Responsibilities of Sidespersons / Counters

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 and counting the money on conclusion of the services;
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,
Collect the offertory plates from the altar area for counting of the money.

Counting of the Offertory Collections

The counting of the offertory collection is done after the service has ended, and may take 45 minutes to 1½ hours to complete, depending on the complexity and amount of money.
Counting of the church offertory collection must be done by two people who are not related or married. If only one scheduled counter is available, please arrange for an off-duty counter or one of the Wardens to assist. Extra counters may volunteer to help with busy days such as Easter or Christmas.
The Church Wardens usually need the church office for official business, often with the church treasurer, so the counters usually work in the Fellowship Room. If this is also in use, there is a key to the Food Bank in the green box.
Do not hesitate to tell others if noise is distracting you from this important task of counting the money.
The offerings collected at both 8:45 and 10:45 am Sunday services are to be combined and recorded as one offertory collection.
There is a green plastic carry-box containing all the items such as income transmittal sheets, calculator, bank deposit book, category and transfer list, pens, Food Bank key, etc. needed by offertory counters. If stationery runs out or items are missing, please replenish from the church office.
On the Income Transmittal, write in the Day of the Church Year, date, times of services, congregation total and total communicants.
For Sundays, write the number for the 8:45 am and 10:45 am services separately,
If the numbers for the 8:45 am service are not known, check if they have been written in the Vestry Book, else please ask the Celebrant, Lay Reader or the Organist on duty at the 8:45 am service,
Then add the numbers together, and write in the total of both services
The Day of the Church Calendar can be found on the top of page 2 of the Service Bulletin, e.g. Epiphany.
If the plates include separately-labelled money from a special service (Wednesday night healing, holy week, e.g.) fill out a separate transmittal for it.
Receipts for purchases of goods for church business, found in the collection plates or in the weekly envelopes, can be put into the mail folder of a Warden for considerations on reimbursement, credit or recording.
It is best to separate the Weekly Envelopes, special offerings, hall rentals, food bank, other income, open plate, Sunday School, etc. into their own income categories for counting, balancing, and recording in turn.
It is best to initially keep cash and cheques for each income category separate for recording and totalling before consolidating all the cheques and all the cash.
Start counting the Weekly Envelopes before the other income categories.
This category is by far the largest and where errors are most likely to occur,
Count and balance both the cheques and cash for Weekly Envelopes to agree with the total of the amounts recorded on the envelopes before proceeding to the next category,
Do the “Open Plate” last.
All church monies collected are recorded on the Income Transmittal, including Flower Guild, Youth, etc.
Check all envelopes (including weekly ones) for instructions, e.g. food bank, rentals, etc.
Arrange the Weekly Envelopes with pledge numbers in ascending numerical order.
On opening the envelopes, please tuck the flaps back into the envelopes as this keeps them separate and avoids getting them stuck together, which causes errors in recording.
Verify that the contents in the envelope agree with the amount written on the envelope. If there is nothing written on the envelope, indicate the amount of the offering on the envelope and whether it is a cheque or cash.
For each “open” cheque which was placed in the collection plate without an envelope;
Write on a slip of paper the giver’s name and address, and the amount and income category of the offering,
Include these slips with the other envelopes for the Envelope Secretary, who will issue a tax receipt,
Include the amount of these “open” cheques in the total for the designated category, e.g. Foodback, FaithWorks, etc. If not specifically designated, include the amount in the total for Weekly Envelopes.
Use the printing calculator to produce tabulations for the weekly envelopes and for the total offering. Mark the tabs with date and time of service. Include the tabs with the envelopes.
Check for memos that designate the cheque as a special offering (music, faithworks, etc.) even if the envelope was not so marked.
Please check all cheques for correct dates.
If there are post-dated beyond the next business day, do NOT add them to the Income Transmittal.
Return each post-dated cheque to its envelope and put it in the mail folder for one of the Wardens
The numeric amount on the cheque should be checked to ensure that it is the same as the written amount, e.g. 10.00 may be written in the $ box, but TWENTY may be written in the dollars line on the cheque. If the author of the cheque is not present, please let the Wardens deal with it.
Write the name and amount of each cheque in Part B – List of Cheques on the Income Transmittal. Use another Income Transmittal sheet for any overflows from the first sheet.
Also write the name and amount of each cheque in the bank deposit book.
Ensure the backing card is used under 2 sheets in the book, producing 1 original and 1 carbon copy.
Repeat for next 2 sheets when there are more cheques than lines on the sheet.
After processing the cheques, stamp the back of each cheque with the St Ninian’s Church bank account deposit stamp.
Standard procedure with US money is to find someone willing to buy it with Canadian. The current exchange rate is about 3 Cd$:2 US$.
Counters may wish to use scrap paper before filling out the transmittal as this reduces the number of corrections needed. If corrections must be made, cross out the incorrect figure and write the correct one next to it, with your initials.
Calculate the sub-total for each income category, and look on the Category and Transfer List for the appropriate Code Number corresponding to each income category for entering in Part A on the Income Transmittal. If unsure of the correct code number to use, please check with one of the Wardens.
After sub-totalling each category and entering the amounts with appropriate Code Number in Part A, consolidate all cheques and write the different cash denominations totals in Part B – Cash on the Income Transmittal.
Also write the different cash denominations totals on the last two sheets (original and copy) of the bank deposit book.
Calculate and write the sub-total of all cheques and the sub-total of all the cash in Section B of the transmittal, and on the last two sheets (original and copy) of the bank deposit book.
The grand totals in Part A must agree with Part B of the Income Transmittal.
On completion, both Sidespersons/Counters must sign the Income Transmittal before photocopying.
If the photocopier does not work, the fax machine can be used instead, though not for the bank book.
Make one photocopy of the sheets of the bank deposit book used in this counting session.
Make five photocopies of the transmittal. Please ensure that the photocopies are legible.
Original transmittal for records.
one photocopy to Treasurer’s mail folder.
one photocopy to the one Warden’s mail folder
one photocopy to the other Warden’s mail folder
one photocopy to the Deputy Warden’s mail folder
one photocopy to the Envelope Secretary.
The Envelope Secretary’s photocopy of the Income Transmittal, together with all the emptied envelopes, detailed slips of paper and the photocopy of the bank deposit book sheets, are all placed in the locked cabinet.
The cash and cheques are to be placed in a paper envelope marked with the date and time of the services and given to the Warden who has waited (or come back) for it. S/he will also open the inner office to put the photocopied transmittals in the mail folders.
Write in the Vestry Book, the date, time of service, congregation total, total communicants, income categories.
For the Sunday services, use two lines if necessary, covering the two services. Group and total the different income categories if necessary,
The Sidesperson/Counter 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
close the windows and switch off lights and fans after the service
ensure that someone with church keys will lock the office and church.

revised June 10, 2003