House of ushers: Metairie teen joins dad in ministry

Ten minutes before the start of the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, usher Jack McConnell assumes his post at a side entrance to St. Catherine of Siena Church, holding the glass doors open for arriving congregants.

While the role of doorman is a common one in the ministry of hospitality, there is something about this particular helper that is rather uncommon: McConnell, a 6-foot-tall-and-growing 15-year-old, is St. Catherine’s youngest usher – by a long shot.

“You basically learn how to be an usher on your feet,” noted McConnell, a freshman at Ridgewood Preparatory School and a student at St. Catherine’s parish school of religion. “It’s actually pretty easy once you start it up.”

McConnell began serving as an usher at age 13, when Dan Boudreaux – a 66-year ushering veteran known in the parish as “Mr. B” – found himself shorthanded on volunteers to take up the collection.

“Mr. B noticed I was getting pretty tall, so he asked my dad, ‘Is your son tall enough to hold the baskets?’” McConnell recalled. “He recruited me, and after that day I just started passing around the baskets. It’s actually a fun thing to do when you think about it.”

On feet for entire Mass

After finishing his Sunday morning catechism class, McConnell bolts to the church to begin his pre-liturgical duties. In addition to greeting congregants at church entrances, McConnell and his fellow ushers patrol St. Catherine’s cavernous, windowed vestibule and side aisles to identify parishioners who might need help finding a seat. Late arrivals need the most assistance, McConnell said.

“(Finding seats) isn’t always easy, especially when the church is packed around Christmastime,” McConnell said, noting that he occasionally must split up families or ask churchgoers to scoot down the pew. “It can be kind of hard to find seats for a family of five.”

During this bustling period before the start of Mass, St. Catherine’s ushers also approach those using wheelchairs, walkers or who seem frail to see if they want to have Communion brought to them in their pew. This information is relayed to the extraordinary ministers of holy Communion.

“It gets a little complicated,” McConnell admits. “The hardest part for me is actually seeing who needs help with receiving the Body of Christ. Sometimes you’ll see a person in a wheelchair, but it turns out they don’t need help at all. They’re able to get up there.”

Caretakers of treasure
The most conspicuous ushering duty takes place after the homily, when eight volunteers – regulars such as McConnell, and others recruited on the spot – conduct the offertory collection using long-handled baskets.

“Two of the baskets have longer handles (than the other six); those two are specifically made for going down the middle aisle,” McConnell explained. Loose money and envelopes are placed into a collection bag and immediately deposited into a safe “with a giant, mailbox-type top that you pull down.”

During Communion, McConnell and his colleagues oversee the flow of pedestrian traffic once again, with particular vigilance given to worshippers’ handling of the consecrated bread and wine. St. Catherine’s ushers, who stand near the extraordinary ministers of holy Communion, have earned a nickname for this role: “God’s bouncers.”

“We’re standing so we’re not too much in the way (of communicants), but we’re close enough so that you actually notice that we’re there,” McConnell said. “I can only remember one time that we had a problem. A little kid was messing around and he accidentally dropped the host, picked it up and started walking away with it. One of the church members noticed him and told him, ‘You’ve got to hand (the host) back or consume it.’ He consumed it.”

The ushers’ duties come full circle at the end of Mass, with the volunteers holding the doors open for congregants as they exit the church.

Ministerial rewards

McConnell, a banjo aficionado who enjoys playing Dixieland jazz, said one of the perks of his chosen ministry is getting to watch the Mass unfold from the rear of church, through the vestibule windows.

He also relishes the weekly opportunity to volunteer alongside his father – actor and radio host John “Spud” McConnell – a five-year ushering veteran who was recruited the same way his son was: he was tapped on the shoulder by Mr. B. The duo is joined at Mass by three other family members: Jack’s mother Maureen Brennan McConnell and sisters Ali, 16, and Annie, 12.

“Being an usher has taught me that there are a lot of good people in the world,” Jack McConnell said. “There’s always a person there to lend you a hand; there’s always somebody who steps up to help with the baskets.

“When I was just sitting in the pews, I didn’t feel like I was really contributing a whole lot to church. But now that I’m an usher, I feel like I am proving myself a true Catholic,” he added, issuing the following message to his fellow teens:

“To all you guys and gals listening out there: If you really want to get closer to the church, feel more involved in it, being an usher is a great first step!”

Beth Donze can be reached at [email protected].