Nobody Said God’s Work Is Always Easy

Tue., March 10, 1998

By Paul Turner srpaulturner@gmail.com

Before the start of services at this one Spokane church, the head usher always asks two members of the congregation to accept a small assignment.

The job is this. Midway through the service, come to the back of the church. Wait there for the four ushers to collect the offertory. Then, as the ushers proceed up the center aisle a few minutes later to present the contributions, follow behind and carry the bread and wine. Hand it to a person dressed in vestments who will be waiting just below the altar.

Now that sounds pretty simple. But the truth is there are other things a person needs to know about the ritual, such as where to stand after handing over the Communion elements, when to leave and so on.

It’s nothing that can’t be learned quickly. But no one wants to embarrass himself in front of everyone at church. So even though it is a welcoming place filled with kind people, the first time can be intimidating.

The head usher Sunday understood that. The first time someone asked him to help carry the bread and wine, he was so flustered he got up and left the service before it even started.

So he could relate to the panic on the face of the woman he had tapped to help carry the Communion elements.

But this wasn’t just the usual performance anxiety. The Sunday before, the same woman had been asked to perform this task. And in her own words, she had committed a memorable faux pas. After handing over the wafers or the wine, she had then walked right up to the altar and stood there with the clergy until realizing she wasn’t supposed to be there.

Many people sitting out in the pews probably didn’t even notice. But the head usher, who hadn’t ushered that week, had witnessed it and thought, “There but for the grace of God … .”

Still, he hadn’t recognized the woman until she started explaining why she had qualms about trying again. Then he remembered.

Great, he thought to himself. “This poor woman is just trying to go to church and here I am confronting her with what must by now be an almost terrifying prospect.”

But though he didn’t say so, the head usher knew what that woman needed. She needed to get back on the horse.

She agreed to try.

When the time came, it was obvious that she was nervous.

But she did just fine.

After the service, the head usher praised her for her courage. And he meant it. , DataTimes MEMO: Being There is a weekly feature that visits Inland Northwest gatherings.

Being There is a weekly feature that visits Inland Northwest gatherings.

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