Meet Our Greeters and Ushers: Ensuring All Feel Welcome in Christ’s Home

As a stewardship community, we recognize the Four Pillars of Stewardship — Hospitality, Prayer, Formation, and Service. It’s no accident that Hospitality is the first pillar — after all, we can’t live out stewardship as a faith community if we aren’t continually building a hospitable and welcoming environment. And that is what our greeters and ushers at St. John and St. James are here to do, serving parishioners and visitors as if they were Christ.

Justyna Creager helps with the scheduling for hospitality ministries at St. John and Mindy Freeman helps with the scheduling at St. James — both have witnessed firsthand the impact that a warm, welcoming environment can have on guests and parishioners.

“To every person who walks in the doors of St. John Church, they are the face of Christ,” Justyna says. “Ushers and greeters are the first people seen, making parishioners and guests feel welcome and at home. They can create a warm, well-organized environment from the moment you walk through the doors, helping to prepare the person to enter more deeply into the beautiful sacrifice that is the Mass.”

Some of the responsibilities of the ushers and greeters include greeting people as they arrive, giving out any worship aids or candles, escorting people to their seats, handing out bulletins, sending people on their way after Mass, collecting the weekly offertory, and taking up the gifts of bread and wine during the presentation of the gifts. They also help to straighten up the pews after Mass.

“Being an usher or greeter is an important, but simple commitment,” Justyna says. “You just help at the Mass that you usually attend. It can be a weekly or monthly commitment, or as needed for special Masses and events.”

Typically, greeters and ushers are asked to arrive shortly before Mass starts and to stay after to help clean up. The time commitment usually consists of about 20 minutes outside of Mass. This is also a ministry that families can get involved in together.

“The Greeters Ministry is a wonderful ministry for families to serve together, even with younger children,” Justyna says. “For example, they can assist with passing out bulletins after Mass and wishing everyone a good week. What a great way to get all your family involved and to teach the younger ones about sharing your time and talents with our parish community.”

It typically takes 12-15 greeters and ushers to cover all the Masses each weekend, with about two greeters and four ushers being present for each Mass. The number of volunteers needed is higher for special occasions such as Christmas, Easter, and Ash Wednesday as there are usually more people who attend.