![]() If someone has children who need to be taken to the right Sunday School room, don’t just tell them where to go, actually personally escort them there using the time to get to know them a little better. With this being the case, you can actually enable your ushers to actually ush. With any luck, you will have more than one usher at any given entrance. Then hand them a bulletin and (if you have them) a visitor information packet. ![]() Once you’ve positively identified your visitor tell them where the restrooms are (don’t wait for them to ask), where they need to take their kids to register them for Sunday School, and where the Sanctuary is (if this is not obvious). This covers all your bases just in case you accidentally ask this question of a long-time member. When you see someone who is looking at your signs simply introduce yourself and ask them “Have I seen you here before?” Then, no matter how they respond say “I thought so”. First time visitors will look lost and their eyes will be scanning your signage. Part of this is being able to recognize who the visitors are. But to be truly informative, and usher must anticipate the questions people may be too shy to ask. Obviously, if someone asks an usher a question about the church the usher should be knowledgeable enough to give an answer. As strange as this might sound, people actually like to hear that you’re glad they came and you hope they come back. An usher should make people feel welcomeĪfter the name introductions, a friendly “welcome to Community Church, we’re glad you could join us” communicates a simple but very important message that we value them and we like them. As a special bonus, if you can teach your usher a few basic name remembrance tricks, should your visitors come again (or even be seen in the lobby afterwards) the ability to greet them by name always makes an outstanding impression.ģ. To help him look good and make a connection to the whole family you can gesture to their spouse and children and say “and these must be…”. Occasionally, when greeting a couple, only the husband will introduce himself. A friendly smile followed by a “Hi, I’m John Albiston (pause to allow them to respond)” goes a long way in giving them a warm and favourable impression and gives them the opportunity to introduce themselves to you and make a real connection. We are introducing people to a family more than a spectator event so some light personal contact is a good thing. ![]() This process, in most cultures, involves the exchange of names. Unlike an usher at a movie theatre, we in the church are actually hoping people will get to know us personally –usually the sooner the better. An usher should introduce themselves with a smile Our people want to do a good job and need us to equip them. She literally went red with embarrassment and odds are she won’t be volunteering again anytime soon. Our usher clearly felt terrible that we weren’t being treated well, and was very frustrated that she didn’t know what to do. One of the most common fears they express is doing something “wrong”. An untrained usher is an unhappy usherīelieve it or not, but the volunteers in our churches actually want us to tell them what to do. My little story illustrates a number of key points about usher training:ġ. Fortunately for us, “that guy” not only made room for us, but also helpfully mentioned that the children had already been dismissed for Sunday School and that he would be happy to personally escort them to their classrooms. She was obviously embarrassed and frustrated at the situation and eventually found a spot a little closer and said that we could “ask that guy to make a little more room”. Unfortunately, she seemed to be under the orders of never point and never abandon your post. I eventually turned back to the usher and asked her to clarify. Since there were a couple hundred people in the room, the “guy in the blue shirt” and the spaces that accompanied him were more elusive that I would have hoped. The usher who met us just as we entered apologetically stammered that there wasn’t much room and then vaguely gestured that the might be a space “somewhere over by the guy in the blue shirt”. My family and I had arrived late (I’ll place my rant about accurate service times on church signage somewhere else) and tried to sneak in the back to find a seat. I had an enlightening experience while visiting another church the other week.
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