Greeters

“Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.” 
~Romans 15:7

Your role is to greet people as they arrive, take up the collections and say goodbye as people leave.

In Preparation for Mass

• Use the Ministry Scheduler to maintain your availability. If you become unavailable to serve at a Mass on your schedule, you are responsible for finding a substitute. Please use your ministry’s group text to ask for a substitute, then request a substitute in Ministry Scheduler.  If no one responds to the group text, please follow up with individuals to find someone to accept your role.  If you still cannot find anyone, please email Fr. Brett by Friday, so that the celebrant can be aware of the shortage.

• Please do your best to respond to requests for substitutes – all of us will need a sub at some point!  If you do accept someone’s substitute request, please then go to Ministry Scheduler to add yourself to the schedule.

• Get your outgoing energy up and prepare to smile - a lot!

Arrival at Mass

• Arrive 20 minutes before the start of Mass and sign in to the binder in the sacristy.

• Check in with the Mass Coordinator – ask/tell them which door you will be at and find out if there will be a second collection.

• Pick up your name tag.

• If there is no Mass Coordinator and you are the only Minister of Hospitality, please recruit someone from the congregation to help with the collection.

Greeting people as they arrive

• Be at your door 15 minutes before Mass begins – outside the doors on the front steps if you are at the front door.

• As people arrive, hand them a hymnal with a “Hello, and welcome to St. Josaphat!”  Greet them by name if you can.  If you don’t know them, introduce yourself along with your welcome.

• Shortly before Mass begins, as most people are seated and arrivals have slowed, go around to offer the children’s bulletin and crayons to families who look to have children kindergarten age and younger.

Preparing for the Offertory

• Make sure the wicker basket and plastic envelope for the collection are on the small table behind the pews in the back of the church before Mass begins. If there is a second collection, ensure that two wicker baskets and collection envelopes are in the back of the church.

• Find a family or group to bring up the gifts during the offertory.  If there is a baptism, ask the godparents or other members of the family.  

• If there is a school Mass, typically the teacher will have assigned four students to bring up the gifts; check to be sure there are two ciboria to bring up during the offertory along with the two cruets.

Collection

• During the Nicene Creed, go out to the entryway to get a collection basket. Move to the back of church to be in place as the petitions end.

• When the offertory hymn begins, walk to the front of church, bow, turn, and walk back down the main aisle, extending the basket to those in the pews.

• When you have reached the back, return up the side aisles to the front and bow again.  Then collect from the side aisles.

• Once collections are completed, empty the basket contents into the dated envelope found on the small table behind the pews.  Tear off the tab and seal. Place the envelope in the large wicker basket.  One Minister of Hospitality will take the basket to the sacristy and deposit the envelope in the safe.

• If there is a second collection, return to the back of the church after Communion.  Follow the same procedure once the priest announces the second collection.  A second labeled money envelope and wicker basket will be on the back table to use.

After Mass

• Take hymnals from people as they leave and put them back on the cart.  Hand out a bulletin in return.

• Remember to make people feel welcomed as they leave too – “Great to see you,” “See you next week,” “Thanks for coming!” “Come back again!”…

• Go row to row to collect hymnals that have not been brought back and put up kneelers.