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GETHSEMANE LUTHERAN CHURCH Baldwin, WI TO THOSE ASSISTING WITH WORSHIP You and /or your family are being asked to help with worship on Sunday, ________, 2001 at the _________ service only, or at a special service listed here in the space following___________________________. Lessons for this Sunday/or special worship are included with this mailing for your convenience and your reading. You along with other people and families will share numerous duties that are needed in a typical worship service. People are selected randomly from the congregation's membership to help with these duties. These duties include the following:
You/your family should arrive at least 20 - 30 minutes before the worship service starts so you may divide up the responsibilities between the people assisting with worship that service and so that you may be ready when people start arriving for the worship. In some cases you will have to help with more than one function listed above. Your first function when you arrive will be to meet with the other worship assistants and decide who will be responsible for each needed duty. There are no roles that are designated as solely male or female roles. We encourage all family members to be involved - young and old alike if at all possible, and yet we realize that in some cases young members of a family will not be able to fulfill any or all of the duties needed. Use your best judgment here. (Younger members might accompany Mom and Dad in their duties) A description of each responsibility is described on the sheets that accompany this cover letter. A listing of the responsibilities of each duty performed will also be available at the service for your reference. Should you not be able to fulfill your responsibility for this service and you will not be present because of an unforseen emergency, please get your own replacement for that service. Thank you ahead of time for sharing in these important responsibilities that will help the worship experience be a meaningful one for all. Only as you do your part can that possibly be the case.
UPON ARRIVAL AT CHURCH Go immediately to the Welcome Center (the table at the center of the narthex) where you will find either your individual name tag along with a name tag for each member of your family. This identifies you as someone who is helping with the worship at this service. Here you will meet with others who are helping with the worship along with you today. The first thing you need to do is decide who is doing what according to the responsibilities listed below. A member of the Worship Committee will be assigned to each worship service to help and direct you. GREETING AND USHERING All greeters are ushers and all ushers are greeters. Each should have the bulletin for that service and available at all places where people would normally enter for worship. In addition to handing out the bulletins and sharing warm greetings with those who come to worship, several other duties the ushers should be aware of are these.
WELCOMING CENTER One person should be at the worship center for those wanting simply a bulletin or to direct visitors and others regarding questions they might have regarding restrooms, nursery location, and the like. LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES The candles should be lighted during the prelude of the service and extinguished during the postlude of the service. If a Christ Candle is present, this candle should be lighted before all other candles are lighted. Candles on the altar should be lighted from the inside out and extinguished from the outside in. It is appropriate to pause before the altar before beginning to light the candles at the beginning of the service and again upon extinguishing the candles at the conclusion. HELPING WITH COMMUNION AND BAPTISMS Check the bulletin to see if this is a service for baptism and/or communion. Know where the families for baptism are seated. They can seat themselves anywhere. See that they are ushered forward at the time of baptism, normally during the last verse of the hymn directly before the baptism. Unless told differently, four people will be needed to help in the distribution of communion - 2 will help with the distribution of the wine, and 2 will collect the used cups. Those helping with communion should come forward at the same time others who help with communion come forward. This will be true whether we commune at the altar or in front of the congregation by stations. Please keep in mind that 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sundays are communion Sundays. READING OF LESSONS Normally, one or more lessons are read by a reader at the lectern. You will need to check in a bulletin for that service as to what and when you are to read. Your name will not appear since it will not be known who is reading until you decide before that service. Lessons should be included with this letter. The beginning of each reading should begin by..... "This lesson is from the (chapter) of (book)" Each lesson shall close with the words ....."The is Word of the Lord", to which the congregation may respond, "Thanks be to God". Write this in your bulletin to remind yourself. Also check the bulletin for that service should there be any last minute changes in the lessons and how they are read or in some cases some omitted. MISCELLANEOUS.... From time to time, especially the festive services of the church year, you might have more specific instructions pertaining to your duties for the day. They will either be mentioned to you or will be written out for you and left with the bulletins. The Worship Committee and Pastor Paul
[newsletter/July] Your Worship Committee has visited about the patch-quilt pattern in which responsibilities for worship are selected and carried out. This first of all is a laborious process in contacting numerous people for their availability for a given worship service. There are ushers, readers, greeters, acolytes, nursery people, and from time to time others for this and that. In addition, many of these lists are simply drawn from old lists of people who have done this in the past. Therefore we have some people who have never been asked to do something for which they would be glad to participate. In addition we will get to know each other better as different people take their turn in performing these much needed supportive duties at all our worship services. There are other reasons that you can also perhaps think of should you and I think further. To help address this situation, the Worship Committee has decided to try another alternative - to ask multiple individuals/families to help with the worship responsibilities. This involves all individuals and families in the congregation. People will be asked on a random selection basis as to their willingness to be those helping with the worship responsibilities at a given worship service. People will be asked for only one service on a given day. People with health or other reasons they might not be able to do these duties may refuse, nevertheless, you will be asked in time. It is estimated we will go through our membership in something under two years. The Worship Committee will be monitoring and fine-tuning this new approach as we begin this process in early fall. Each family consenting will be sent a cover letter and accompanying information explaining in complete detail the exact responsibilities. A copy of those responsibilities follows this article. The Worship Committee and Pastor Paul |
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