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 to leave 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.
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Good input. I get it. Folks run late for various legitimate reasons and should not be penalized for such. As you all can guess, this comes from a situation that is ongoing in the church I attend...
Services start at 10 sharp. We open with a scripture, then a song. After which, we have a five minute meet and greet followed by announcements. Once announcements are done, usually around 10:20, we move into the core of the service which includes six worship songs followed by 40-45 minutes of teaching. The first 20 minutes are light in nature, giving ample time for late arrivals to show up and get situated without causing much disruption. For most of the congregation, this works perfectly. However, there's always the exception... In our church, that exception is one family in particular who shows up at 10:30 with two preschoolers and two teenagers. Late arrival notwithstanding, Mom shuttles the preschoolers off to children's ministry while teenagers shuttle back and forth through the back of the auditorium "helping" or getting coffee or something else... Being I'm usually working the sound table, I'm witness to all of this. It's all very distracting, especially to the people seated towards the rear.
Lately, I've left the sound table in capable hands and stationed myself at the door between the auditorium and the children's ministry room. (The kitchen, a restroom and the pastor's office is back there too) I don't prohibit movement but I slow it down by controlling the door. I do this regardless of who is moving, even the pastor himself.
Now, I'm aware that necessary business must pass through that door during service but it's gotten to the point where the liberty is being over used, in particular by the chronically late family. My presence has reduced traffic and distractions considerably, a fact that a few people who sit in the back have noticed and expressed gratitude for my efforts.
There are other factors behind my creating this thread but this is the main reason.
Services start at 10 sharp. We open with a scripture, then a song. After which, we have a five minute meet and greet followed by announcements. Once announcements are done, usually around 10:20, we move into the core of the service which includes six worship songs followed by 40-45 minutes of teaching. The first 20 minutes are light in nature, giving ample time for late arrivals to show up and get situated without causing much disruption. For most of the congregation, this works perfectly. However, there's always the exception... In our church, that exception is one family in particular who shows up at 10:30 with two preschoolers and two teenagers. Late arrival notwithstanding, Mom shuttles the preschoolers off to children's ministry while teenagers shuttle back and forth through the back of the auditorium "helping" or getting coffee or something else... Being I'm usually working the sound table, I'm witness to all of this. It's all very distracting, especially to the people seated towards the rear.
Lately, I've left the sound table in capable hands and stationed myself at the door between the auditorium and the children's ministry room. (The kitchen, a restroom and the pastor's office is back there too) I don't prohibit movement but I slow it down by controlling the door. I do this regardless of who is moving, even the pastor himself.
Now, I'm aware that necessary business must pass through that door during service but it's gotten to the point where the liberty is being over used, in particular by the chronically late family. My presence has reduced traffic and distractions considerably, a fact that a few people who sit in the back have noticed and expressed gratitude for my efforts.
There are other factors behind my creating this thread but this is the main reason.
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I'd say that for the chronically late, a well-placed sermon about showing appropriate respect for the gathering of God's people would not go amiss.
Just don't get to the main point until at least halfway thru the sermon.
If they even listen... I'm not sure how much of the teaching that goes on gets in.
Ever have folks show up regularly more out of habit than a genuine interest in what is going on? Yeah, it's one of those things here.
I'll say this: we just started going through 1John and after two sermons, this is about one of the finest treatments of the book I've heard.
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Yes, what you describe is worthy of a personal talking-to for disrupting the solemnity of the assembly. If the Elder or leaders approached them in humility to try to understand what the reason and rational for being late is there is possibility that greater understanding could be had, and hopefully growth on their part by way of personal discipleship.