Church usher checklist
For ushers and head ushers · print it for the team, or keep it on your phone
Before the doors open
Aim to arrive 30 minutes before the service.
- Walk the room: lights, heating or air conditioning, and aisles and exits clear.
- Check the reserved seats and the spaces for wheelchairs and anyone who needs to sit near the front or an aisle.
- Put out what the service needs: bulletins, offering baskets or bags, communion if it's that Sunday.
- Know the order of service: when the offering is, and when you'll count.
- Know where the first-aid kit and the exits are, and who leads if there's an emergency. That's your church's safety plan, which every usher should have read.
- Have a five-minute huddle: who covers which door and which section, and anything special today (a baptism, a guest, a family with a wheelchair).
As people arrive
- Greet people at the door and make eye contact. Learn regulars' names.
- Offer to help people find a seat, especially families, older people and anyone who looks unsure.
- Fill the room toward the front and middle first. Leave the back rows and aisle seats for latecomers and parents who may need to step out.
- Welcome newcomers warmly without putting them on the spot. Tell them where the restrooms and children's areas are.
During the service
- Seat latecomers during natural breaks, such as songs, not during prayers or readings.
- Keep doors, aisles and exits clear.
- Count at the agreed time, the same way every week. See how to count church attendance.
- Take up the offering as your church does it. Two unrelated people should stay with the money until it's counted and recorded.
- Watch for anyone who needs help (a crying child, someone feeling unwell) and respond quietly.
After the service
- Thank people for coming as they leave, and say goodbye to any visitors by name if you learned it.
- Make sure the count is recorded, with the date, the service and any notes.
- Collect lost property and leftover bulletins, and tidy the seats.
- Tell the head usher about anything broken, unsafe or missing.
Tips for the head usher
- One usher per section in a larger room. They seat and count their own area.
- Write the rota a month ahead, and have a back-up for each Sunday.
- Train new ushers by pairing them with an experienced one for their first few Sundays.
- Keep this checklist the same every week. Change it as a team, not on the day.
How PewPin does this
With PewPin, every usher has the same chart of the room on their phone. Each one taps seats in their own section as people sit, and the totals add up live. Seats tapped with no signal are kept on the phone and sent when the connection comes back.
On the paid plan, the parking team can send a heads-up from the lot: the size of the party, the entrance, and tags such as first-time or accessible. Ushers inside see seats suggested together and can hold them. It never sends names or license plates.
Counting and the last four weeks of reports are free, with no time limit.
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