INTRODUCTION
Mission and Evangelism is the mandate giving to the church by our Lord
Jesus Christ. The church must strife harder to fulfill this mandate in this
generation of ours. Ushers are integral part of the church, therefore the role
of Ushers in fulfillment of Mission and Evangelism cannot be over emphasized.
Infact, Ushers are absolutely essential in any church activities. They are
essential because they perform very important ministries or duties in the
church.
•
THE USHER AS THE FIRST CHURCH IMAGE
Usher is the first
person any worshiper sees or meets as he or she enters the church premises or
any spiritual gathering. It means that the Usher goes a long way to set the
tone for the day or dictate the kind of worship experience the worshipper will
have.
Moreover, it may be
seen that the church Usher occupies a strategic office in the life and image of
the church. He/she is first person to be respected and appreciated. He is the
embodiment of the gracious spirit of the religious group (i.e. he/she shows the
kind of people in the gathering).
Often unknowingly,
Usher is the friend who shares in making the lonely feel cared for, the
bereaved see hope, the sinner feel forgiveness, the discouraged feel cheered,
the rich feel generous, the poor feel rich, and everyone feel enjoined to
unselfish love for his/her neighbor. In short, Usher is the instrument who
introduces the individual to every practical expression of the church’s mission
and to the presence of the almighty.
•
THE PERSON WHO USHERS
For a successful
ushering ministry, the person who ushers is expected to posses the following
qualifications;
•
He/she must
be genuinely born again (Acts 8:26-36).
•
He/she must
be a person of good report both inside and outside the church.
•
An Usher
must be a committed Christian.
•
Usher must
be a person of prayer
•
He/she must
be very sensitive to the needs of the members and visitor. This calls for
nothing but his sensitivity to the Holy spirit of God.
•
Usher must
be friendly to people.
•
He/she must
be a person full of humility. Be cheerful and courteous even when people are
rude and adamant.
•
He/she must
be a faithful person to God and him/herself.
•
He/she must
have spirit of self control
•
Usher must
be able to relate well with people.
•
He/she must
be well dressed.
•
THE ROLE OF USHERS IN ANY SPIRITUAL GATHERING
Ministry of the
Ushers is an indispensible part of the church’s ministry. Imagine there is no
Usher in a spiritual gathering, the result would be disorder. Therefore, Ushers
must perform these and some other roles towards fulfillment of mission and
evangelism.
•
They take care of the logistic such as:
• Taking cooperate prayer before the worship or
program starts.
• Making sure the chair or benches are well
arranged before the worshippers arrive.
• Making sure the lights and fans are on if
necessary.
• They must have basic information about the
facilities available within the church building or compound i.e. toilets, tap,
children church, first aid room etc.
• The offering bags or baskets, bulletin, tithes
card, visitors’ card and other thing needed for the service must be within the
reach of Ushers.
•
They must maintain orderliness during the service
by:
• Welcoming people coming to the service with smile
“first impression last longer”.
• Give out bulletins or program for the service
• They will seat worshippers at appropriate point
in the service
• Receive the tithes and offering
• Seek for people’s comfort
• Count the people (worshippers)
• Leading the children to their place of service
•
They must perform these tasks at the end of every
worship service
• Watch carefully as the people march out of the
sanctuary
• Watch out as people go where they kept their
belongings
• Wait on the pastor as he greats the worshippers.
He may require gifts such as tapes, magazine e.t.c. to be brought for him for
the worshippers.
• They are expected to be ready to handle all
emergencies.
As the service come
to an end, all Ushers should ensure that things are in proper place, then come
together for prayer.
•
They have opportunities to witness
Your service as an
Usher will place you in a strategic location to witness. You will have the
opportunity to show the love of Christ as you interact with members and
visitors. Your mood will be caught by many who are entering the sanctuary for
worship. A positive mood will help them to be positive. You can use the phrase
like “Good morning, Jesus loves you”, “Greeting, this is the day the Lord has
made” “smile, Jesus loves you, and I love you too. e.t.c. to the people entering
the worship place for worship. When you are doing this, you are planting a
positive word about Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to use it during the
service.
You will have
opportunities for witnessing. Be ready to share your faith. Note that anything
worth doing at all is worth doing well. Take that to heart, put it into
practice as you usher. Ushering is worth doing. So do it well.
CONCLUSION
Brethren, if the mandate giving to us by our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ is going to be fulfill, then Ushers have great task to perform. Usher
should note that all the workers in the church are working toward the same
goals and it pays to serve than to be served. Therefore, we all need to work
together to fulfill the task of winning soul for Christ.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clark,
Thomas L. A Guide for the Church Usher. Nashiville: Broadman Press, 1984
Johnson,
Alvin D. The Work of the Usher. USA: The Judson Press, 1967
Olufemi,
Tunde. Ushers & Ushering Ministry In the 21st Century Church,
Abeokuta: n.p, nd
Oyemomi,
Emmanuel O. The Place of Usher in Worship. Abeokuta: Praise Publication,
2001