up near the altar, then you do not need to close the doors or turn off the lights and ceiling fans. However, please

6 make sure the people you see near the altar are Christ Dynamic. If, on the other hand, you do not see any non Emmanuel activity near the altar once our congregation has left, then close and lock the outer doors. To do so, first secure the Jura side (train station side) door (on the right looking toward the street), then, using the deadbolt and the key, double lock the lake side door with the handle. The key is hanging on a hook several feet above the bell switch. Insert the key only a little rather than all the way. Please remember to return the key to its hook as it is the only key that we have for that door. 3. Close the swinging doors. 4. Turn off the light in the entrance way using the switch in the antichamber between street and Sanctuary (do NOT use the turning switch as it will start the bell ringing!). 5. Make sure that all the candles have been extinguished and that all the upper louvers on the windows have been closed. To close the windows, use the long pole that is located on the roof of the small entrance hall (you have to climb onto the bench at the back of the left rear area to reach the pole). 6. Exit the sanctuary at the back right of the altar, and lock the door. 7. Turn off all the light switches that are on except the one marked ʺdo not touchʺ. Turn off the three ceiling fan switches (red switches located above and to the left of the door leading into the sanctuary). A good technique to make certain that all candles have been extinguished in the Sanctuary is to re enter the Sanctuary after turning off all the lights and seeing whether you can detect any flickering light. 8. Exit through the library to the entrance of the parish hall. Thatʹs it, youʹre done! Thank you!

7 Note here the type of service Please complete all the tasks listed under Before the Service before the Processional Hymn

8 At the Rectorʹs cue, go forward to receive the collection plates. Take the bread & wine with you if itʹs a Eucharist service. Open & secure the swinging doors and the outer doors during the Recessional Hymn