USHER 101

Presents
Amb. Steve Mbugua
Motivational Speaker
Ambassador of safety And Wellness
Contact us
info@ambstevembugua.co.ke
Amb. Steve Mbugua
www.ambStevembugua.co.ke
The Art of Effective
Church Ushering
MISSION: Building a cheerful, engaged and “Serve With Smile” Church Ushering Team.
Session 2

Objectives
At the end of the session you should be able to; learn
1. RESPONSIBILITIES OF AN USHER
2. CHIEF/HEAD USHER RESPONSIBILITIES
3. USHERS SCOPE OF OPERATION
4. GENERAL DUTIES OF AN USHER
5. GENERAL GUIDELINES TO USHERING IN CHURCH
MISSION : Building a cheerful, engaged and “Serve With Smile” Church Ushering Team 2

RESPONSIBILITIES OF AN USHER
MISSION : Building a cheerful, engaged and “Serve With Smile” Church Ushering Team.
1. Faithfully attend church, whether or not you have ushering
responsibilities that day.
2. Arrive at the church 30 minutes prior to the start of the service.
3. Dress should be appropriate, descent, clean, and neat.
4. Work and receive instructions from the Chief/Head Usher.
5. Get the bulletins and take them to the assigned positions
6. Welcome arriving congregants with a warm, friendly smile.
7. Be alert for issues that may need your attention.
8. Provide directions to the nursing mothers, Sunday school children,
9. Assist the elderly and handicapped out and in of their cars and into
the church.
10. Be available for offering, special offerings, and other duties.
Ushers receiving instructions

Responsibilities
11. Several ushers and church deacons count the
offerings and place the offering in the safe.
12.After the offering, at least one usher must remain in
the lobby area to offer assistance when needed.
13.Be aware of the temperature in the sanctuary.
14. Some churches require an usher to count attendance.
15. Be available around the Altar.
16. Some ushers should go through the church building to
make sure doors and windows are locked and no one else
is in the building; And that all left-behind materials or
possessions by the congregants are collected and kept
safely.

17. Turn off the lights, lock all doors and windows, and
ensure all power sources are switched off.
18.Provide Emergency help when needed in an orderly
fashion.
20.During rainy months, provide rails for the
congregation to scrub away mud and wipe their shoes.
21. Maintain supplies at the Altar, make sure pews have
adequate hymnals, Bibles, and offering envelopes if
provided. In most churches, these are not provided so
your responsibility will be to make sure pews are well
organized and neat.
Responsibilities
Usher turning off lights and
closing church door

CHIEF/HEAD USHER RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Receive special instructions from the
Pastor.
2. Oversee and direct operations of the ushers
during the assigned time frame.
3. Make sure special instructions from Pastor
is followed through.
4. Contact usher crewmembers prior to the
start of the service to make sure there will
be an ample number of ushers available.
Make usher substitutions when necessary.
5. Conduct pre-service prayer.

Chief usher Responsibilities
6. Provide or organize for teaching and training for all ushers which includes,
greeting others, how to handle emergencies, how to assist congregational needs,
offering duties, and provide courteous and thoughtful attitude in their role.
7. Maintain open communication with all ushers
8. Rotate ushers to avoid usher-burnout and allow others to be involved in
providing services to the church.
9. Make sure to evaluate the offering procedures to have an air-tight system of
removing offerings from the sanctuary to the time it is placed in the church safe
for security purposes.
10.Develop and train ushers how to handle overflow seating situations.
11.Maintain church attendance recorded, list of visitor’s details and people with
special needs.

Scope of operation
 Take initiative
At all times watch what is going on in your section and jump in to handle it. If you
aren’t sure what to do, ask your team leader. Never assume “someone” else is taking
care of the need. Pay attention, take the initiative, and make it happen!!
 Pre-Briefing and Postmortem Meeting
Have regular meetings of the ushers for the purpose of instruction, exchange of
ideas, suggestions, and discussion of experiences and problems. In some churches
the ushers meet for fifteen minutes before every worship service.
 Fill First Pews First
It is always important to get the front pews filled as early as possible. That is the
secret of getting the people to the front. If you allow the rear and center of the hall
to be filled first, it will be very difficult to persuade anyone to sit in the front.

Continuation
 Be Professional in your Appearance
Conduct your work in a dignified and reverent manner. Ushers
should be dressed neatly and appropriately for the worship of
God. They should be courteous, pleasant, and kind.
 Always learn to absorb the pressure when it comes
on occasion, there are moments of pressure when someone is
upset, or something isn’t working right. In these moments never
transfer the pressure to the person entering into their worship
experience. You are the leader. You absorb the pressure.
 Own your section, lead your section, shepherd your
section.
Seat the worshippers as much as possible where they want to sit.
seats, if they want them Usher owning a section
Neatly dressed ushers

 Follow the direction of your Chief/Head usher.
All good leaders are good followers. Be supportive and
encouraging. Offer suggestions if you have good ideas, but
don’t be overly sensitive if your ideas aren’t used
 Meet the people with a smile and confidence.
The usher’s job is to move toward and engage people
quickly and with the confidence to help them know what to
do.
 Be Flexible The service depends on your flexibility.
Don’t get flustered when last minute changes are made.
That will happen. Just keep positive.
Continuation

 Know and Be Known
An usher must be able to know all members of the church. This will enable
the usher to know first timers and be able to possibly detect visitors and
people with varying motives.
 Get an accurate people count.
We want to be good stewards of all that God has entrusted to us, and
therefore it matters that we know how well we are reaching people. Just
like in the book of Acts, they counted, recorded, and celebrated how many
people were saved.

 Reset and clean up the auditorium.
People will leave papers, cups and “stuff” behind. Also, rearranging of the seats
and collecting litter even outside the church. Remember, many hands make light
work. If all ushers jump in and help, it takes just a few minutes.

GENERAL DUTIES OF THE USHER
Arrival and Departure
1. The usher should arrive at the duty site at least thirty (30) minutes early to pray, to be
sure all are ready and early arrivals are made comfortable.
2. Conduct brief orientation to those who are coming for the first time.
3. In the event of special activities, the usher must be ready to come earlier as required.
4. The usher must leave the duty site only when fully satisfied that no further work is
needed.
Greeting
1. The usher should greet arrivals in a friendly and cordial manner.
2. There should be no extended conversation so as to delay movement.
3. Any special request like persons wanting to see the pastor or any other person in the
church should be attended promptly but should be passed on to other ushers not
assigned for greeting

Seating
1. Whenever possible, arrivals should be conducted to the seats nearest the
pulpit, the front seats. This must be done with utmost courtesy without
hint of coercion.
Scattered seating dealt with early

Seating
1. Whenever possible, arrivals should be conducted to the seats nearest the pulpit, the
front seats. This must be done with utmost courtesy without hint of coercion.
2. The ushers should discourage if not stop movement when prayer is being said or
when worship is in progress.
3. Conducting to seats may be done before the start of the service, during praise time,
during announcements and while the preacher is moving to the pulpit.
4. Arrivals during the sermon should be seated at the back whenever possible but at all
times done in such a manner that creates the least disturbance.
5. Ushers assigned to spot vacant seats should remain alert at their post at the longest
possible time or until they are satisfied that there will be no more arrivals.
6. Ushers should assist visitors to their seats.
7. People with special needs should be helped or even carried to their seats or even
wheelchairs

GENERAL GUIDELINES
TO USHERING IN CHURCH
1.Have a close relationship with God. Seek to be anointed because, the usher is the
first contact with the people. Pray, fast and meet regularly.
2. An usher’s conduct should be above reproach and should reflect a gentle Godly
spirit to all they serve.
3. An usher must display a servant’s heart, willing to always serve anyone, no matter
how big or small the request.
4. Greeting people in a warm way makes them feel good about their presence in church.
5. Ushers must observe proper personal hygiene; control/elimination of bad breath and
body odor.
6. Ushers should not chew gum or any other way call attention to themselves.
7. All strong smells are a hindrance to your guests and members when serving as a
church usher.

8. An usher must avoid long conversations that could overlook providing a
handshake, smile, and greeting to everyone who is in attendance.
9. Ushers should wear their uniforms or the designated attires. Always wear
usher's name badges when on duty.
10.An usher must never place his/her hands on the opposite sex other than a
friendly handshake or helping someone at their request. Ask before touching.
11.Only females will place and remove modesty cloths on women around the
altar.
12. Be courteous and tactful at all times. Never react to discourtesy or rebuff,
instead act in Christian love.
13. Avoid favoritism or partiality to anyone. Make everyone; members and
guests, all feel welcomed and important.

14. Always straighten out any misunderstanding that might arise in the performance of
duties.
15. Notify the pastor of the presence of an important person.
16. Keep children quiet, they are not to walk or run around during service. Request the
parents to take crying or loud children out. Reserve seats for parents with infants/
toddlers and elderly.
17. Know the plan of action in case of emergency or contingency, such as overflow
crowd or sudden outburst of emotion. Ushers assigned in the evening fellowship or night
vigil must always carry a flashlight.
18. Be alert in spotting intruders particularly pickpockets who may be posing as
worshippers.
19.Ushers need to be ready at all times to respond as directed when there is a
disturbance, illness, or other situation that requires special attention.

Generally, the ministry of church ushers focuses on the
following areas of responsibilities (if they occur in your church
 Preparing the baptismal pool for baptisms
 Guide people to the currently open seating area with a smile and open posture as
they point to where seating is open.
 Reset the church hall for the next service.
 Politely asking for the removal of hats on the men and boys.
 Keeping those praying or dancing “under the power of the Spirit” safe from
stumbling into chairs or other worshippers.
 Placing a cover sheet on women who “get overpowered in the Spirit.”
 Catching people who fall or start dancing “in the Spirit.
 Hospitality Receptions after the service
 Church ushers should be well-versed in emergency procedures
 Remain at assigned post throughout the event unless taking an assigned break”

EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
 In the event of an emergency, the safety of the church members is
every usher’s first responsibility. Most emergencies are for medical
attention or some kind of disturbance with an individual.
Instructions to be followed
1. Clear the area to allow assistance.
2. Always assign one person to call the police, ambulance or fire brigade where need be.
3. Conduct a scene survey and casualty assessment.
4. Station one person to help emergency personnel to the person who needs help. Have
another usher to make sure the isles are clear for emergency personnel
5. Keep either an usher or experienced medical person from the church, next to the affected
person at all times.
6. Encourage others to pray
7. Assign one person to remain close to the family members and friends.
8. Monitor and make sure the area is not crowded by onlookers

Evacuation Procedures
 Ushers should maintain order to the best of their ability in the event of any kind of
evacuation. In this case, the ushers should start with the last pew or row in the
sanctuary and procedure to usher people out to a nearby exit. If the church has
front exits, an usher will escort people from the front rows while others are going
out the back rows

Evacuation Procedures
 Ushers should maintain order to the best of their ability in the event of any kind of
evacuation. In this case, the ushers should start with the last pew or row in the
sanctuary and procedure to usher people out to a nearby exit. If the church has
front exits, an usher will escort people from the front rows while others are going
out the back rows
 Ushers should be assigned to help others in the building at the same time, such as
Sunday school church, youth department, checking the washrooms and kitchen, c.
to ensure an evacuation is conducted in a safe and timely manner. It is good for all
ushers to check remaining rooms to make sure everyone has evacuated.
 Once outside, the ushers can determine with others whether anyone is missing.
 In cases of fire, it is always best to call the fire brigade when in doubt. The longer
the delay, there is a greater risk to the building and others.

Disturbances
Disturbances by mentally ill, distraught persons, or people who wish to disturb the
service to gain something else other than respecting the house of God, require
discernment on the part of the chief usher and other ushers present.
ushers to carry out the procedures
1. Determine whether a person needs to be taken out of the sanctuary.
2. Determine a safe place to deal with this person and firmly state this type of behavior is not
wanted or accepted in our services. Please distinguish between the person and the behavior.
Most churches welcome everyone but not the disruptive behaviors.
3. Determine whether the person will stop or will have to be asked to leave the building.
4. If an individual is distraught due to grief, please ask them to step out and gently escort
them out of the sanctuary. Ask the grieving person, “How can we help?” or “We have
someone who will pray with you, please come with me.”

LATEST TRENDS
 The new ways of doing things brings with it new challenges which then puts a
demand on us to find innovative ways to tackle them. Just to mention a few…
 Evolvement of online church. They too need to be considered and be informed.
Almost everyone who attends your church for the first time has already been to your
church virtually…online, or heard about it.
 Need for bigger and spacious car Parking slots as more believers drive to church..
 More church members preferring to pay tithe and offerings via mobile
money transfer, bank account or visa card rather than dropping at the offering
bag. Ushers must be well informed and able to guide congregants who may
need details of paybill numbers or specific account numbers to use.
 Kidnapping and child abduction is on the rise thus there is need to have tight
security and children control within the sanctuary.

conclusion
 Brethren, it’s my hope and prayer that the few words of wisdom,
instruction and encouragement on this subject of Effective Church
Ushering have been a blessing to you
Prepared by:
Amb Steve Mbugua

USHER 101

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to USHER 101

Similar to USHER 101 (20)

More from Amb Steve Mbugua

More from Amb Steve Mbugua (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (10)

USHER 101