MARTHA SNELL NICHOLSON
ChurchUshering
A new emphasis on a phase of Christian service often overlooked and underrated.
Dr. Walter L. Wilson
T HE USHER holds a strategic position in the church. He greets the church attendants by as they leave. The visitor fre quently receives his first impression of the church from the usher who greets him at the door. So, because of the importance of this ministry, we shall consider in this article some of the requirements of this in fluential position. The usher should be a man, not a boy. Immature youth has not the polish, the Interest, or the resource fulness needed for this work. The usher should be a godly man who loves the Bible, lives a clean life and has a good name in the community. A worldling should not be given this job. Those who come to the House of God expect those serving in prominent places to be men of God. The usher should be interested in the spiritual welfare of those who attend the service. He should watch to see whether those who come are pious or frivolous and whether they are really seeking help or have come only for social pleasure. Keen ob servation of these details will enable him to seat the people wisely. The usher should notice those with hearing aids and place them where they can heat to the best advantage. He should put parents with small children at the rear of the church. The aged should be seated where they will be comfortable, and where they will not be in a draft. The usher should note the location of vacant seats after the church is well filled, so that he will not make the mistake of leading someone up the aisle, and then being unable to find a seat. He should keep a vigilant eye on the section which he serves so as to know at once where there are vacancies. The usher should re
member the different members of families, so he may seat them to gether if they so desire. The usher should stand facing the door, or at least partially facing it, where he can always see the people entering. This will prevent the em barrassment of someone’s coming in unobserved, who may feel hurt or neglected if thus allowed to pass by unnoticed. The usher should watch for trou bled souls during the service and at its close. If he h&s noticed any one in his section in spiritual need, he should approach him and offer help himself or find the appropriate person to aid him. He should also watch for disturbed inen and wom en, by standing at his post in the aisle at the close of the service as the people pass by. As he greets them with a hearty word, he can ob serve whether there have been tears, or if there is trembling, or any other sign of soul trouble. If so, the usher can offer spiritual help. The usher should watch for stran gers, and especially mothers with lit tle ones, whom he may direct to Christian women who in turn will guide them to the nursery or the rest room. He should be ready to take the hat or the overcoat of the visit- •ing gentleman, or direct him to the coat rack. He should be ready to as sist in every way to show a spirit of co-operation and fellowship. Each usher should have two plates when the offering is taken. He should watch both plates oh both sides of the aisle carefully, so that friends will not have to sit holding the plate until he remembers to come and get it. The usher should be ready always to help in any way, to deal with hearts and lives in order that he may be the Lord’s servant, the Lord’s watchman, and a blessing to all the people.
as they enter and bids them good-
A gnarled old oak with arms held high, A bird in (light across the sky; Against the sunset one dark sail, A comet’s whisking, fiery tail; A tall pine towering far above The things of earth and home and love; A spear of yucca piercing through The tender arch of Heaven's blue; A mountain’s shoulder pressing high Against a frosty winter sky; Old Glory fluttering in the breeze— My heart loves etchings such as these. But etched against another sky, Upon a cross, left there to die, (Look not, my eyes, and falter, tongue!) The very Lord of glory hung. From the book, "In Heaven’s Garden»," by the author.
FEBRUARY, 1947
17
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online