Communion Runners

Well, this past Sunday we served communion again, and the ushers tried something new.
About 10 minutes before each service, we asked the servers to go sit in the front rows, and then stand up and make eye contact with an usher. The ushers were to choose which server was "it" and then to keep an eye on their respective server if they needed juice. The servers, on their part, were instructed to raise their hand and wait if they ran low.

Most responses so far have been positive. By focusing on a face or an individual instead of a position, it made it easier for some to keep track of their servers.

The most important aspect of it was simply to be ready, with a tray of juice in hand, watching for the signal of a raised hand.

If you participated in that process, please feel free to make notes here. By getting feedback, both positive and negative, we find out what works best and make adjustments to the things needing improvement.

Thank you to all of you as we work on streamlining and refining our processes!

Is Our Church Like This?

When you are with people on a Sunday morning, does it feel like this to you? If so, why? If not, why?

Who's on First?

Abbott and Costello have a famous comedy sketch in which they talk about the members of a baseball team, and get hopelessly confused in the process. It's funny because not only is it a sketch of masterful comedic timing, but it's often true.

I say one thing, you hear another. You say something back, and I interpret it completely differently. Communication, even between the best of teammates and the closest of friends, can occasionally get tangled.

Can you remember a time when you got in the "Abbott and Costello" pickle with another person? Tell us about it!

The Ministry of Ushering

The following excerpt is from the book, "Serving as a Church Usher" by Leslie Parrott, through Zondovan Press....

PREACHING, TEACHING, MUSIC, AND USHERING
Any act of Christian service that helps direct people into fellowship with Jesus Christ is a ministry. The most prominent ministry in the church is PREACHING. Paul wrote to the Romans, “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14).

The next prominent ministry is TEACHING. Next to the preaching of the gospel, Martin Luther believed that teaching was the highest calling of humankind. The pastor who preaches without teaching, or the church that evangelizes without instructing, is not only obscuring the cross of Christ but failing to provide the Holy Spirit with opportunity to carry out one of his most important functions. Jesus told his disciples, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).

The third great ministry in the church is MUSIC. According to Paul, music is at least on a par with teaching as a ministry in the church: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16).

The fourth great ministry of the church is USHERING. Paul, who believed in the power of preaching, the importance of teaching, and the ministry of music, also wrote, “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:40). Ushers are given the responsibility of tending to the details of each service so that it is conducted in an orderly fashion.

SO - WHAT MAKES A GOOD USHER?

The three qualities of Christlike people expounded by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are exemplified in the ministry of church ushers. First, the ministry of ushering is like salt that makes everything more palatable and serves as a general preservative against deterioration. Jesus did not say, “You ought to be the salt of the earth”; he said, “You are the salt of the earth”(Matthew 5:13, emphasis added). And Paul said, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6). A good usher adds a tang of joy rather than a tinge of drabness to a churchgoer’s Sunday worship experience.

Also, the ministry of an usher is like salt because salt can never do its work until it is brought into close contact with the substance on which it is to make its influence. The church ushers, pastors, musicians, and teachers come into direct contact with more people in a given service than anyone else who ministers to them. The ministry of salt is silent, inconspicuous, and sometimes completely unnoticed. But it is there—in a powerful and useful way.


AND NOW - THE QUESTION - in what way have you been "salt" for someone specific? In what way has someone been "salt" for you? Was it what you expected, or did it surprise you?