Worship Assistants
Worship Assistants
At baptism, all the children of God are given the privilege and responsibility to participate in Worship rather than just be spectators. Our role includes both leadership and participation. There are many ways in which we can participate during Worship.
The gifts He gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ.
—Ephesians 4:11–12
Worship Assistant Details
The Worship Team believes that Greeters, Ushers, Lectors, Communion Assistants, Assisting Ministers and Altar Guild Members build up the body of Christ. Our hope is that you will prayerfully consider becoming a Worship Assistant.
How to Volunteer
Interested in signing up to be one of our Worship Assistants? Contact the church office at 402-493-2871 for more information!
Greeters
You are quite literally doing God’s work with your hands! As you shake people’s hands and welcome them in, you are not just a greeter. You are able to use your hands to greet and welcome God’s People as they go into God’s House to hear God’s Word and eat at God’s Table! What an awesome privilege! Yet, everyone – even small children – is very capable of doing God’s Work in this way.
Lectors
You proclaim the word of God. One of the results of the Reformation was to make scripture accessible again to all the people of God. This is demonstrated publicly by having the first and second readings proclaimed by laypeople. “People encounter the word of God in a different way when it is proclaimed to the gathered assembly than when it is read privately. Despite ongoing changes in the ways people communicate, public reading of scripture remains foundational to proclamation within the assembly. The act of reading and receiving the word is a sign of a people called and gathered by God.”
Assisting Ministers
You help the Presiding Minister throughout the liturgy. You are setting the altar for communion, turning pages, helping with the prayers and with communion.
Cantors/Choir Members
We use music to proclaim and respond with gratitude to the presence and activity of the triune God in the world. Employing the resources of voices, instruments, languages, scripture, culture, and the church’s witness in song through the ages, we tell the story of what God has done and continues to do. The song that carries the church’s prayer and lament, praise and thanksgiving to God also teaches, admonishes, inspires, and strengthens us as we sing. Music serves the word of God and the celebration of the sacraments, even as it shapes our prayers. Music in worship engages the whole church and the whole person, empowering us to carry out God’s mission of mercy and justice in the world.
Ushers
You have the awesome responsibility of ushering God’s People into God’s House to pray and to hear God’s Word! You are able to welcome God’s people and to give them a bulletin – to direct them to the large print bulletins or the hearing devices – so that they are able to participate in the service. You collect our offerings to God and present them along with the bread and wine at the altar. You then straighten the Worship Center and ready it for the next people who will Worship God at Saint Michael.
Communion Assistants
As a Communion Assistant you help with the distribution of Holy Communion by serving the wine to the People of God after they have received the bread. Our Acolytes hold the tray with cups for those who prefer individual cups over the common cup. Traybearers are there to take the used cups as people move through the line.
Altar Guild
As a member of Altar Guild, you have the awesome responsibility of preparing the table for Communion. Altar Guild members are also needed to clear the table after Worship has ended and, depending on the service time that you help with, the table needs to be set for the next Worship Service. Altar Guild members also watch during Communion to be sure each Communion Assistant has what they need during the distribution of Communion.
Eucharistic Ministers
These individuals do not participate in the worship itself, but bring Communion to the homebound, shut-ins and hospitalized after worship at Saint Michael.