Ministry of Denim Meets Ministry of Pearls
I wrote here
about why I choose to wear jeans or shorts to church, instead of “dress-up”
clothes. Today was a new riff on that old theme.
Today was a remarkably cool day for August. So I wore jeans and my bright red Episcopal
Campus Ministry t-shirt.
And I was to serve as usher.
Now, the way “being usher” works in my parish is this: Ushers have a role in greeting, liturgy, and
safety. We greet folks in the narthex
and distribute the service leaflet. Two
ushers carry the oblations [bread and wine] forward, receive and pass the
offering plates during the offertory.
During communion, two ushers guide folks forward to the altar rail. Here, we recently designed the church space
so that the nursery is visible across the narthex from the back of the
nave. When I’m usher, I stand at the
back of the nave through the whole service, so I have a view of the front door,
narthex, and nursery. (You can read more
about why here.)
Ushering is a two-person responsibility, since it requires
two folks to bring the oblations, pass the offering plates, and direct folks
forward during communion. Sometimes a
married/partnered person is assigned to be usher, in which case s/he has a
ready-made partner. If you’re a single
person (as I am), you pick someone to work with you as usher.
So there I was today, in my jeans and t-shirt, and needing
someone else to help me. I nabbed my friend Jeanie Bryant when I saw her arrive, partly because she truly does it “decently and
in order,” with a beautiful sense of reverence.
But I also chose her because her dress is the direct antithesis of mine:
She’s always dressed beautifully: dress, heels, hose, pearls or other
accessories.
After the service, some friends commented on what an “odd
couple” she and I made – she in her lovely dress and pearls and me in my
jeans and t-shirt. My response: “If we
want to claim to welcome everyone, we need to make that visible.”
This summer, we’ve had an unusual number of visitors in our
parish. I hope folks today saw that they
truly can “come as you are.”
posted by Lisa Fox at 8/04/2013 10:55:00 PM
4 Comments:
We've had an unusual number of visitors this summer too. I sat with a "pearls" type woman yesterday. Her church is in turmoil so she is looking for a temporary home. She was a bit flummoxed by the book shuffling. I don't know if she will come back. She was welcomed but she was not a popular teacher, I was told later. Ah, small towns.
I'm glad you helped her with the "pew aerobics," Pseudo. I do the same.
Ah, yes. Small towns. Ours is 40k. What's yours?
But I'm always glad for visitors. I have this notion that everyone would be Episcopalians, if only they could. ;-)
I am the woman in Lisa's blog who is wearing the pearls. I love ushering at Grace Church because I can greet every parishioner by name. I am proud to be part of the Grace Church family. As at any family event, some wear jeans, and yes, some do wear pearls. I love my pearls. They remind me of one of our stained glass windows that depicts the Widow's Mite; sheis wearing a strand of pearls. But I love Lisa more, because she is my friend.
Thank you, Jeanie. Your comment is very moving.
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