He assembled the leaders of three Baltimore churches - Sharp Street United Methodist, Ames United Methodist and Enon Baptist - in 1915, persuading them to form the State of Maryland United Ushers. Sorrell probably never imagined such things, but he perceived a need.

Even when going into prayer, our heads are bowed but we keep our eyes open,' says Sylvia Graves, a member of Perkins Square Baptist Church and 17-year ushering veteran. The job carries additional weight in an era when crime can invade the world of worship, from petty thefts to stunning tragedies like the one that unfolded in Charleston, S.C., last month when a man entered a black church during a Bible study and shot nine people to death. References to 'watchmen,' 'porters' and 'doorkeepers' permeate the Bible. God even created the first usher organization, she adds, choosing one tribe, the Levites, to care for the tabernacles of Moses' day. 'Didn't he usher in light and call it day? Didn't Moses usher the children of Israel out of Egypt? And the star of Bethlehem guided the wise men, just as John the Baptist ushered in Jesus' ministry.' 'We consider God the first usher in the universe,' Lucas says. Seeking common ground, they settled on a theme they saw running through the Old and New Testaments: ushering.Īt the Baltimore unit headquarters, a brownstone in Reservoir Hill, Lucas recently met with fellow usher Sandra Arnette below several framed portraits of the founders, reeling off the men's beliefs as though they were still alive. Elijah Hamilton and Charles Dorsey, African Methodist Episcopalians from Philadelphia, and a friend, a Baltimore Baptist named Henry Sorrell, found themselves wrestling with a question: Why did the major African-American Christian denominations have so little to do with each other?

Church usher manual