ST. JUDE USHER PROCEDURES 2015

Overview


An usher is an official church representative whose ministry is to introduce people… a “forerunner” as well as a doorkeeper and offering collector.

A church usher is a representative of the church he or she serves. He/She helps the greeters welcome visitors or newcomers to the church, and by inviting new parishioners to complete a new parishioner registration form.

The church usher helps the priest to make the Mass a success by putting the congregation in the right frame of mind to celebrate the Eucharist. The usher meets the people with a pleasant smile, a warm welcome, and directs them to available seats. He/She also sees to it that good order and neatness are kept in and around the church at all times during the services.

Ushers are “forerunners” because:

• they prepare the church for our guests by being some of the first to arrive at the church

• they receive the order of the day from the priest

• they see that the church is in proper condition to receive parishioners and guests

• they see that hymnals, church literature, collection envelopes, and any other items that are to be distributed to the congregation are in their proper places

• they check to make sure the church is cool or warm enough

Church ushers are “missionaries” for the church because they actually extend that spirit throughout the congregation as they welcome them.


Structure

There will be at least 3 teams of 4 ushers per Mass. Each team should have an Usher Captain who will be responsible for their team cooperating with and complying with the following:

Dress Code

Please try your best to comply with the following:

Men: Dress trousers, dress shirt (if possible, a tie) and ALWAYS, an usher badge.
Women: “Sunday” dress or pants suit (neat clothes- no shorts or jeans, please), and ALWAYS, an usher badge.

Usher Attendance

PLEASE NOTE: It is your responsibility to get a substitute if you cannot be present for an assigned date. You may call someone on the sub list or an usher not serving that month to take your place.

Thermostats

Please NEVER adjust the thermostats in the church or lobby, and try to discourage anyone else who may attempt to adjust them, from doing so! If it seems to be too hot or too cold, please inform the priest or deacon and they will make necessary adjustments.

Before Mass
Ushers should try to arrive 30 minutes prior to Mass. Ushers should check to make sure all doors are unlocked. They should place collection baskets in the appropriate places, check the bulletin board in the sacristy for possible special duties- like a special collection- ensure bulletins are ready for distribution after Mass, greet parishioners, open lobby doors for those entering Church, and assist in seating parishioners, as needed.

IMPORTANT NOTE: all ushers are also “ministers of hospitality!”

The usher captain, upon arrival, should confirm that all Church lights are already on, including those located in the Church lobby, and depending on the season, the lights for the front “porch.”

Just before Mass begins—NO SOONER, PLEASE!—prop open two entrance doors, to assist in the entrance of the Cross Bearer and the Candle Bearers and other ministers in the procession. If they are held open any sooner, noise from the lobby may disturb those inside the church. Make sure these doors are closed immediately after the procession leaves. As the procession leaves the church after Mass, open these doors—and prop them open as well as the ones opening to the outside… PLEASE!—to assist with their exit.

PLEASE NOTE: SEATING SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED IN THE LOBBY AREA AT ANY TIME. The Fire Marshall’s opinion is that chairs placed in that exit area are a hazard and should never be allowed! Please check occasionally during Mass to make sure that no one has moved chairs into the lobby!

VERY IMPORTANT: As has been mentioned many times, you are asked to please refrain from taking people down the aisles to seat them during the scripture readings and homily! Ask them— politely—to wait there at the rear until after the readings or homily are finished and then please show them to a seat that you have spotted while they’ve been waiting.

VERY IMPORTANT: No child should ever be allowed to leave church by themselves during Mass! This is a safety precaution in place to protect our children! There have been announcements made about this and articles in the bulletin, repeatedly, asking parents to ALWAYS escort their children the bathroom if they need to go. When they return from their bathroom trip, if the readings or homily are underway, do as requested above, and— politely—ask them to remain in the rear until after the readings or homily are finished.

After Mass

Again… please make sure ALL doors (inside and outside) are propped open after the priest finishes the prayer after communion (when choir leader is reading announcements). This has been neglected frequently at some Masses.

Seating in “Cry Room” and Chapel

Cry Room

Please seat only those adults with small children in the cry room. Beginning the weekend you receive these instructions, the following will be the new policy for use of the “Cry Room:”

The “cry room” outside lock will be kept locked at all times.

NO ONE without the need to use the “Cry Room” for the purpose for which it was created may be allowed into the room. This policy begins the weekend of this usher training session. If there is an usher on your team who did not attend training session, please make sure they get a copy of this booklet, and that they are fully informed by you of this change.

One usher at each Mass will obtain the key to the “cry room” from the top left drawer under the counter in the sacristy cabinet and take the position near the “cry room” door, assist people into that room, and hold the door open when necessary for people entering the church. That same usher should watch during Mass for anyone needing access to the “Cry Room.”

Chapel

Please wait to allow seating in the chapel until all seats are used in the main part of the church. If it is locked, access to the chapel may be obtained through the reconciliation room and then into the chapel.

Collections

There will be 2 ushers in the center aisle and 1 in each side aisle starting collections at the front pews. Don’t forget the collection baskets in the children’s room (and chapel, if occupied). Two gathering baskets should be handled by the two ushers to the right of the center aisle, and two gathering baskets should be handled by the two ushers to the left of the center aisle. When each section is completed, the gathering baskets are dumped into a larger basket at the center aisle. The usher captain and one other usher will then lead the gift bearers to the altar at the time the gifts are brought forward, stepping aside to let them present the gifts to the priest or deacon. These 2 ushers then lead the gift bearers back to the rear of the church.

After Mass, when the priest and the rest of the procession have left the altar, and the music has stopped, TWO designated ushers should go to the altar, take the offering basket to the sacristy and empty it into the special plastic bags on the counter top. The 2 ^nd collection in a basket would already be in the hands of the 2 ushers who are getting the 1 ^st collection from the sanctuary after Mass. It too is emptied into its own plastic bag in the sacristy. One of the 2 users then completes the necessary information on the front of the plastic bag. After that the bag(s) are placed in the safe on the floor of the closet in the sacristy. It is very important that you check to make sure that the bag has gone down into the safe. (NOTE: The 2 ushers who are to pick up the basket should watch the basket closely until they pick it up!)

Second Collections

A notice of a second collection will normally be posted in the bulletin and announced at the beginning of the Mass in which it will be taken. A sheet listing special dates for Masses having two collections is on the sacristy bulletin board.

SECOND COLLECTION TIMING: When there is a second collection, the ushers will wait until the tabernacle door has been closed by the deacon, priest or Eucharistic Minister shortly after distribution of communion has been completed, before proceeding to the front pews to begin the collection.

AGAIN… begin the 2 ^nd collection immediately after the tabernacle door is closed.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: USHERS ARE NOT TO SORT COLLECTIONS!*

The two ushers who placed the collection(s) in the safe will then assist the other ushers with the after-Mass duties… including making sure EVERYONE who leaves gets a bulletin! Please, before you leave, make sure that the outside doors of the church are “UN”-propped!

Communion

All ushers will assist in directing people to communion beginning with the front pews. Be sure to be aware of any special needs or assistance that anyone may need. Please do not allow the line of those standing to grow too long, but also try to make sure that no one gets into a “foot race” as they approach the ministers for communion. There will be two ushers in the center aisle, two in each side aisle.

After all have received communion, one usher should lead the priest to those parishioners who need communion brought to them at their places.


After Mass

Before the final blessing, arrangements should be made to have at least two ushers positioned in the lobby and, after the collection is placed in the safe, one usher at any other door used for an exit for the distribution of the weekly bulletins. Please make sure that every family receives at least one bulletin. Again… this should be done at each exit, if possible.

NOTE: Please do not distribute bulletins until people are leaving the church after Mass is over. Again… NO ONE receives a bulletin before they leave church at the end of Mass. Bulletins should not be passed to those in the pews before Mass is over. Also, no one leaving Mass before Mass is finished should get a bulletin!

After the bulletin distribution, please assist each other in after-Mass duties. These include inspection of the pews for kneelers not in the upright position, maintenance or repair needs, trash pick up, restroom check, and songbooks\missiles being properly returned to pew holders in an upright position.

After the 5pm Saturday evening Mass and 11am Sunday Mass, leave the lights in the church ON, as all lights in the Church will be turned off at a later time --after all have left the building-- by someone else who will come later.

Please leave lights on after the 8am Mass.

Doors will also be locked at a later time by another individual.

Gift Bearers

Unless individuals approach you informing you that they are gift bearers, please ask for volunteers BEFORE MASS BEGINS. You will need 4: 1 person for the wine, 1 for the hosts, 1 for the collection basket, and one for the Book of Intentions.

Ushers should NOT be gift bearers.

The gift bearers are to follow the two middle row ushers to the altar. The ushers will step aside for the gift bearers to give the gifts to the priest/deacon. Ushers then turn and lead gift bearers back to their seats.


Sudden Illnesses Of Parishioners

Ushers should be alert to assist anyone with a special need. There is a wheel chair near the lobby.

It would be good before Mass for the ushers to agree on which would be designated to make an emergency phone call if necessary (who has their cell phone with them).

A first aid kit is in the rear sacristy. Bottled water and juice for the use of those with low blood sugar, diabetes, or similar illnesses are available in the rear sacristy refrigerator.

CAUTION: Before giving anyone ANYTHING by mouth, make sure you get some kind of permission from a family member!

Reserved Seating Section

In the event that a section of pews needs to be blocked off, the white ropes worn by altar servers are in the sacristy and may be used for this purpose. There are also “reserved” signs located in the sacristy that can be placed on the backs of the pews. Two ushers should be stationed, one at each end of the blocked off section, to move the ropes for designated people to enter at the appropriate time, so they will not to step over the ropes.

Please do not allow wheelchairs to block aisles. Ask that they be placed in offset areas of the back pews.

If a disabled person requires more space in which to be seated, that is not a ticket into the “Cry Room” or Chapel! Arrangements can be made for the person by finding an end seat with more leg room and seating the person there. If the end seat is already occupied, the person in the seat may be asked to give their seat to the disabled person or maybe to scoot down a bit.

Talking

GENTLY and DIPLOMATICALY— politely—discourage any excessive or loud conversations in the lobby before or during Mass.

If you see individuals already in church who are carrying on a distracting conversation, GENTLY and DIPLOMATICALY— politely—discourage them from going on with their disruptive behavior by simply looking at them and placing your finger on your lips.

This, of course, includes any unnecessary discussions among ushers! Even though you may be whispering, sound in the church carries very well!

Bulletins

As mentioned on page 6, remember… please do not distribute bulletins until people are leaving the church after Mass is over. (NO ONE should receive bulletins before the end of Mass.) This should be done at each exit, if possible. Bulletins should not be passed to those in the pews before Mass is over. No bulletins should be left out after the 5pm and 8am Mass, but may be left out after the 11am.




Restrooms

Please take a look in the restrooms before, during, and after each Mass. If they are in need of attention, please take care of it if you can, or let the priest know of the need.

Extra Duties Of Ushers

Any Holy Day of Obligation or other service that may fall in your duty month is your responsibility. Evening services are included. If the date is in your month, you are responsible. For example, December 31 ^st is the responsibility of the December ushers, and January 1 ^st is the responsibility of the January ushers. Ushers not able to serve the extra assignments, have the obligation to get a substitute, just as they do for their regular month assignment.

Conclusion

Each usher will be given a current copy of the usher roster. A copy may also be found in the schedule rack in the sacristy. A current copy will always be available on our parish website: www.stjudejax.com

If you have questions, please contact the parish office. And remember… please put your usher badge back on the board before you leave!


Appreciation

14 September 2013
Edition 1.3