• Everyone:  arrive at least 20 minutes prior Mass.
• Everyone:  sign in.  The electronic sign in tablet / kiosk is on the table just outside of the Sacristy.
•  Team Leader:  one member of the team is identified on the roster as “Team Leader.”  The leader is responsible for coordinating the positions of each hospitality minister for offertory, Communion, manning the doors, and handing out bulletins after Mass.  Please check in with the leader immediately after signing in so that he can make these assignments before Mass starts because doing so alleviates a lot of confusion and the need to confer during liturgy.  Hint:  assign people to only one section.  For example, if Sue and Joe work the front left section for collection, then one of them should work the front left section for Communion.
• Two to four people:  welcome people as they arrive for Mass, this includes opening the doors for people as they enter our worship space.  In order to keep the worship space quiet and prayerful before Mass begins, please do not prop the doors open.
• One person:  count all people entering the worship space.
• One person:  obtain members of the congregation for carrying the gifts to the altar.
• One person:  man the Welcome Table

Our parish Welcome Table is an extension of the Hospitality Ministry.  Its purpose is to welcome newcomers and visitors to our parish, assist in registering new parishioners, answer general questions, and help connect people to the various ministries and activities of our parish.

• Hours:  The table should be manned 30 minutes prior to the beginning of Mass and for 30 minutes after Mass.  For example:  if you are covering the table for the 5 PM Saturday Mass you should be in place at the table by 4:30 PM.  Once the lector takes to the ambo for the announcements before Mass you should take your seat in the worship space.  After Mass you will want to be at the table just before the recessional.

• Exception:  we will not man the table 30 minutes prior the 7:00 AM Sunday Mass, but we will man it for the 30 minutes after this Mass.

• Manning:  One person should man the table.  It’s important that those manning the table not become engrossed in personal conversation.  Our role is to be 100% available in welcoming others and answering questions.

• Welcome and Information Table Binder:  At the Welcome Table is a binder that contains a Table Log, Call Back Cards, a Parish Directory and Information page, and a General Parish Information sheet.

• Table Log:  Please make an entry in the log for every visitor you receive at the table.  These entries will help us see trends regarding questions asked and periods of activity.

• Call Back Cards:  If someone has a question, concern, or interest in a ministry or program that you cannot fully address, have them complete a Call Back Card.  This will enable someone to call them back to address their question or need.  Completed Call Back Cards should be placed in the “Office Tray” in the Sacristy. (Please verify name, e-mail and phone number with interested person.)

• Parish Directory and Information Page / General Parish Information Sheet:  These pages offer guidance and information helpful in answering questions.  

• New Parishioner Registration:  All new parishioners are to register online using My Own Church.  At the Welcome Table you will find a supply of bookmarks with the heading, “Join My Own Church at St. Stephen, Martyr in 5 Easy Steps.”  Please give a bookmark to everyone who wishes to register.  For those individuals who are not tech savvy or simply prefer not to register online, they should call the parish office (757-421-7416) and a member of our staff will assist them in registering.  

• Miscellaneous Issues: Due to security reasons, we are not allowed to collect money for any parish function at the Welcome Table.  This includes education fees, registration fees, or donations.  Please explain this to anyone who wants you to accept cash or checks to be turned into the office.  If the only way to prevent a hostile confrontation is to accept the money, then please place the money / check and any registration form in an envelope (found in the Welcome Table binder) and give it to the Mass Coordinator.  He or she will then place the envelope in the safe.  

• Two people:  prop the center doors open once the altar servers get in place for the procession.  You will leave them propped open until the procession passes through the doorway.  In the meantime, one person handles the left-hand side and one person handles the right-hand side doors leading into the worship space, opening them for people as they arrive.  Once the procession begins you will stop those still arriving until Father makes it down to the altar and genuflects.
• Two people: remain outside the entryway to assist late arrivals with the doors and direct them to open seats.
  • Typically, the far ends of the church have open seats.
• One or two people:  remain outside the entryway during the entire Mass.  We need to be there to control reverent flow of foot traffic (i.e., no entry during the Eucharistic Prayer) and to be available in the case of an emergency.  See "Manning the Door" for additional details.
• All other hospitality ministers:  take your seats in the worship space.

• We need two Hospitality Ministers to man the doors during Mass.  We have two main functions here:  to be a source of help to anyone with an emergency and to maintain a reverent traffic flow of people in and out of the worship space during Mass.
• When it comes to traffic flow, people can leave the worship space at any time.  A mother with a crying child, someone needing the bathroom or someone not feeling well are typical reasons for people needing to leave.  It’s very helpful if we are there to open the doors for them.  Our handling the doors also alleviates the doors from slamming shut and making a loud “thud” during the liturgy.
• When it comes to people entering the worship space there is only one time frame during which it is inappropriate for them to enter:  during the Consecration.  A simple way to look as this is from the first ringing of the bells to the Great Amen:  no entry.  
• All other times there is free entry into the Worship Space.

• Eight people: pass the collection baskets, two people per section, and two baskets per section.
• Collection starts from the front of each section and works toward the back.  See "Collection" for details.
• When done with your section, empty your collection in the large basket.
• Father waits until all collection baskets are emptied into the large basket before receiving the gifts.  Therefore, we need to be swift in facilitating the collection.
  • Get your baskets prior to Mass and keep them under your chair.
  • Sit in the same section that you are responsible for collecting.
  • Begin passing the baskets as soon as the congregation sits after the Prayer of the Faithful.
• Begin this collection from the front row of your section working your way to the back row.

• The general offertory collection takes place immediately after the Prayer of the Faithful.
• When we pass the collection baskets, we use two baskets in each section and start at the front pew and work our way to the back row.
• It’s best if two people (basket buddies) work together in each section, one on each end of the pews.
• When you reach the last pew, go out to the commons and empty your baskets into the larger basket that the Offertory family will carry to the altar.
• The far-right section, comprised of two pew sections, definitely requires two people for passing the baskets.  Trick of the trade:  Have one Hospitality Minister (HM) with one basket posted on the left-hand side of the larger section and start passing the basket.  Have another HM with one basket posted on the left-hand side of the smaller section and start passing the basket.  When he finishes, he will become the basket buddy of the HM working the larger section.

Two Collection Weekends

• On the first weekend of every month, we have a second collection for our parish Samaritan Fund.  Additionally, there are other weekends throughout the year when we have special Diocesan second collections.
• Second collections take place immediately after the first collection and will be carried to the altar in the Offertory Procession. Following is some special considerations / procedural guidance:
• Use the green lined baskets.
  • When you reach the last pew, go out to the commons and empty your baskets into the larger basket that the Offertory family will carry to the altar.
  • Be careful to keep the first and second collections separate.

• Four people:  assist the congregation to Communion, one person per section.
• Communion starts from the front of each section and works toward the back.
• The set up and cue for beginning Communion flow:
  • During the Invitation to Communion and after we respond, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…” walk to the back of the section that you are assisting in Communion.
  • Once Father begins serving the Eucharistic ministers on the altar platform, walk down to the first pew in your section.
  • This is also the time during which the HMs serving sections 2 and 3 should move the kneelers that are leaning against the front pew in sections 2 and 3 and place them in the middle of the center aisle, next to each other and approximately 18 to 24 incomes off the platform.  For additional reference, this is in between where Father stands and Deacon stands when distributing Holy Communion.  
• When Father, Deacon, or the Eucharistic Minister gets in place, begin directing the people out of your first pew.
• Continuing inviting people row by row to receive Communion until you get to the last pew.
• If you are assisting the section near the choir, the choir will be served Holy Communion first, then the congregation in this section will be served.
• If someone in your section needs to receive Communion at his seat, after your last row has received Communion, let Father or the Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist know about them and lead him to the individual(s).  
• You will receive Communion after all the people in your section have received Communion.
• One Hospitality Minister needs to invite any overflow parishioners sitting in the commons to come inside the Worship Space to receive Holy Communion.
  • Please encourage them to join section 1 (the choir section) to receive the Eucharist.  This section usually finishes first, therefore it is efficient to join this group.
  • If someone has a preference to receive from Father or Deacon in the center aisle, simply have them wait to join the last pew going forward.
• The two Hospitality Ministers managing the center aisle (Sections 2 and 3), should move the kneelers back to position in front of sections 2 and 3 at the conclusion of the distribution of the Eucharist.

• One person:  man the Welcome Table.
• Three people:  distribute bulletins.
• Two people:  walk through the worship space looking for personal items and trash left behind and hymnals that need to be put away.

• When you are in the commons area during Mass, you are directly in Father’s line of view.  Walking around, talking, and other activities are very distracting to him.  If you are not one of the two hospitality ministers assisting late arrivals with seats and manning the doors for Mass, you should be in the worship space participating in the liturgy.

• Attendance at our liturgies has greatly increased.  We need to be vigilant of people having a hard time finding a seat and be very proactive in assisting them to find a seat.

• When obtaining members of the congregation for carrying the gifts to the altar:
  • It takes a minimum of four people to carry the gifts:  the bread, wine, basket of treasure, and basket of food.  If the children are small, you can assign two of them to carry the food basket together.
  • Explain to them that their cue for going back to the commons area is immediately after the Prayer of the Faithful (“Lord hear our prayer”).  Also explain to them the elements of the procession i.e. the bread, wine, treasure and food.
  • You don’t always have to select a single family (mom, dad, and kids) for carrying the gifts.  You can also select two married couples or a group of friends to carry the gifts.

• Recruiting – Perhaps you know someone who, with just a word of encouragement or invite, would join our ministry.  Encourage and invite them to join.  They can contact the ministry coordinator or the parish office.

• There are phones on the wall in the kitchen and a phone on the wall between the cabinet and the countertop in the sacristy near the closet. You can dial 911.  Remember our address is 1544 South Battlefield Blvd., Chesapeake.

• There is an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) on the wall in the commons to the left of the main portico doors.

• There is a First Aid kit in the Sacristy; located under the table in front of the window.