Stewards

Stewarding at St. Mary’s is a very pleasant, enjoyable and rewarding task and it can be an easy way to meet and become acquainted with new and existing members of the congregation. The most important part of the stewarding role is to ensure that all visitors are made to feel welcome as they arrive at the church!  

The University Church is a place of worship but it is also a popular and very busy tourist attraction. In order to ensure that there isn’t unreasonable disruption to worship it is necessary to restrict general tourist access to the church until a service has finished; the role of a steward is a key part of this visitor engagement.  

We need stewards for the 10:30am Sunday Eucharist, 3:30pm Sunday Evensong, and for some other services held at the church throughout the year. As they welcome members of the congregation arriving at the church door the stewards will also hand out the Orders of Service and, when necessary, distribute anything else that might be required for a particular service, such as hymn-books, candles etc. Typically three stewards are on duty for a 10:30am service and one for Evensong.  A team of volunteer stewards operate on a rota basis. 

During the service itself stewards assist with gathering the collection and directing people to Communion. Stewards are also responsible for a short list of other very simple and straightforward practical tasks concerning the service.

Full training will be given.