Ministry Spotlight: Greeters

MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT is an addition to our Announcements, Blog, and Facebook page. Please feel free to contact me about a ministry you are involved in. Remember ministries are not only through the Cathedral. You may be sharing your spiritual gifts with ministries outside the Cathedral, (such as Hands Up Food Pantry or Uptown Faith). To Spotlight your ministry please email Vicki Hoppenrath at hoppenrathv@stpaulcathedral.org

 
Ministry Spotlight: GREETERS 
Volunteer: Mary McBride

Describe your ministry: It is a joy to be a Greeter at St. Paul’s. As part of a team, Greeters welcome people worshipping at St. Paul’s on their faith journey for the day or searching for a church home. We are many times the first faces and contact that people have and we reach out and tell everyone how glad we are that they are with us and let them know how valuable their presence is, making our worship richer by their presence; we are interested in them, talking with and listening to their stories; introduce them to clergy and parishioners to help them to feel comfortable and at ease, answer questions about our church and ministries, give directions to various campus locations; generally embracing and enabling them to feel included in and an important part of our church family.

What have you learned about yourself through your ministry? I have learned how connected I feel to people I have never met before and how easy it is to talk with them, expressing and experiencing God’s love. Jesus in me greets Jesus in them. It also helps me to live into our baptismal covenant to “seek and serve Christ in all persons.” I have found also that I am a Greeter at heart and like to welcome and express God’s love to people who are seated in the pew next to me, at Cathedral functions and even at places outside St. Paul’s, being an ambassador for Christ.
Have you seen Jesus through your ministry? In the people who come to St. Paul’s, I see the warmth and genuineness of Jesus as well as a desire for relationship, which Jesus sought in the people He met.

What is the biggest secret about your ministry? Everything tastes better in our St. Paul’s mugs, mainly because using them brings a reminder of God’s love and acceptance experienced at St. Paul’s.
Why would you recommend your ministry to another person? I would recommend being a Greeter to everyone who wants to come closer to God through meeting fellow pilgrims who we do not yet know as friends. It is a good way to offer hospitality which we are called to do in both the Old and New Testaments

What is the time commitment? Greeters are a part of a team that serves one Sunday a month. Sometimes we are asked to volunteer for greeting when there is a 5th Sunday in the month and for special services at Christmas and Easter. On the Sunday our team serves, we are asked to be at the Welcome Table 20 minutes before the service begins and then for approximately 20 minutes after the service concludes.