Main Entrance Greeter 

• Arrive about 15 minutes before worship service.

• Put on Greeter name tag from table near sanctuary doors.

• Stand near front entrance. Conversation is fine, but please watch the door.

• Watch for visitors and newcomers. (How can you tell? Is the face unfamiliar? Does the person seem a little lost or uncertain, more befuddled than most members of Hope?)
  Make initial welcoming contact, help orient them, give them information on the MCC set-up, and get them to the right sanctuary. Connect them with the greeter at the sanctuary. Try to talk with them after service.

• Feel free to give feedback on your experience.

Sanctuary Greeter

    Before the Service

• Arrive about 20 minutes before the start of church.

• Put on a “Greeter” tag. They should be in a basket on the table with the visitors’ book OR (located in a basket on the hymnal cart in the closet).

• Check the bulletin; if all the hymns are not printed in the bulletin, bring out the hymnal cart from the closet. Put it in an obvious place so people can get hymnals before taking their seats.

• Place the bulletins on the music stand--tipped almost horizontal. Leave plenty of space (8-10 feet at least) between the doorway and the stand.

• Stand at the sanctuary doorway and greet everyone.

• If you are physically capable of helping, when the pianist arrives, ask if he/she would like help uncovering the piano and putting the top up.

• At the time for beginning of the service (10:15 or 9:30) close the sanctuary doors; The pianist's prelude may continue longer.

• Newcomers/visitors should be given special attention, *Offer a stick-on name tag but don’t insist on it. These should be on the table, with a broad Sharpie. (They may have been moved to the table with the members’ nametag boxes.)

• Ask visitors to sign the visitors’ book, which should be kept on the table outside the Covenant Room entrance.

• Remind them of coffee after church.

• Offer to seat them by some "friendly folks." They may wish to remain anonymous or choose where they want to sit--please honor that choice.

    During the Service

• For a while, sit near back and welcome those who come in late with a bulletin and, if needed, a hymn book.

• If hymnal is required for this service and someone has forgotten to pick one up, bring them a hymnal.

• At appropriate time pass the offering plates. The plates will be mostly empty because many people directly deposit into the church's account their titles and offerings.

• Take the offering plates back up to the front when people stand and begin singing the Doxology, when people stand to sing and offertory piano music is over. Either hand the plates to the minister or place them on the altar.

    After the Service

• If either greeter is physically capable, he/she should help pianist by putting piano lid back down and cover back on. Ask pianist if water needs to put put in piano humidifier. If so, volunteer to assist.

• Clean up the area, putting area hymnals and throwing away any refuse lying on floor.

Communion Pray-er

Come forward with the Communion Servers to receive communion first. Then take your place in the front and at the side of the sanctuary. When someone approaches you, ask what their prayer need is. After you hear that, take their hands in yours, pause for a few moments of silence as you ask God to give you the right words to pray. Then pray aloud so the other person can hear, but not so loud that lots of people can hear. If you are waiting for folks to come and pray with you, please hold the entire congregation in prayer as we partake of communion.

Communion Servers

Before Sunday morning, please confer with your partner to decide who will buy and bake the GLUTEN FREE BREAD. We buy Udi's which you can get at most grocery stores, but call and check if yours carries it. One of you then bakes it prior to the service. The loaf of bread should be cut at least 1/2 the way through, so the minister can break the bread easily. The people taking communion will tear off pieces of bread so you don't have to do any more with the bread after cutting it partly.

1. Arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the service to prepare the Eucharist Elements. Serving items are in the lower cupboard to the right, next to the sink; juice and wine are in the refrigerator. Cloth napkins and containers are in the cupboard above the sink or in the drawer next to the sink.

2. Fill one chalice with wine and another, different colored chalice with grape juice.

3. Before the service, place all items on the communion table.

4. When the pastor gives the signal, the Communion Preparers will go to the altar.

5. You will then receive communion, before the rest of the congregation. After receiving communion you will help serve. One of you will carry the cup with wine. The other will have the cup of grape juice. ??do the worship assistants offer the grape juice and wine and what words do they use. "the blood of Christ shed for you" I don't know and need help here.

6. After the service, Wash and dry chalices and bread plate. Return items to cupboard.

7. Take towels and napkins home to be laundered and Bring clean linens back. [Tip: after laundering, place linens in plastic bag in your car—next time you are at church it will be there.]
   

Liturgist
   1 Person

• You will receive a bulletin and Scripture readings in the mail from Sonja prior to the Sunday. Practice readings; resolve any pronunciation needs by asking the pastor.

• Arrive early enough on Sunday morning to check in briefly with pastor for clarification or last minute adjustments of reading plans or other information about the service.

• Read sections of the liturgy assigned to you (typically Call to Worship and Opening Prayer, Scripture reading, and Prayer of Dedication after the offering (non-communion Sundays) and direct the Congregation at the appropriate times during the service: When there is a unison reading, it is helpful to lead the congregation into it by using a phrase like, “Let us read together….”

• For combined MCC services, you will again receive the text you are to read, probably by email. You will only be reading scripture; pastors lead the service.

Children's Message

• Contact the pastor for the Biblical text which will be used as the basis for the sermon or the Theme of the Day. Develop a single concept . Your message must be brief (5-7 minutes.) Tell it through at home to make sure it is not too long. The sermon is approximately 15 minutes so your lesson should be less than half that time and not too complicated - consider a single theme or idea and expand on it. Use examples or short stories from your own life or from the children's lives to illustrate the point.

• Feel free to consult with the minister for suggestions or input. You are not re-telling the Biblical text. Take a part of the text that appeals to you and relate it to your life and to the lives of the children. Or tell them something that they, as well as the rest of the congregation, will find interesting.

• Use inclusive language and images.

• If using a children's book, tell the story. Use only pictures from a book and only if necessary or helpful to illustrate your point.

• Please use a microphone and make sure it is close to your mouth so that the entire congregation can hear your message to the children. You can pick it up when you come into the sanctuary. Ask for help if you need it.

• Use props and visuals whenever possible!

• Repeat (summarize) children's answers/comments so the congregation
  will know what has been said and can share in the experience.

• Please pray briefly with the children at the end of your message. A simple sentence or two is enough. This helps children understand that prayer is a natural part of even small events and it is a good role model for them to experience people other than the pastor praying.

• Feel free to use a chair or a stool to deliver your message if that is more comfortable.