Peggy Brown became a member of the usher board as a young woman and learned everything she now knows from the pioneers of the church.

She even refers to that time as the “heyday” at St. Paul United Methodist Church on Summit Street, as many of those usher pioneers have passed on.  

Today, about 30 years later, she serves the church as the coordinator of the usher board and on Sunday, Brown and other longtime members of the usher board will celebrate the 61st anniversary of the group.

“It was the lady ushers that basically carried the torch for this church along with a couple of the men,” Brown said. “They were the ones that raised the money and did the stuff that needed to be done and there were times that they had to depend solely on the ushers’ revenues from selling fish, being on the corner being harassed. But they stood and they raised the money that paid the bills at the church.

“Now, I basically see that the ushers are there on Sunday ... I see that ushers go to other churches for anniversaries and see that they are here for funerals.”

At St. Paul, 50 men, women and children serve as ushers and all of them will be honored this weekend with at special message given by the Rev. Wimbley Hale Jr. from Andrews Chapel in Jonesboro. A dinner prepared by the church will follow.

“Some people take ushering lightly, but we don’t just stand,” Brown said. “It is a working job ... you have to have a personality to be an usher because you meet people from all walks of life.”

Richard Smith, who became an usher in 1953, said he serves the Lord and the church by ushering.

“I always wanted to be an usher and I always will be,” he said.

Each week, Smith, Brown, Larry Johnson, Annie Thomas and Linda Morrison — along with other ushers — serve the church with a specific list of duties.

“Our job is to assist the pastor and to greet the members as they come in, seat them and to hand out programs,” said Smith, a 19-year veteran usher. “Just assist the congregation when they come into the church.”

Ushering is a tradition in the community, he added.

“In this community all the churches have ushers anniversary, they have usher boards, throughout the year. We have gone to every other ushers anniversary.”

Other duties the ushers perform are taking up the offering and assisting during funerals.  

“You see that everything is carried out properly and it is less stress on the pastor,” Brown said.

The church has a large group of ushers, but members more than willing to add more if a member is interested.

“All they have to do is come and tell us, any member of the usher board, that they want to join the usher board,” Thomas said. “You have to be devoted and dependable.”