Sidespersons - Early Service

Introduction

According to the Constitution and Canons (1999) of the Diocese of Toronto, Sidespersons duties include among others, assisting the Churchwardens:

In receiving and seating the congregation in the church;
In taking up the offertory;
In maintaining order in and about the church during divine worship.

Specific Duties

Please arrive at the church 20 to 30 minutes prior to the start of the service to prepare for the service and to welcome those who arrive early.
If there is snow on the steps at the front and parking lot doors, clear the steps.
If there is ice on the church steps, spread salt or ice-melter which is usually stored in the foyer, near the parking lot door.
Turn on lights, open windows and turn on ceiling fans as necessary throughout the service.
Check with the Celebrant for reserved seats or other special requirements when there is a special service (e.g. baptism).
For special services, please check with the Celebrant whether there will be an offertory collection. There may be a need to place an offertory plate at the back of the church.
Check the order of service to see what is required (e.g. service bulletins, Book of Alternative Services, Book of Common Prayer, inserts, baptism booklets, etc.)
At the entrance to the church proper, hand out the bulletins, etc. to parishioners as they enter. A pleasant greeting goes a long way. For the newcomer, guest or visitor, the Sidesperson may be the first contact. Please introduce yourself, get their names and introduce them to the Celebrant and/or Wardens as soon as possible.
If you are handed "Welcome" forms found on the back page of the pew leaflets, or find them in the collection plate, please place them in the red in-tray in the office, which is marked to the attention of the Secretary.
If you know that a regular attending member of the church has been missing lately, please bring it to the attention of the Celebrant and/or Wardens.
Assist the elderly and the physically challenged to the pew discreetly.
Guide people to available seats when the church is crowded.
Please bring up additional chairs from the Fellowship Room and the basement if required. Place these at the sides of the church, as the prayer teams need the back left free.
Ensure that members of the congregation are seated before the start of the service.
Ensure that members of the congregation have bulletins, books, special envelopes, etc. needed for the service, if these were not picked up on entering the church.
Close doors if necessary to keep the noise from downstairs from disturbing the worshippers.
Start the offertory collection during the offertory song when the Celebrant starts to prepare for communion.
The collection plates are stored under the back pews,
One or two children are called up with the Sunday School offering. It may be convenient to have an off-duty Sidesperson handle this during the collection,
After the collection, take the plates up to the altar when signalled by the Server near the end of the first offertory song,
The Sidespersons and children remain as the offertory is blessed during the short interval between the first and second songs,
The Celebrant receives the offertory which remains at the altar until the Sidespersons collect it after the service.
At the beginning of the Eucharistic prayers, please go and call all those in church school and the nursery to join the rest of the congregation. Children can then be in time to receive communion with their parents. The church school leaders are often detained with clearing up after classes, so do ensure that they come up for communion before it ends. Do the same for anyone preparing refreshments for after the service.
If there is a delay in the order of service (e.g. special anointing, prayer ministry, testimonies) please estimate the time of the delay and communicate this to the church school and nursery leaders. Then call them up again when the usual order of service has resumed.
Regulate the flow of communicants to the altar rail during communion. The choir, worship teams and prayer teams should be the first to go for communion. Starting from the front pews, allow alternate rows to proceed to the communion rail.
Take separate counts of attendance and the communicants (i.e. those who take the bread and wine, not those who are only blessed).

At end of service:

Receive back any books, bulletins, etc. as parishioners leave the church,
Re-shelve books and tidy the Sidespersons table,
If there is coffee and refreshments, remind people as they leave,
Write in the Vestry Book, the date, time of service, congregation total, total communicants.
For the Sunday services, use two lines if necessary, covering the two services. Group and total the different income categories if necessary,
The Sidesperson entering the details must initial the Vestry Book.

Final Tasks

Please remember to:
tidy the pews, i.e. remove bulletins, books, garbage, etc.
re-shelve books

revised June 10, 2003