USHERING IN A NEW WAY

Local church members train to serve

Youngstown is 8th Ohio city to host national ushering organization

By LINDA M. LINONIS

Vindicator Religion Editor

YOUNGSTOWN — Church ushers greet, seat and provide bulletins.

“We’re the first people guests and members see,” said Jacqueline Austin, noting that ushers give the all-important first impression. “How we handle ourselves and our attitude make a difference,” she said, noting that it might determine if people return or not.

To cultivate new recruits and elevate the level of service, Austin and Kim Moses of Union Baptist Church, 528 Lincoln Ave., and John E. Smith of New Bethel Baptist Church, 1507 Hillman St., are studying to become certified instructors through the Interdenominational Church Ushers Association (ICUA).

Austin is a 30-plus years member of Union Baptist, and Moses, a 20-plus member. Austin has been an usher at the church since she became a member and Moses, about 14 years. The Rev. Michael H. Harrison Sr. is pastor at Union Baptist.

Smith, who has belonged to New Bethel for a decade, said he has been a church usher since he was a teen attending Mount Zion Baptist Church. “The spirit led me to New Bethel,” Smith said, noting he appreciates the work of his pastor, the Rev. Kenneth Simon. Smith said when he discussed the service of ushers with the Rev. Mr. Simon, the pastor encouraged him.

The three ushers recently met at Union Baptist to discuss their participation in the organization and why they serve as ushers.

Austin and Moses said Union Baptist had a workshop in March 2007 at which members of ICUA demonstrated ushering techniques. The seminar prompted interest in the national ushering organization, which had groups established in Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo. Fourteen ushers from Union and one from New Bethel joined the ICUA in Akron, participating in monthly meetings and attending the School of Ushering.

All the ushers graduated from the 32-hour course, but Austin, Moses and Smith decided to continue the education to become certified instructors.

“We’ll graduate in May of 2010 and get our teaching certificates in August,” Moses said.

And that will make it possible to have a School of Ushering in Youngstown, the eighth Ohio city to host an ICUA.

“We had to have three churches and we had Union, New Bethel and Trinity Baptist in Warren, then Antioch Baptist Church,” Austin said. Now, other churches are involved. A School of Ushering will take place in the fall of 2010 in the city.

Austin said an ICUA meeting will be held in September at Union.

The ushers at Union Baptist are in the Ministers of Order ministry. “I wanted to serve,” Austin said. “I couldn’t sing,” she added, noting that choir participation was out.

Moses said, “I like helping people and working with all kinds of people.”

Smith concurred, and added, “I like helping people feel comfortable.”

All three agreed that maintaining order and being helpful were two priorities. Ushers greet church members, welcome guests, distribute bulletins and envelopes, escort people to seats and take up the offering. “It’s important to be coordinated,” Austin said. Union uses eight ushers for it services and New Bethel has 10-12.

They also noted that ushers become aware of members’ pew preferences and accommodate them when possible. “You want to give people a sense of knowing where to go ... feeling at home,” Smith said. “It’s a good feeling when you have somone greet you.”

“We know what we need to do and we don’t want to disturb anyone or anything accomplishing that,” Austin said.

To that end, ushers learn various signals that allow for wordless communication.

For example, Austin demonstrated that a hand cupped over the neck gets the attention of other ushers.

Four fingers on the upper chest signal that fans are needed, three fingers mean bulletins and two fingers, envelopes.

“The ushers’ job is to help the congregation,” Moses said. “But it’s supplying what’s needed and really not being seen or heard ... kind of being invisible.”

Austin, Moses and Smith agreed that they wanted to expand and elevate the art of ushering at their respective churches and also share information.

So after they graduated from the initial ushering training in Akron, they opted to take further classes to become instructors.

They pointed out that when churches have joint events, trained ushers will be able to perform in a uniform manner.

“It’s important to me to be good at what I do,” Smith said. “I take pride in it,” he added.

In the future after more ushers are trained through the uniform ICUA methods, Austin, Moses and Smith said they foresee members of the Youngstown Chapter of ICUA volunteering their services at community events.

“I hope we can help at city functions and various community events,” Austin said.

Austin, Moses and Smith said they are motivated at the core by their faith and desire to serve their respective churches.

“Faith is the reason we do what we do,” said Moses, summing up their motivation.

Ushers Association | Youngstown Chapter

Youngstown is the eighth city in Ohio to become a site for the Interdenominational Church Ushers Association. Three members of two area churches attended the School of Ushering in Akron, at the time the closest site. Now those three, Jacqueline Austin and Kim Moses of Union Baptist Church and John E. Smith of New Bethel Baptist Church, both Youngstown, are continuing training to become instructors for a School of Ushering. Officers of the organization follow. The Youngstown chapter now involves 11 churches.

President: John E. Smith of New Bethel Baptist Church.

Vice president: Kim Moses of Union Baptist Church.

Recording secretary: Jacqueline Austin of Union Baptist.

Assistant recording secretary: Loretta Tutwiler of New Bethel Baptist.

Corresponding secretary: Charles Sutton of Antioch Baptist Church.

Chaplain: Thea Grace of Union Baptist.

Assistant chaplain: Doreen Layton of Valley Baptist Church in Niles..

Sergeant-at-arms: Ron Franklin of Trinity Baptist Church in Warren.

Assistant sergeant-at-arms: Ricardo Fant of Union Baptist.

Parliamentarian: Patricia Clinkscales of New Bethel Baptist.

Other churches: Greater Friendship Baptist Church, Holy Bible Baptist Church, Third Baptist Church, Elizabeth Baptist Church, Tabernacle Baptist Church and Alpha and Omega Baptist Church, all in Youngstown.

Other details: The ICUA is open to all denominations.

Contact information: Jacqueline Austin and Kim Moses at Union Baptist, (330) 746-1217, and John E. Smith at New Bethel Baptist, (330) 747-2125.