Recently, St. John’s team of ushers and greeters gained a new recruit. This is really terrific. Really! I love that people are finding ways to bless others and themselves through worship and service in the St. John’s community. It didn’t take long for us to connect over availability and pair our new usher with a few good veterans. That’s the easy part.
I came to a crossroads, however, when it came time to pass along the manual. Yes, you read that correctly. A few years ago office staff and a few of our more experienced volunteers sat down and spelled out in fine detail all of the critical (and not so critical) tasks involved in ushering. If you really want to know, you can have a look in “The Greeters and Ushers Guide to Absolutely Everything about Everything.” Again, it’s great that all of these things are spelled out clearly, but how overwhelming for someone new on the scene! As I read, I came by a set of instructions that included,
hang the ‘service in progress’ sign on the main doors.
This is a helpful sign. We’re an urban church and this sign ensures that late comers will be directed to worship in a way that reduces the possibility of problems in areas of our building that are unoccupied. But just like a giant manual can be a roadblock for the enthusiasm of a new volunteer, our “service in progress” sign adds an obstacle to those seeking to worship. This is when it struck me.
Isn’t the work of the church always a “service in progress?”
We attend worship and our formation is in progress. We volunteer and our formation is in progress. We share our faith and our formation is in progress. As smooth or as clumsy as we might be, when we make an effort our relationships with God and each other grow. Our service is in progress. We’re never really finished figuring things out and it’s nice to know we’re not doing this alone.
There may come a time when we rethink our door sign. But there is also a part of the manual that I hope never changes. It falls under the “hospitality” section. Yes, we have a section on hospitality. I hope it encourages you, as it did me, and hopefully our new usher as your service is in progress.
Find a way of being welcoming that matches your style. And be aware of the body language other people are using. Some of us like to talk. Others prefer a friendly smile and a simple ‘Hello.’ If you are friendly, genuine and true to yourself then guests can feel free to be friendly, genuine and true to themselves. … It’s impossible to predict every situation, but if you keep your eyes open and put yourself in someone else’s shoes, with God’s help you have no option but to succeeded.