Asked to leave church by an Usher

Julian of Norwich

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I believe in forgiveness, important concept. how do you forgive someone who doesn’t ask for forgiveness?

If they would’ve simply apologized and asked me to return and said they would address it with the usher I would’ve happily returned and continued going to the church.

Issue is they think that’s acceptable for the usher. for security reasons they need to keep the back of the church clear. They place more importance on Security then making people feel welcome. I don’t think they will have problems where emergency personnel unable to get through. completely misplaced priorities to me.

His prayer doesn't ask us to forgive only if the other is penitent, but He says He won't forgive you unless you forgive others.......period.
 
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ChristianGirl_96

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Oh no. Maybe you should find a new church immediately. I love our local church for several reasons. Not only are there activities for children, the adults are made to feel welcome there.
Is it possible to talk to his senior or not? Sounds like the church made a bad decision that could potentially damage their reputation.
 
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Jeff11

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Oh no. Maybe you should find a new church immediately. I love our local church for several reasons. Not only are there activities for children, the adults are made to feel welcome there.
Is it possible to talk to his senior or not? Sounds like the church made a bad decision that could potentially damage their reputation.
I talked to the head of security at the church as I was leaving. He said he trained the ushers twice a year. He said they wanted to keep the aisle clear for emergency personnel if needed. Most of the ushers are first responders. It was fairly obvious they put Security as more important than anything else.

He wanted me to go back inside and talk to this usher but I did not want to have a confrontation with this person. I didn’t want to have a discussion in the middle of church with an usher about why he was asking me to leave. He claimed he was going to have him apologize to me but I did not see that happening. instead I expected to be treated the same way again. I could be seated by an usher or leave. I’m not comfortable with that.

But he refused to address it with the ushers unless I went back in and told him the specific usher. I didn’t want to have a confrontation with this person. So to my knowledge he has never addressed this problem with any of the ushers there. Which is why I won’t go back.
 
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Radagast

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I was standing in the back looking for a seat when in usher asked me if I wanted to be seated and I told him I would find one.

In other words, he offered you a seat and you refused (or at least, that's what he thought).

The other churches I have attended don’t even use ushers

Ushers are generally used when finding a seat on your own is difficult. For example, in very crowded churches.
 
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Radagast

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So sorry this happened to you. Churches can get into trouble with the Fire marshal. For allowing people to congregate by the doors and in the aisles. Because it blocks access in case of an emergency.

The fact that the church was making a big thing of it suggests that they were under pressure from local government on that issue. Training all the ushers as first responders seems a little unusual and sounds like the sort of thing a church might do to avoid being closed down by local government.
 
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ProdigalGander

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I was an usher in my church for 13 years. Keeping the aisles clear in case of an emergency is a serious issue, and something that we were charged with enforcing. I remember I once had to very politely ask a lady to fold her walker and stow it under the pew as she had left it in an aisle where it was blocking traffic.

We also had some pastors for whom people milling around in the back was just a serious personal bugaboo. They would be admonished from the altar to find a seat and sit down. I don't recall having to ever throw anyone out though.

And yes, in recent years, we were all wary of some type of trouble. Terrorists, whacko shooters, Satanists attempting to grab a consecrated host for a Black Mass. I had prepared myself to be ready to tackle somebody and fight them if necessary.

But my #1 job as an usher? Extending my right index finger and saying "Bathrooms? Over there!"
 
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Newtheran

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It amazes me that churches are now asking people to leave if they do not immediately find a seat. It was dark and I wanted the lights to come on. They turn the lights down for the music portion of their service.

Perhaps they're concerned about the fire hazard when people break out their lighters and start swaying back and forth?
 
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FaithT

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It is an unfortunate sign of the times.

I wish my own congregation did not emphasize security so much, it can damage outreach. And church shootings and disasters are extraordinarily rare. There has to be a balanced response.
Church needs "security" now...?

Oh man, these times we live in, I tell you...

God help us...

God Bless!


I recently converted to Lutheranism from Catholicism and checked out a few other Protestant churches along the way. The Catholic Churches I went to never had security but all the Protestant churches I visited, including my new church has uniformed police on site. Not sure why.
 
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chevyontheriver

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I recently converted to Lutheranism from Catholicism and checked out a few other Protestant churches along the way. The Catholic Churches I went to never had security but all the Protestant churches I visited, including my new church has uniformed police on site. Not sure why.
I'm Catholic. I've never yet seen a security guard at our church except for a guy hired to watch the school late night. The church is open 24/7/365 for people to come and pray. So there are always people there and always people coming and going.

A uniformed guard, that would be creepy. Maybe there have been some plainclothes security I never knew about.
 
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FaithT

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I'm Catholic. I've never yet seen a security guard at our church except for a guy hired to watch the school late night. The church is open 24/7/365 for people to come and pray. So there are always people there and always people coming and going.

A uniformed guard, that would be creepy. Maybe there have been some plainclothes security I never knew about.

yeah, I wondered if they’ve had some problems. My former Catholic Church only had uniformed cops directing traffic on Christmas and Easter.
 
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chevyontheriver

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yeah, I wondered if they’ve had some problems. My former Catholic Church only had uniformed cops directing traffic on Christmas and Easter.
Ah, I forgot. We have uniformed police blocking traffic for us when we have our Eucharistic procession each year. A hundred or so of us walking down neighborhood streets singing. We go from our parish to another nearby one. We get squad cars at the busy streets. But that's all I have ever seen.
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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yeshuaslavejeff

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no one should be asked to leave a church.
A lot of people should be.
It is better to be asked today, with the hope of learning the truth/ repenting,
instead of being told by Jesus to leave, on Judgment Day.

i.e. look for a true church that does the Father's Word accurately and properly,

as written: seek out those who are FAITHFUL, and remain with them.....
 
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FaithT

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I was an usher in my church for 13 years. Keeping the aisles clear in case of an emergency is a serious issue, and something that we were charged with enforcing. I remember I once had to very politely ask a lady to fold her walker and stow it under the pew as she had left it in an aisle where it was blocking traffic.

We also had some pastors for whom people milling around in the back was just a serious personal bugaboo. They would be admonished from the altar to find a seat and sit down. I don't recall having to ever throw anyone out though.

And yes, in recent years, we were all wary of some type of trouble. Terrorists, whacko shooters, Satanists attempting to grab a consecrated host for a Black Mass. I had prepared myself to be ready to tackle somebody and fight them if necessary.

But my #1 job as an usher? Extending my right index finger and saying "Bathrooms? Over there!"


Our church has designated seats for the disabled. I got to church almost a half hour early and sat in the aisle seat, which was far from the disabled chairs (I have an anxiety disorder and feel most comfortable to sit at the end). So right before the service started a woman with a roller walker comes up to me and wanted in. So I got out of my seat to allow her to sit in one of several empty seats, with me nearly tripping over her walker. So she said no, she wanted to sit on the end (in my seat). I was aggravated but since it was church, I let her have my seat. I moved down some and some other woman who was in the church earlier, bopping around the church, possibly handing out Bibles, comes and sits next to the woman with the walker. Then she gets up, don’t know where she went and comes back and sits not in her seat but right over next to me.
Then she was in and out of her tote bag, then she was eating, then she was drinking water, then in and out of her tote bag some more. Being really noisy, responding loudly to the pastor, etc.

Point of this story, is ushers need to usher. This all could’ve been avoided if the first woman sat in one of the designated seats.
 
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Jeff11

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From just your one post, yes.


Just noticed, he left almost a year ago.....
Jeff11
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I never left. I’ve been reading the comments periodically. Sadly, comments like yours is why I don’t participate very often. You’re not interested in helping anyone you just want to tear people down.
 
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Jeff11

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A lot of people should be.
It is better to be asked today, with the hope of learning the truth/ repenting,
instead of being told by Jesus to leave, on Judgment Day.

i.e. look for a true church that does the Father's Word accurately and properly,

as written: seek out those who are FAITHFUL, and remain with them.....
I cannot disagree with you more. One of the criticisms I hear from people as to why they don’t go to a particular church they didnt feel like the Congregation was welcoming or friendly. When the ushers are asking people to leave who are new to the church it only makes that problem seem bigger.
 
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