Ushering

A mission of St. Nicholas Church is to share the richness of our faith that is Orthodoxy. Many people seeking the sacramental New Testament Church find their way to our door. Ushers are the first to meet them and greet them and set them on a course of exploration of the Antiochian Orthodox Church. Ushers present and explain some of the more unfamiliar aspects of Orthodoxy, including venerating icons, lighting candles and incense, making the Sign of the Cross and sharing blessed bread at the end of our service. Each guest is invited to stay and ask questions, observe the iconography, visit the bookstore or join us in the gathering hall for coffee hour. Most of the non-Orthodox visitors who come to St. Nicholas have never looked closely into our Faith or experienced an Orthodox Liturgy before. We want our guests to leave feeling welcomed and with a better understanding of our Orthodox Christian faith. Besides greeting, our ushers take up the tithe collection, manage the liturgical books in the pews and the candles that parishioners light in the Narthex, and they oversee the security of the premises. They are often the first laypeople to arrive and the last to leave.