I. General: This document outlines the procedures to be followed for all Services conducted at Pohick Church. It should be used as a ready reference for all ushers.

a. The ushers are hosts to those are attending a Service and as such should project the warmth and the hospitality of the members of Pohick Church, while at the same time providing appropriate assistance in the conduct of the Service.

b. Ushers are scheduled on a monthly basis, with the schedule appearing in the Pohick Post and on the Parish Website (www.pohick.org/ushersched.html). In addition, the names of ushers for the current and following Sundays are published each week on the last page of the Sunday bulletin. The first name listed as usher for each Service is the designated Head Usher.

c. If you know dates you are unable to serve, please notify the Usher Chairman before the monthly schedule is published.  Once the schedule is published and you are unable to serve on the day you are scheduled, it is your responsibility to arrange for a substitute and to notify the Parish Secretary and the Usher Chairman.

II. Common Procedures—AII Services:

a. Please arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled Service. The first person to arrive should collect the bulletins and inserts, and Alms bag inserts from the counter in the Parish Office. Stuff the inserts in the bulletin concurrently with receiving and seating parishioners. Also check for the Large Print editions of the prayer book and for the hearing aids. They should be present in the rear of the Church. The Head Usher for the 7:45 Service should bring them from the Parish Office, and the Head Usher for the 11:15 Service should return them to the Parish Office. If anyone requests a hearing aid, an usher should walk over to the Parish Office to inform the Celebrant so that he/she will be sure to wear the microphone.

b. Receive parishioners with a smile and a HELLO or GOOD MORNING, and inquire as to their preference for seating. If they have no preference, take them to the front of the Church. Your goal is to fill the front of the Church first, and save space in the rear for latecomers. You will receive parishioners through the two rear doors and the side door. Ushers should be assigned to cover all three doors, but assist where necessary to maintain a smooth flow for seating.

c. If you are able to identify first time visitors to Pohick, try to seat them with regular long-term Pohickians, making appropriate introductions as you seat them.

d. Check the listing of hymns in the bulletin against the Hymn Boards on each side of the altar. Occasionally, the hymn numbers will be transposed. Please take corrective action as appropriate. Also be alert for the lighting of the candles on the altar. The Acolyte for the Service is supposed to light the altar candles. If the candles are not burning five minutes prior to the Service, please take appropriate action to light them. As you face the altar, light the candle on the right side first, and then the left side candle. Also check to see that at least one Alms Bag has an insert. Look for the extra inserts at the rear of the Church (in the closet closest to the Parish Hall or on the rear window ledge) or on the counter in the Parish Office. Check if Pew Cards and pencils need to be replaced in any of the holders. Also, replace any Pew Cards that have been scribbled on or are dog-eared. Extras of both Cards and Pencils are in the closet at the SW end of the Church (closest to the Parish Hall).

e. RING THE BELL VIGOROUSLY 15 minutes prior to the Service; 5 minutes prior to the Service; and again at the appointed start time. Ring it so vigorously (6 to 8 times) that the people of downtown Lorton will know that Pohick Church is starting one of its Services.

f. Continue to seat people up to the beginning of the Service. Once the Service has started, seat them ONLY at the times designated in the bulletin with an asterisk. We do not want to interrupt the Service nor the praying of the other parishioners already seated in the pew boxes. Politely explain to the latecomers that you will seat them at the appropriate time, and have them stand or sit in the folding chairs along the rear of the Church until that time. However, do not crowd the old font under the West window. Do not move the security posts and rope that are positioned around the old font.

g. Once the procession has started, the side door to the Church should be closed after first positioning the outside sign in the center of the porch directing latecomers to enter the rear of the Church.

h. Take a count of the congregation as soon after the Service has started as possible. This is to be done under the supervision of the Head Usher. Typically each usher is assigned a section of the Church to count. Every person present, including clergy, acolytes and ushers, is to be counted, to include the choir loft. During the 9:00 Service the young people will enter the Church and join their parents during the PEACE. The Director of Christian Education will give a count of those entering the Church. The ushers should facilitate this process. One usher has to be stationed at the side door to open/close both doors; move the "latecomer" sign; and then reposition the "Latecomer" sign after the children have entered. Both doors need to be opened to facilitate the children's entrance. The total count of those attending will be passed to a person assisting at the altar when the ushers move forward to collect the offering.

NOTE:  The church doors have been re-furbished and now have lock bars on both the top and bottom to increase security and to reduce damage by twisting the doors when someone tries to open them when they are locked.  Please make sure that both top and bottom lock bars are in place when securing the doors.

i. Collecting the Offering. At the appointed time, and after the appropriate words for the Presentation of the Bread and Wine have been spoken, the ushers will proceed two abreast In each aisle with the Arms bags in their possession, pausing at the 'crossover" where the baptismal font is situated. You should wait at this point for the designated couple to carry the Bread and Wine to the altar, present them, and return to their pew box. The ushers will then proceed to the front of the Church and begin to collect the offering, moving from the front to rear of the Church. (Note: It is at this point that the Head Usher passes the count of the congregation to a person assisting at the altar. Also, If It becomes obvious that a couple has not been designated to present the Bread and Wine, then two of the ushers should perform this function.)

j. After the collection has been taken, it should be consolidated into one alms bag insert. The alms bags should be returned to the appropriate racks next to the stairs at the rear of the Church at this time. If the organist is playing for the service, wait until the musical introduction for the Doxology starts, at which time the ushers should move forward together in each aisle (without the alms bags) to a position in front of the middle of the altar rail. The Head Usher places the alms bag insert in the alms basin and they remain standing at the altar rail during the singing of the Doxology. At the conclusion of the Doxology, the kneeling cushion for the step in the center of the altar and the gate cord should be placed in their proper positions; the ushers should then move to the corners of the altar while the Head Usher retrieves the offering from the alms basin; and then all proceed to the rear of the Church together. NOTE: AT THE 9:00 SERVICE ON THE FIRST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH A FOOD OFFERING IS ALSO PRESENTED AT THE ALTAR AS PART OF OUR OFFERING. TWO USHERS SHOULD BE DESIGNATED TO CARRY ONE BASKET UP EACH AISLE, PASS THEM TO PERSONS ASSISTING AT THE ALTAR FOR BLESSING, AND THEN RETURNING THEM TO THE BACK OF CHURCH.

k. The Church Office is now normally locked during the Services. With the set of keys that the Head Usher collected from the Rector or Assistant Rector prior to the Service, the Head Usher and one other designated usher will take the offering to the Treasurer's Office and secure it in a lock box sitting on top of the safe in the office. Keys to the Treasurer's Office door and the lock box are on the key ring. CAUTION: DO NOT OPEN THE TREASURER'S OFFICE DOOR IF THE RED ALARM LIGHT IS SHOWING. Request that one of the Clergy deactivate the alarm first. After the offering is secured, pass the keys to the Head Usher for the next Service or return them to the appropriate Clergy person who gave them to you. The requirement for two ushers to take the offering to the Treasurer's Office flows from a periodic review of Church processes and procedures, and is intended to protect all ushers against any false allegations.

l. During the Communion Service, the celebrant will commune himself, and then offer the sacraments to those assisting at the altar; to the choir; and then to the congregation. While those assisting at the altar are receiving the sacraments, the choir will proceed to the altar rail. The ushers will follow the choir, and then direct the congregation to the altar rail by opening the pew boxes, moving from the front of the Church to the rear. Try to anticipate the movement of the congregation to the altar rail by having at least eight communicants standing in each aisle. It is desirable not to have any gaps in this process if possible. During this time, take note of any persons who need to have communion brought to them. Inform the clergy of this after everyone else has received, and then guide them to the appropriate pew(s).

m. After the congregation has received communion, the ushers proceed to the altar rail to receive communion. To avoid delay the ushers should approach the altar rail as the last of the parishioners are returning to their pew boxes. Ushers are no longer consuming excess elements; the altar guild is now in charge of storing or reverently disposing of these after the service. Following communion, the Head Usher places the kneeling cushion and the gate cord for the center section of the altar rail aside; and they return to the rear of the Church abreast in their respective aisles.

n. At the beginning of the recessional, a designated usher opens the side doors, repositions the "Latecomer" sign to the side of the porch, and remains there to assist people as they exit the Church. The rear doors are also to be fully opened. One usher should be stationed at the bottom of the steps for each of the rear doors to greet parishioners leaving that way and to assist anyone down the steps as necessary.   For the 9:00 am service, ushers should assist in getting children attending Sunday School from the pew boxes to the recession line as quickly as possible to facilitate their getting to out ahead of the Congregation.

o. After the Service and after the congregation has left the Church, the ushers are to straighten up the pew boxes and collect any bulletins left behind. Used bulletins are to be recycled for the following Services. The Head Usher for the 11:15 Service should leave a small stack of bulletins for visitors in the rear of the Church, and dispose of any remaining bulletins by depositing them in the trash cans in the Parish Office. Also after the 11:15 Service the Visitors Alms Box Is to be moved towards the "crossover" near the side door; place it in front of the "6" on Pew Box 6, but not in the crossover aisle.

III. Other Procedures/Requirements:

a. The fuse box for the Church is located in the right rear closet (as you look from the altar). The steam heating thermostat located in the left rear closet (closest to the Parish Hall) now has an exterior sensor and so there is no longer any need for the door of this closet to be left open during the heating season. This thermostat has been preprogrammed for Sunday mornings, so it should not be changed. For funerals or other special services during the heating season: 1) tap the thermostat once to light it up; 2) press "hold" once and set the temperature to 61 degrees; 3) at the end of the service, press "cancel" to return the unit to its program. The thermostats for the air conditioning are on the walls upstairs are permanently set for Sunday mornings and should not be changed. For funerals and other special services during the cooling season, open each of the two units and press "temporary occupied" or "three hour occupied." No further action is needed, as they will go back their programs after three hours.

b. All lights should be turned on prior to the 7:45 service and turned off after the 11:15 service.  The light switches for the chandeliers are located next to the side door. A dimmer switch for the chandeliers is located in the right rear closet (closest to Route 1) next to the fuse box. A light switch for the altar lights is also in the right rear closet adjacent to the fuse box.   The lights for the choir loft are located on the short wall in front of the organ.

c. Reserved signs are located on a shelf in the left rear closet. Pew boxes are to be reserved during special Services as directed/requested by the Clergy, the Acolyte Master or the Director of Music.

d. A Vestry person has responsibility for the lock-up and security of the Pohlck Church facilities each Sunday.