Usher and welcomers roster
A welcomers and ushers roster that isn’t the same six faces
The door, the car park, the newsletter table and the aisles need people every week, and the regulars are tired. FairTurns shares those turns across everyone who has said yes, and lets the whole parish see who is on.
Free, with no limit on people or dates. No card.
The people at the door are the people who always say yes
Ask who looks after the welcome door and you’ll hear the same names: the couple who have done the 9:30 for twenty years, the retired teacher who hands out every newsletter. They are good at it and they are also worn out. Meanwhile newer people would happily stand at the door once a month if anyone asked them.
The roster lives on a printed sheet in the sacristy or a clipboard by the door, so changes mean crossing out names in pen. With three Masses a weekend and a different crew at each, keeping it fair by hand takes an evening a month.
How FairTurns handles the door and the aisles
Every Mass or service on one calendar
Set up Saturday evening and each Sunday time as repeating dates. Each keeps its own people and its own times.
Jobs with headcounts
Add positions such as “Welcome door, 2 people”, “Ushers, 3 people” and “Car park, 1 person”. Each date gets that many places.
Couples as one name
Add Margaret & Tony as one name and they are always rostered together, counted as one turn.
New faces get a turn
Fill gives each empty place to whoever has had the fewest turns, so someone who joined in March is on before the regulars come round again.
Regular Masses respected
Someone who only comes to Saturday evening can mark Sundays as away regularly, and Fill only uses them on Saturdays.
A list for the noticeboard
Print the roster page for the sacristy, and share the public roster link in the bulletin for everyone with a phone.
Set it up
- 01
Create the parish
Create the organisation and a team called Welcomers and ushers.
- 02
Add the jobs
Add positions for the door, the ushers and the newsletter table, and a Car park team if it starts earlier.
- 03
Add the names
Paste the names from your current sheet, invite those with email, or share a join link.
- 04
Set the times
Click each Mass or service time, set the times, and make it weekly.
- 05
Fill and print
Press Fill for the next quarter, print a copy for the noticeboard and share the link.
When you want it to run itself
Pro emails the welcomers who have accepted an invitation the roster on the day you choose and a reminder before their turn. When someone can’t make it they reply from the email, the coordinator hears about it, and with filling by itself the next person in line is asked.
A$1 a month per organisation, paid 1 to 5 years at a time. See Pro and pricing
Good to know
- Two at the door and one floating usher is plenty for most Sundays. Add the extra Easter and Christmas services as one-off dates.
- Give the car park its own team with an earlier start time, so those people know to arrive fifteen minutes before everyone else.
- People don’t book their own Masses: you put them on, and if someone can only do the 7:45 you mark the others as away for them.
- Changes to one date stay with that date. Cancel the evening Mass on a long weekend and bring it back later if plans change.
Questions
Can a married couple always be on together?
Yes. Add them as one name, such as Margaret & Tony, and they count as one person on the roster. If one of them later wants their own turns, add them separately.
Some of our welcomers don’t use email. Is that a problem?
Add them by name only. They can be rostered and printed like anyone else, and the coordinator can mark their away weeks for them.
Can each Mass have its own coordinator?
You can make one team per Mass, each with its own team moderator, or keep one team and one coordinator for the whole weekend. Both work.
What happens when a regular stops coming?
Untick them on the Redistribute page. Their turns are handed out again and the confirmation page names every person who gains or loses a date before anything changes.
Does it handle the collection?
FairTurns rosters the people. Add a position called Collection with the number of people it needs, and the counting and banking stay with your usual process.
Free templates and guides
Volunteer roster template
A volunteer schedule with shifts, roles, a contact column and a spot to tick in on the day.
How often should volunteers be rostered?
Do the sum, watch for burnout, and set a gap between turns that keeps people coming back.
Redistribute
Someone leaves or joins mid-season? Share the dates out again and see every change first.
Similar rosters
Church rosters
Music, sound, welcomers, kids and morning tea on one shared church roster, free for every team.
Cleaning, flowers and morning tea
Weekly morning tea, a fortnightly clean and the monthly flowers, each on its own rhythm.
Kids’ programmes and Sunday school
Two checked leaders in every room, each Sunday, with helpers rostered only where they’re cleared.