Usher and Welcome Desk Volunteer Procedures for Returning to In-Person Worship

Please use the online signup tool for scheduling:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4EA8A82BA2F4C61-usher


General
  1. Ushers and Welcome Desk attendants should plan to be onsite at least 30 minutes before the service begins.
  2. Every Sunday, there should be four (4) Ushers, including one Lead Usher who will verify that all the Usher’s responsibilities are completed each week, and who will be the contact person reporting to the Pastor and/or Worship Ministry Team Chair if any need arises.  
  3. Every Sunday, there should be two (2) Welcome Desk Attendants, stationed at the Welcome Desk and taking care of check-in/registration/information for all attendees.
  4. The maximum attendance in the sanctuary, not counting worship leaders/musicians, is 50. We will include reserved seating for up to six (6) visitors each Sunday.
  5. Ushers will not need to receive the Offering, will not need to collect the Welcome Pads, and will not need to collect and dispose of Communion cups from the pews after communion. On the other hand, these procedures place some new responsibilities on ushers, greeters, and welcome desk attendants compared with the past. On the plus side, though, all who volunteer to do these duties have a reserved seat for worship on that day. (These spots are in addition to the 50 standard pre-registered places in the sanctuary.)
 
Ushers
Thirty minutes before worship
  1. Using premoistened sanitizing wipes or paper towels sprayed with disinfectant, wipe down:
    1. Door hardware and light switches in Main Level Gathering Area, Sanctuary, Klein Chapel, Elevator buttons inside cab and wall controls, and Main Level Handicapped-Accessible Restroom
    2. Top edge of all pew backs
    3. Horizontal surfaces/tabletops/countertops in Main Level Gathering Area, Sanctuary, and Klein Chapel if set up with tables
  2. Check that hand sanitizers are filled with sanitizer; fill if needed

Twenty minutes before worship
  1. Prop open entry doors, including inner vestibule doors, at Main Level Main Entry, Main Level Entry near Klein Chapel, and Lower Level Entry near Elevator, to permit building access without touching doors
  2. Light votive candles on rear wall; replace any spent candles.

As attendees arrive
  1. Welcome all, and direct all arrivals to the Welcome Desk for check-in.
  2. Monitor seating in sanctuary; assist attendees in finding an appropriate seat. Guide attendees to maintain at least six feet of separation between households/families.

During worship
  1. Take a seat reserved for ushers. Watch for any attendees who may need assistance during the service.
  2. On Communion Sundays - the Lead Usher will assist by first putting on gloves, and then handing out gloves to those in line to participate in Communion.
                
Just before worship is over
  1. Prop open building entry doors to accommodate touchless exit. Close and re-lock doors fifteen minutes after service ends
 
After worship
  1. Dismiss attendees row by row, beginning at rear and working your way to the front.
    1. Assure that Offering is delivered to the Business Office for counting/processing 
    2. Repeat sanitizing process:
  1. Using premoistened sanitizing wipes or paper towels sprayed with disinfectant, wipe down:
    1. Door hardware and light switches in Main Level Gathering Area, Sanctuary, Elevator buttons inside cab and wall controls, and Main Level Handicapped-Accessible Restroom
    2. Top edge of all pew backs Horizontal surfaces/tabletops/countertops in Main Level Gathering Area, and Sanctuary 
    3. Check that hand sanitizers are filled with sanitizer; fill if needed
 
Welcome Desk Attendants
Thirty minutes before worship
  1. Using premoistened sanitizing wipes or paper towels sprayed with disinfectant, wipe down Welcome desk countertops
  2. Make sure that there are two copies of pre-registered attendance rosters available for attendants’ use.
  3. Make sure that there are two IR thermometers at the Welcome Desk for the attendants’ use, and that the batteries are charged
  4. Make sure that the Visitors’ sign-in clipboard is at the Welcome Desk, and that there are Clean pens available for their use (see explanation below)
  5. Make sure that there are disposable masks available at the Welcome Desk. If they are not, retrieve them from Business Office.
 
As attendees arrive
  1. Cheerfully welcome all!
  2. Check name from roster of pre-registered attendees. Place a checkmark on the form adjacent to the person’s name to indicate they’ve checked in. If not pre-registered, explain that due to the current limited capacity of the sanctuary, pre-registration is required in order to be seated in the sanctuary.
  3. We will reserve a maximum of six (6) seats for unregistered non-member visitors every Sunday. Ask visitors if they’d like to receive our weekly email, giving additional information about our activities and a preview of the next Sunday’s worship. If yes, ask them to provide their name and email address on the appropriate clipboard. There will be two containers of pens at the Welcome Desk for this, “Clean” and “Used.” Place a Clean pen next to this clipboard; once it’s used, place it in the “Used” container and place a new Clean pen adjacent to the clipboard for the next visitor’s use.
  4. Hand out disposable masks to anyone who has forgotten them. Masks, properly worn, are required to attend. We’ll need to make sure we keep some in stock; I don’t think we’ll need a lot of them as by now it’s become well accepted practice to most people.
  5. Ask each attendee:
    1. Do they currently have any symptoms of illness?
    2. During the past week, have they been with people who have shown symptoms of illness?
  6. Take their temperature – must be below 100.5
  7. If attendees are ill or have been around others who have been ill, or if their temperature exceeds 100.5, ask them to worship online from home, in order to be considerate of other attendees. At least for now, we will not have overflow seating in other areas of the building available to them.
  8. If attendee is unfamiliar with the facilities, point out sanctuary entry locations, location of hand sanitizing stations, Klein Chapel, elevator, and restroom (main restrooms will not be open; only the handicapped-accessible restroom will be used for the time being)
  9. Let all attendees know that they will not need a paper bulletin to be able to follow the service; everything will be projected on the monitors and easy to follow
  10. Encourage all attendees to use the touchless hand sanitizers when entering and leaving the sanctuary and/or when entering and exiting the building
 
Welcome Desk Attendants – After worship
  1. Deliver checked registration/attendance forms to Business Office. Place forms on Leah’s desk. Leah will print out the next week’s registration list and place on the clipboard each Friday.
  2. Deliver sign-in sheet listing visitors’ names & email addresses on Leah’s desk. Retain clipboard and blank forms for future weeks at the Welcome Desk.
  3. Repeat Welcome Desk sanitizing process, wiping down all countertops with sanitizing wipes. Also wipe down all “Used” visitors’ pens and return them to the “Clean” container for use the following week.