national ushers handbook
CHAPTER1 {ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES}
INTRODUCTION
Ever so often. God calls us into His vineyard and gives us different assignments. He never makes a mistake. He has called some to be pastors, prophets, evangelists, Musicians, prayer Warriors and Ushers amongst many others (1 Corinthians 12:28).
DEFINITION
The dictionary defines an Usher as a doorkeeper who escorts people to seats in a hall, an officer who introduces, strangers/ or walks before a person of rank. This definition barely scratches the surface.
An Usher is a very important officer of the church who serves as the law enforcement agent, an orderly and a caretaker of the Church and all its treasures; material and souls.
The word Usher does not appear in the bible but the following roles in the scriptures define the positions occupied by Ushers in the Body of Christ.
A. Doorkeeper - Psalms 84:10
B. Priest - Numbers 3:5-10
C. Gatekeeper - 1 Chronicles 9:17-27
D. Deacon - Acts 6:1-7
An Usher is thus defined in church by function. As a servant, priest, minister, assistant, aide, doorkeeper, gatekeeper etc. you must become what is desired of you, you must become all things to all men.
WHO IS AN USHER?
An Usher must be born-again Christian and he/she must fulfill the demands of the ministry (Acts 6:1-4 and 1 Timothy 3:8). He/she is:-
A. A servant unto God and unto men who helps others succeeds in their ministry
(Exodus 17:8- 13, 24:13). When you meet the needs of your Pastor, you make life and ministry easy for him while you also fulfill your own part in implementing the core objective i.e. soul winning.
B. A helper who is always available to render assistance to the weak, the needy and to each other (1 Corinthians 12:28).
C. A doorkeeper who meets and greets people (Psalms 84:10), He/She is God’s Public Relations Officer and represents the church to every visitor, first-timer and the congregation. He/She is to keep the door, meet the needs of people and welcome them into the presence of the Lord; you only have one opportunity to make a first impression.
D. One who maintains order (1 Corinthians 14:40). He/She is expected to maintain order, control movement throughout the service.
E. A leader who is in charge of the things in the temple (1 Chronicles 9:19-32). In summary, an Usher is one who spots a gap and fills it/One-who fines a hurt and heals it; one who has a heart ready to serve with willing hands ready feet.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The roles and responsibilities of an usher could be divided into two broad categories:- spiritual and physical. A. Spiritual
The Ushering ministry is a supernatural ministry and contrary to the obvious, it is more spiritual than it is physical. The ministry falls under the ministry of HELPS (1 Corinthians 12:28) and thus must be seen as:
A. Ordained and anointed by God Himself and divinely set in the Church, for a specific need/ Purpose.
B. Important to the smooth running of the ministry or ministration.
C. Entails supernatural empowerment
Usher’s roles & responsibilities include:
A. Assisting the Pastor helping him bring his vision to fulfillment.
B. Meeting & greeting the congregation:- the public relations man representing the church to every new visitor
C. Maintaining order (1 Corinthians 14:40, 1 Thess 5:4-15)
D. Taking attendance
E. Receiving, counting & recording offering. 1 Chr.9:26
F. Provision of required information to the congregation.
The Usher must continually ask himself/ herself these questions:-
A. Am I where God wants me to be?
B. Am I still maintaining Godly attributes?
C. Do I constantly do everything necessary to walk in peace with all brethren?
An Usher must be prayerful and diligent, faithfully observing his/her quiet timer. He/She must also be Faithful, Available and Teachable and must also be timely, thoughtful, and tactful and team player.
Physical
Physically, an Usher must:
A. Be fit for the job
B. Have an impeccable character within and outside the church.
C. Always be neat and clean – be particular about personal hygiene.
D. Have well groomed and clean hair
E. Wear clothing reflective of Christ, which must always be clean and well ironed.
F. Have fresh breathed at all times. No body odour
G. Wear neat shoes / uniforms no matter how old they are.
H. Pay particular attention to his /her personal health must be fit.
CONCLUSION
The work of Ushering is enormous, but the Lord who has called us into ministry would always supply the grace to be faithful. The Usher must continually emphasize the spiritual and must not leave out the Physical. He/she must be a faithful servant in the Vineyard and must ensure that he/she is available in the sight of God.
The Almighty God who has called the Usher is more than able to bless him/her as long as he/she pays attention to His words in Proverbs 4:20-27 and 11 Timothy 2:11-15. We must always be ready to adopt to changing circumstances and time frames and anticipate the unexpected. May God bless us all us all in Jesus Name.
CHAPTER2 {USHER’S COMMON RULES & REGULATIONS}
A. Under no circumstances must a single usher open the Tithe box or be alone with money in the counting room. At least two or three ushers must be present.
B. Money must not be counted outside the ushers room
C. It is not the usher’s duty to disburse money (Before, during or after counting money).
D. An usher must not also be the treasurer.
E. Spouses must not be in the ushering department of the same parish.
F. An Usher should never discuss the church finances with an unauthorized person including their spouse (utmost confidentiality should be the watchword).
G. A person cannot be an usher in the parish where his/her spouse is the treasurer.
H. The actual offering collected must be faithfully recorded without any alteration in the denominations collected.
I. Cheque exchanges are note allowed.
J. Dirty/Old notes cannot be changed into clearer ones.
K. The Ushering room is strictly out of bounds to those who are not ushers children including.
L. All monies counted by ushers must be handed over only to the church treasurer, the pastor or his/her appointee and ensure that all documents are signed and dated.
M. Parish, Area, Zonal and Province records should be separated accordingly at all times.
N. Ushers’ books (Attendance register, Count sheet, Summary sheet, Usher’s note book) must be filled accurately at all times and kept within the department.
NOTE:
The count sheets and summary sheets are produced centrally by the Province for uniformity. The attendance register can be obtained from the Provincial Office or through Pastor (Mrs.) A. Alimi at the headquarters Ebute Metta.
O. It is the duty of the Ushers to clean the church before/after every service.
P. Ushers are expected to meet weekly to pray and study the word (at least once a week)
Q. Ushers are expected to be financially committed as required.
R. Ushers must take time to listen to the tapes of the services ministered and observe quiet time regularly.
S. An Usher should always remain upstanding. Alert with eyes wide open. Not given to dancing or gyrating to the music, eyes should not be closed (Except when specifically directed by the ministering pastor).
PERSONAL RULES & Regulations
A. Uniform:
The uniform adopted for National programmes and the Holy Ghost service are communicated to the ushers through the Provincial Head Ushers while provinces are encouraged to have their individual uniforms. However, for programmes that require more-than one day (Convention, Holy Ghost Congress, Special Holy Ghost Service), Schedule of the various uniforms will be communicated accordingly. Male ushers are expected to be in complete suits while female ushers are expected to be in skirt suits.
B. Female Ushers:
Hair attachment is not allowed
No visible facial make-up allowed
No dropping ear-rings, bangles etc allowed.
No slit/mini skirts allowed
Pregnant sisters could wear pinafore on their blouses
CHAPTER3 {GENERAL USHERS’ CONDUCT}
The Usher’s lifestyle: Leadership by example
Spiritual preparation
The first key to effectiveness in prayer, spending time in individual and group prayer before and after the service is a very important tool of service.
The usher should also cultivate the “T” Qualities, which are:
-Teach ability: Willing to learn
-Having good memory for names.
-Tactfulness: ability to do and say the right thing without offence
-Thoughtful: Knowing when, how and what to do
-Team player: work better as a team (Luke 9:14) having regular meetings together.
Natural/Physical Preparation
Manners, physical appearance and personal hygiene are crucial as an usher. You should not put people off. Ushers should learn to be sensitive to peoples’ needs and limits to build lasting relations. Be courteous as you direct people to their respective seats; greet people warmly making them feel like the Royalty they are (1 Pet. 2:9).
Practical Ushering
Ushers Positioning
It is preferable to have an overview map of each local auditorium, to facilitate easy positioning.
Seating of Congregation
Where do we seat first? Try and fill up the front section first so as to minimize distraction during the service.
-Aisle seating: avoid seating of ladies at the aisles.
-Ministers/workers seats or rows.
-Altar ushers vis-à-vis the pastor/minister in charge.
-Passing of messages (All must go through the head usher)
- Note the trouble spots i.e. where there will be possibility of heavy human traffic.
Counting
Attendance taking: Establish a non-distracting system, be invisible, and cultivate taking attendance from the back or from a high vantage point unseen by people.
-Counting should be analysed into Men Women collection
-Number of new guests
-Number of new converts
- Giving of cards to new guests and converts
Ushering During Ministration
Good Comportment
Keen Alertness
Dressing no flowing attires as these could become tools of destruction in the hand of the deliverer.
Mannerism towards the Congregation
Warm
Friendly but firm: one can still firm without been
Communication
Eye contact always: usher should readily maintain eye contact with each other periodically during the service.
Use of Discretion
You may need to take immediate decisions without having recourse to higher authorities, utmost-discretion is thus very necessary.
Offerings
Positioning of offering baskets: they should be in place before the time of offering, Baskets should not be used for collecting communion wine cups or prayer requests.
Taking of offering: This should be started systematically from the front not from the rear.
Counting of offering: This should be done in the vestry
Recording of offering: Vestry operation. Please note that prayer requests should be collected alongside the offering during the latter in the offering baskets.
CHAPTER4{CONTROL AND HANDLING OF VARIOUS MANIFESTATIONS DURING SERVICE}
Definition of Manifestation:
- To show plainly
- To be made apparently clear
- To be made obvious
- To make something evident or known.
Manifestation of the power of God takes place during intense worship of God.
(..God inhabits the praise of His people…” Ps 22:3)
There are two kinds of manifestation namely:
A. Positive: This reveals the nature of God through prophecy and word of knowledge and it edifies the body of Christ Col.1:26, Rom 16:25-26, 1 Cor. 2:7-13.
What is expected of an Usher!
As an Usher you must be very alert and attentive. In fact, the words of knowledge or prophecy can be recorded by the Usher ministering to the altar.
B. Negative: Demonic/Evil manifestation. This also take place during intense worship where there is heavy flow of anointing (i.e flow of the power of God),”… yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing…” Isaiah 10:27.
So when there is flow of anointing, yokes are broken and people delivered.
Therefore we should expect certain levels of reaction from demons that hitherto possessed people. The reaction can be mild or violent (Mk. 5:1-3), the Ushers need to be alert and ready both physically and spiritually to handle these reactions. This is why ushers must not close their eyes except when specifically asked to or kneel down or dance away as the demons only needs a careless usher to wreck havoc on the people or ushers. Ushers must pray continuously both in understanding and in the spirit.
What is needed by Ushers to control the situation.
- Plastic bowls in case of vomiting
- Tissue papers to clean saliva on the floor
- Mats to lay people down.
- Covering materials to prevent the display of the nakedness of women.
- All Usher should manage or carry female and vice versa
Ushers need wisdom and understanding as to know how to officiate during anointing services.
We need to maintain orderliness during services because our God is a God of order (1 Cor. 14:40)
Distribution of Ushers
Ushers should be distributed evenly along the aisles in the auditorium.
These ushers are to help people that are falling under power of the Holy Spirit to prevent bodily injuries.
Ushers should be distributed at strategic positions in front of the altar to prevent pandemonium and to guard the altar and prevent rowdiness.
For Ministrations that involve calling people out
- Ushers must arrange the people to be in a straight line (s)
- Usher should stand at the back of each person to be ministered to on a one-to-one basis, ladies standing behind ladies and men behind men.
- The size and weight of the person you are helping must also be taken into consideration.
Note: In the case of a heavily pregnant lady, two lady ushers should stand behind the pregnant woman with their hands joined together to present a comfortable buffer for the woman in case she is slain in the spirit.
A word of caution for the Usher must be “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.”
COPIED FROM http://rccgushers.org/contact.php
INTRODUCTION
Ever so often. God calls us into His vineyard and gives us different assignments. He never makes a mistake. He has called some to be pastors, prophets, evangelists, Musicians, prayer Warriors and Ushers amongst many others (1 Corinthians 12:28).
DEFINITION
The dictionary defines an Usher as a doorkeeper who escorts people to seats in a hall, an officer who introduces, strangers/ or walks before a person of rank. This definition barely scratches the surface.
An Usher is a very important officer of the church who serves as the law enforcement agent, an orderly and a caretaker of the Church and all its treasures; material and souls.
The word Usher does not appear in the bible but the following roles in the scriptures define the positions occupied by Ushers in the Body of Christ.
A. Doorkeeper - Psalms 84:10
B. Priest - Numbers 3:5-10
C. Gatekeeper - 1 Chronicles 9:17-27
D. Deacon - Acts 6:1-7
An Usher is thus defined in church by function. As a servant, priest, minister, assistant, aide, doorkeeper, gatekeeper etc. you must become what is desired of you, you must become all things to all men.
WHO IS AN USHER?
An Usher must be born-again Christian and he/she must fulfill the demands of the ministry (Acts 6:1-4 and 1 Timothy 3:8). He/she is:-
A. A servant unto God and unto men who helps others succeeds in their ministry
(Exodus 17:8- 13, 24:13). When you meet the needs of your Pastor, you make life and ministry easy for him while you also fulfill your own part in implementing the core objective i.e. soul winning.
B. A helper who is always available to render assistance to the weak, the needy and to each other (1 Corinthians 12:28).
C. A doorkeeper who meets and greets people (Psalms 84:10), He/She is God’s Public Relations Officer and represents the church to every visitor, first-timer and the congregation. He/She is to keep the door, meet the needs of people and welcome them into the presence of the Lord; you only have one opportunity to make a first impression.
D. One who maintains order (1 Corinthians 14:40). He/She is expected to maintain order, control movement throughout the service.
E. A leader who is in charge of the things in the temple (1 Chronicles 9:19-32). In summary, an Usher is one who spots a gap and fills it/One-who fines a hurt and heals it; one who has a heart ready to serve with willing hands ready feet.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The roles and responsibilities of an usher could be divided into two broad categories:- spiritual and physical. A. Spiritual
The Ushering ministry is a supernatural ministry and contrary to the obvious, it is more spiritual than it is physical. The ministry falls under the ministry of HELPS (1 Corinthians 12:28) and thus must be seen as:
A. Ordained and anointed by God Himself and divinely set in the Church, for a specific need/ Purpose.
B. Important to the smooth running of the ministry or ministration.
C. Entails supernatural empowerment
Usher’s roles & responsibilities include:
A. Assisting the Pastor helping him bring his vision to fulfillment.
B. Meeting & greeting the congregation:- the public relations man representing the church to every new visitor
C. Maintaining order (1 Corinthians 14:40, 1 Thess 5:4-15)
D. Taking attendance
E. Receiving, counting & recording offering. 1 Chr.9:26
F. Provision of required information to the congregation.
The Usher must continually ask himself/ herself these questions:-
A. Am I where God wants me to be?
B. Am I still maintaining Godly attributes?
C. Do I constantly do everything necessary to walk in peace with all brethren?
An Usher must be prayerful and diligent, faithfully observing his/her quiet timer. He/She must also be Faithful, Available and Teachable and must also be timely, thoughtful, and tactful and team player.
Physical
Physically, an Usher must:
A. Be fit for the job
B. Have an impeccable character within and outside the church.
C. Always be neat and clean – be particular about personal hygiene.
D. Have well groomed and clean hair
E. Wear clothing reflective of Christ, which must always be clean and well ironed.
F. Have fresh breathed at all times. No body odour
G. Wear neat shoes / uniforms no matter how old they are.
H. Pay particular attention to his /her personal health must be fit.
CONCLUSION
The work of Ushering is enormous, but the Lord who has called us into ministry would always supply the grace to be faithful. The Usher must continually emphasize the spiritual and must not leave out the Physical. He/she must be a faithful servant in the Vineyard and must ensure that he/she is available in the sight of God.
The Almighty God who has called the Usher is more than able to bless him/her as long as he/she pays attention to His words in Proverbs 4:20-27 and 11 Timothy 2:11-15. We must always be ready to adopt to changing circumstances and time frames and anticipate the unexpected. May God bless us all us all in Jesus Name.
CHAPTER2 {USHER’S COMMON RULES & REGULATIONS}
A. Under no circumstances must a single usher open the Tithe box or be alone with money in the counting room. At least two or three ushers must be present.
B. Money must not be counted outside the ushers room
C. It is not the usher’s duty to disburse money (Before, during or after counting money).
D. An usher must not also be the treasurer.
E. Spouses must not be in the ushering department of the same parish.
F. An Usher should never discuss the church finances with an unauthorized person including their spouse (utmost confidentiality should be the watchword).
G. A person cannot be an usher in the parish where his/her spouse is the treasurer.
H. The actual offering collected must be faithfully recorded without any alteration in the denominations collected.
I. Cheque exchanges are note allowed.
J. Dirty/Old notes cannot be changed into clearer ones.
K. The Ushering room is strictly out of bounds to those who are not ushers children including.
L. All monies counted by ushers must be handed over only to the church treasurer, the pastor or his/her appointee and ensure that all documents are signed and dated.
M. Parish, Area, Zonal and Province records should be separated accordingly at all times.
N. Ushers’ books (Attendance register, Count sheet, Summary sheet, Usher’s note book) must be filled accurately at all times and kept within the department.
NOTE:
The count sheets and summary sheets are produced centrally by the Province for uniformity. The attendance register can be obtained from the Provincial Office or through Pastor (Mrs.) A. Alimi at the headquarters Ebute Metta.
O. It is the duty of the Ushers to clean the church before/after every service.
P. Ushers are expected to meet weekly to pray and study the word (at least once a week)
Q. Ushers are expected to be financially committed as required.
R. Ushers must take time to listen to the tapes of the services ministered and observe quiet time regularly.
S. An Usher should always remain upstanding. Alert with eyes wide open. Not given to dancing or gyrating to the music, eyes should not be closed (Except when specifically directed by the ministering pastor).
PERSONAL RULES & Regulations
A. Uniform:
The uniform adopted for National programmes and the Holy Ghost service are communicated to the ushers through the Provincial Head Ushers while provinces are encouraged to have their individual uniforms. However, for programmes that require more-than one day (Convention, Holy Ghost Congress, Special Holy Ghost Service), Schedule of the various uniforms will be communicated accordingly. Male ushers are expected to be in complete suits while female ushers are expected to be in skirt suits.
B. Female Ushers:
Hair attachment is not allowed
No visible facial make-up allowed
No dropping ear-rings, bangles etc allowed.
No slit/mini skirts allowed
Pregnant sisters could wear pinafore on their blouses
CHAPTER3 {GENERAL USHERS’ CONDUCT}
The Usher’s lifestyle: Leadership by example
Spiritual preparation
The first key to effectiveness in prayer, spending time in individual and group prayer before and after the service is a very important tool of service.
The usher should also cultivate the “T” Qualities, which are:
-Teach ability: Willing to learn
-Having good memory for names.
-Tactfulness: ability to do and say the right thing without offence
-Thoughtful: Knowing when, how and what to do
-Team player: work better as a team (Luke 9:14) having regular meetings together.
Natural/Physical Preparation
Manners, physical appearance and personal hygiene are crucial as an usher. You should not put people off. Ushers should learn to be sensitive to peoples’ needs and limits to build lasting relations. Be courteous as you direct people to their respective seats; greet people warmly making them feel like the Royalty they are (1 Pet. 2:9).
Practical Ushering
Ushers Positioning
It is preferable to have an overview map of each local auditorium, to facilitate easy positioning.
Seating of Congregation
Where do we seat first? Try and fill up the front section first so as to minimize distraction during the service.
-Aisle seating: avoid seating of ladies at the aisles.
-Ministers/workers seats or rows.
-Altar ushers vis-à-vis the pastor/minister in charge.
-Passing of messages (All must go through the head usher)
- Note the trouble spots i.e. where there will be possibility of heavy human traffic.
Counting
Attendance taking: Establish a non-distracting system, be invisible, and cultivate taking attendance from the back or from a high vantage point unseen by people.
-Counting should be analysed into Men Women collection
-Number of new guests
-Number of new converts
- Giving of cards to new guests and converts
Ushering During Ministration
Good Comportment
Keen Alertness
Dressing no flowing attires as these could become tools of destruction in the hand of the deliverer.
Mannerism towards the Congregation
Warm
Friendly but firm: one can still firm without been
Communication
Eye contact always: usher should readily maintain eye contact with each other periodically during the service.
Use of Discretion
You may need to take immediate decisions without having recourse to higher authorities, utmost-discretion is thus very necessary.
Offerings
Positioning of offering baskets: they should be in place before the time of offering, Baskets should not be used for collecting communion wine cups or prayer requests.
Taking of offering: This should be started systematically from the front not from the rear.
Counting of offering: This should be done in the vestry
Recording of offering: Vestry operation. Please note that prayer requests should be collected alongside the offering during the latter in the offering baskets.
CHAPTER4{CONTROL AND HANDLING OF VARIOUS MANIFESTATIONS DURING SERVICE}
Definition of Manifestation:
- To show plainly
- To be made apparently clear
- To be made obvious
- To make something evident or known.
Manifestation of the power of God takes place during intense worship of God.
(..God inhabits the praise of His people…” Ps 22:3)
There are two kinds of manifestation namely:
A. Positive: This reveals the nature of God through prophecy and word of knowledge and it edifies the body of Christ Col.1:26, Rom 16:25-26, 1 Cor. 2:7-13.
What is expected of an Usher!
As an Usher you must be very alert and attentive. In fact, the words of knowledge or prophecy can be recorded by the Usher ministering to the altar.
B. Negative: Demonic/Evil manifestation. This also take place during intense worship where there is heavy flow of anointing (i.e flow of the power of God),”… yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing…” Isaiah 10:27.
So when there is flow of anointing, yokes are broken and people delivered.
Therefore we should expect certain levels of reaction from demons that hitherto possessed people. The reaction can be mild or violent (Mk. 5:1-3), the Ushers need to be alert and ready both physically and spiritually to handle these reactions. This is why ushers must not close their eyes except when specifically asked to or kneel down or dance away as the demons only needs a careless usher to wreck havoc on the people or ushers. Ushers must pray continuously both in understanding and in the spirit.
What is needed by Ushers to control the situation.
- Plastic bowls in case of vomiting
- Tissue papers to clean saliva on the floor
- Mats to lay people down.
- Covering materials to prevent the display of the nakedness of women.
- All Usher should manage or carry female and vice versa
Ushers need wisdom and understanding as to know how to officiate during anointing services.
We need to maintain orderliness during services because our God is a God of order (1 Cor. 14:40)
Distribution of Ushers
Ushers should be distributed evenly along the aisles in the auditorium.
These ushers are to help people that are falling under power of the Holy Spirit to prevent bodily injuries.
Ushers should be distributed at strategic positions in front of the altar to prevent pandemonium and to guard the altar and prevent rowdiness.
For Ministrations that involve calling people out
- Ushers must arrange the people to be in a straight line (s)
- Usher should stand at the back of each person to be ministered to on a one-to-one basis, ladies standing behind ladies and men behind men.
- The size and weight of the person you are helping must also be taken into consideration.
Note: In the case of a heavily pregnant lady, two lady ushers should stand behind the pregnant woman with their hands joined together to present a comfortable buffer for the woman in case she is slain in the spirit.
A word of caution for the Usher must be “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.”
COPIED FROM http://rccgushers.org/contact.php
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