Should ushers be stationed at the entrance to services in order to deny entry to those who arrive after services begin?
Locking Out Latecomers
- Thread starter abcaines
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Not a fan. There are many reasons why people might be running late that are legitimate reasons to show grace. I would say if I was visiting a church and that was the policy that I encountered at the door I would know that I made the right choice in moving onto the next possible Church home. To me, it runs in the same circles as stopping visitors for being dressed in a way the church don’t agree with (ie, only dresses for women or coat and tie for men).
Okay, fair enough. What happens if the latecomer is always the same individual or family?
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As often is the case with common sense issues in things that are not explicitly commanded in scriptures, I think a one size fits all approach doesn’t work well. For instance, in agreement with the “lock the doors“ theory, we did that at one time at our church for a while because of an awareness of the potential for attacks on churches as soft targets by gunmen. Of course, we announced to the church why we were doing what we were doing and made provision if somebody was running late to get access and entry to the building.
But specifically to answer your question, if somebody was late without good reason with regularity, I think it might be appropriate to speak to them privately, using reasonable firm but loving language as to why they needed to be on time and respect the churches policy.
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Deny entry? No. It's not a theatre. But I think it's fair to have the ushers guide people to seats that minimize disturbance for other congregants.
If a prayer is in progress, our ushers will hold people at the entrances until it's finished, then let them find a seat.
I often enter the service late due to other commitments in the church, and when I do, I sit at the back or on the outside, so I'm not causing a disruption by walking in front of everyone. (And I also sometimes need the service a few minutes early, so I can slip out without having to crawl over everyone.) I think the ushers probably follow the same general rule.