Why Black (African American) Ushers Wear White Gloves As Part Of Their Usher Attire & Hold One Hand Behind Their Back

B. Tirrell, March 26, 2015

73rd Annual Usher Day at Second Baptist Monrovia, CA

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - September 14, 2024

This is Part II of a pancocojams series on African American church ushers.

This post showcases a video of African American ushers marching during an annual church Usher Day.

This post also presents some theories about why African American ushers wear gloves as part of their usher attire.

The Addendum to this post presents an excerpt of a 2010 article about African American church ushers.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-history-and-purposes-of-african.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents a video of Black church ushers and presents excerpts from three articles about African American church ushers.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/01/video-article-excerpt-about-roles-of.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part III showcases a video of a Church Ushers Grand March and showcases an article excerpt about the roles of the Black Church ushers. That article excerpt also includes a section on the ushers' Grand March. 

The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to the publisher of this embedded YouTube video.
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Click the tags below for more pancocojams posts on this subject. 
 

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GENERAL OVERVIEW - USHERS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCHES
[Complete reprint added September 14, 2024]

From https://womenchurchsuitsblog.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/usher-suits-and-the-roles-ushers-play-in-the-church/ "Usher Suits And The Roles Ushers Play In The Church

By womenchurchsuitsblog. August 7, 2012

"Growing up in an African American church one of the first things you learn as a child is to respect the ushers. When you were doing anything that might not have been acceptable you had one eye for the usher suits. As kids would we liked to play pranks and giggle and chew gum and fall asleep all things that would get you a quick wrap on the knuckles with thee back end of the church fan. In black church’s in the United States have many auxiliaries, departments, committees and boards. These are the arms and legs of the church, they enable the church to carry out its mission. This includes attending to the needs of the people, spreading the gospel and church administration.

In black church’s in the United States have many auxiliaries, departments, committees and boards. These are the arms and legs of the church, they enable the church to carry out its mission. This includes attending to the needs of the people, spreading the gospel and church administration.

While you may not find the same auxiliary’s at all church’s there is not one church where you will not find an Usher board. This is a ministry of the church that even a new comer can become a part of. Next to the preacher and the musicians this is the most visible ministry in any church. In a black church the Usher is the first person a visitor will meet. They seat the congregation, help members in distress and maintain order. They are essentially the church police force. The usher suits are their uniform of office and most include pristine white gloves.

The usher suits has to be pristine at all times. It is a matter of church pride, at most churches the ushers have two separate suits one in white and one in black. They wore the white in summer and the black in winter. Other churches may use different colored usher suits but they all insist on the white gloves as part of the uniform. These are the churches gatekeepers, they meet and greet all who enter the sanctuary, ushers are the first impression a person gets of a church and most take this service very seriously.

Usher suits come in a variety of sizes and are also made to fit children. A church will have a male usher board, a women’s usher board and a junior usher board. Each group takes on the duties on their assigned Sundays. The junior ushers range in age from 6-18 and they too are trained to work as efficiently as the adults. It is a way for them to learn church and civic duty as well as leadership and discipline.”

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WHY USHERS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCHES WEAR WHITE GLOVES AS PART OF THEIR UNIFORM

A. BECAUSE OF THE HISTORY OF THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN EUROPE AND, BY EXTENSION, IN THE UNITED STATES

I believe that the custom of Black ushers wearing gloves is tied to the symbolism that was attached to wearing gloves throughout history -particularly the history of the Catholic church and the history of the order of Masons.

I believe that the gloves that Black (African American) ushers wear are white because the color white symbolizes purity and cleanliness.  

Here are some excerpts of online articles about this subject: 

These excerpts don't refer or allude to the custom of Black (African American) ushers wearing white gloves as part of their uniforms.

These excerpts are numbered for referencing purposes only.

1. From http://www.gloves.com.ua/about_glove_en.php
..."The gloves became a part of liturgical decoration at the Catholic Church in the 11-th century. The bishops wore gloves knitted with golden thread. The priests of lower position wore only white gloves which symbolized purity.

The gloves were so important and in the Middle Ages, so that they became a symbol of dignity and honor. All ceremonies were followed with transmission of a glove."...

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2. From https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU18980214.2.80&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 94, Number 176, 14 February 1898

[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This excerpt is reprinted "as is" including spelling or typing errors]

..."In some parts of Christer;dom Bishops themselves were inducted Ito their dioceses by receiving a glow, I investing them with temporal as w< I las spiritual rights. The glove became Iso associated with Episcopal authority j that at different times the wearing of ; gloves was absolutely prohibited to the :> lower clergy. While one council issued ■ this edict, another declared that monks should only presume to wear gloves of j common sheepskin. Episcopal glov * ! were often richly adorned, as we may j gather from the fact that Bishop Ile- ; calfttS, dying in the year 915, bequeathjed a pair of gloves in his will. For the I word glove it would appear that we are indebted to the Icelandic glof. As a ! gift of gloves was a mark of the highI est honar, a token of investiture, a I conferring of tru?t. so the deprival of a ! person's gloves was a sign of the deep- ! est degradation. We read of the Earl j of Carlisle, condemned to die as a tra'- ! tor In the reign of Edward 11.. that h:3 "spurs were cut off with a hatchet, and ' his .tioves and shoes were taken off." In yet another sense to lose the glove lof a lady at tourney was a deep disgrace. Knights wore their ladies' dainty gloves as the most precious of insignia, and he who lowered his lady's honor need little look for her smile-. The practice of giving gloves to the judge at maiden assize probably had its origin in the fact that a judge was not supposed to wear gloves while on the bench) to present him with a pair might signify .that he gN» now free to do as he ciiose.—London Standard."...

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3. From https://theeducator.ca/symbolism-of-white-gloves-aprons/ "SYMBOLISM OF THE WHITE GLOVES AND APRONS" By V.W.Bro. L. Tustain; 24th June, 1948.
... "There is in the wearing of Craft Clothing, as in everything else pertaining to Freemasonry, a symbolism. Briefly, white gloves are symbolical of clean hands, and are complementary to the lambskin apron, the symbol of a pure heart. These two are of equal importance and are really inseparable.

White Gloves

The custom of wearing white gloves is of great antiquity. In the Christian Churches from the earliest times, white linen gloves were always worn by Bishops and Priests when in performance of their ecclesiastical functions. The Bishops always wore a thin plate of gold, called “a tassel” on the back of their gloves to denote their high ecclesiastical rank. The gloves worn by the clergy indicated that their hands were clean and not open to bribery.

In an indenture of covenants made in the reign of Henry VI between the church-wardens of a parish in Suffolk and a company of Freemasons, the latter stipulate that each man should be provided with a pair of white gloves and a white apron.

[...]

Dr. Robert Plot, a non-mason, states in his “Natural History of Staffordshire”, 1686, that “the Society of Freemasons presented their candidates with white gloves for themselves and their wives.”

In the general regulations of George Payne approved by the Grand Lodge in London in 1721, Article 7 reads: …“Every new brother at his making is decently to cloathe the Lodge, that is, all the brethren present,    ” By ‘clothing the Lodge’ is meant furnishing all the brethren present with white aprons and gloves.”

In Count Tolstoy’s well-known novel “War and Peace” it states that, “the newly-obligated brother was then invested with a white apron, and received a trowel and three pairs of white gloves, two pairs for himself and one pair for the lady he most esteemed, after which the Master explained their symbolic meaning to him.”

In the Netherlands ritual the presentation of white gloves is still retained. The candidate for initiation is taken upon three journeys; after the second journey his hands are dipped in a basin of water, and a reference made to the necessity of “clean hands” and purity of heart and life as an essential prerequisite to Initiation. On the completion of the third journey he takes the Ob., after which he is led to the West, where he is invested with a white apron, and is given a pair of white gloves, which he is directed to hand to her whom he considers most worthy to receive them from the hands of a Freemason.

I do not know when the presentation of white gloves ceased to be the general custom, but the wearing of them as part of the proper clothing of a brother is still retained in New Zealand by ruling of the Board of General Purposes.

Today, the Supreme Court Judge is presented with a pair of white gloves if there is a maiden session. This indicates “clean actions” or freedom from crime in that particular city. This is a very old custom, for anciently, judges were not allowed to wear gloves on the bench; so to give a judge a pair of gloves symbolized that he need not take his seat.

Undoubtedly, the use of white gloves in Freemasonry is a symbolic idea handed down to us through the ancient and universal language of symbolism, and, like the apron, is intended to denote purity of life and action.”…
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Quotes in italics were given that way in this article.

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B. BECAUSE OF THE HISTORY OF THE RACISM DIRECTED TOWARDS BLACK PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES

Pancocojams Editor's Note:
Point B is the most often given reason for this custom, although I believe it's not the real reason why ushers in African American churches wear white gloves.

Here are some excerpts that articulate this reason (given in no particular order and numbered for referencing purposes only) 

1. From https://theoldblackchurch.blogspot.com/2018/02/black-history-facts-why-ushers-wore.html
Why Ushers Wore White Gloves by Ann Brock, February 4, 2018 
"I'm from the hills of Alabama and some information like this is hard to verify because it is information that was passed on from generation to generation. Anyhow growing up we were told that this was an old slave tradition in the deep south. Slaves were asked to put their arms behind their backs so they could be watched to be sure they were not stealing the money during collection time.

They also wore the white gloves because again they were not trusted and the white church members did not want to touch their skin. My understanding is back during slavery time when the slave served in white churches they had to wear white gloves and place the one hand behind the back.....so the slaves wouldn't take from the offering plate as they served aisles to aisles why ushering."

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"Why" is probably a typo for the word "while".

2. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXbqAJPXLAQ&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=Religion%26EthicsNewsWeekly This video is showcased in Part I of this pancocojams series.

This commenter is replying to the question "Why do ushers wear white gloves?"
 Minister Stay Fly, 2018
"Usher's originally wore white gloves in the slavery days because whites claimed to see the slave's hand if they were stealing. The average black person won't know because they never researched or ask. Facts"
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With all due respect to people who have passed along these explanations for why Black church ushers wear white gloves, I believe these theories aren't based on historical facts.  

While some African Americans attended the same churches as White people in the late 19th and early 20th century, I don't know of any documentation of Black people serving as ushers in those congregations. 

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3. From https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3828828840506614&id=482738088449056&set=a.690967900959406

It's Nice To Be Important, But It's More Important To Be Nice,Feb. 14, 2021

#BLACKHISTORY, if you have ever been to a BLACK CHURCH, you notice that the USHERS WEAR WHITE GLOVES. This is a throwback from SLAVERY.. during black enslavement, white churches used blacks to PICK UP MONEY from the congregation, because the whites didn't want to TOUCH THE HANDS OF BLACKS, they were FORCE TO WEAR GLOVES.. Ushers also had to walk with ONE HAND BEHIND THEIR BACKS to keep them from stealing MONEY.. BLACK CHURCHES CONTINUE THIS TRADITION TO THIS VERY DAY...

#BlackHistoryMonth

#BlackHistoryOurHistory

🖤 ✊🏾 👊🏾 👍🏾 🖤 ✊🏾 👊🏾 👍🏾 🖤 ✊🏾 👊🏾

— with Aundria Bass."

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4. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXbqAJPXLAQ&t=27s "Church Ushers" published by Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Apr 11, 2016

comments
1) @jairobaltodano4043, 2018
"Two questions of the many I have

1.) why do ushers wear white gloves?

2.) how is ushering a talent when in fact is a trained practice which anyone can be trained to do so"

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Reply
2) @rodneywalker6609, 2018
"Jairo Baltodano

Greetings.  In response to your question.  I grew up in the black church.  We had senior ushers, junior ushers etc.   I can only speak of my experience so I’m not an expert on the “black church.”  Service or “rolling up your sleeves” and being active in church was viewed very favorably by those within the church.  Sometimes, a person felt a calling or a passion toward a particular function in the church, other times, a need arose and a person served out of duty.  In either case, as long as the persons heart is right toward God (they have repented of their sins and accepted Christ’s death on the cross as the payment for their sins) then God is not so much concerned about their ability but their availability.  As far as the gloves, it is just part of a uniform to ID the person as an usher.  Referees wear black and white striped shirts, police officers were blue, doctors wear white.  It’s all part of the uniform."

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Reply
3) @ministerstayfly9213, 2019
" @rodneywalker6609  It came from slavery. The slave master believed that they could see their slaves hand just in case they were trying to steal. Facts Family"

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WHY BLACK USHERS HOLD ONE HAND BEHIND THEIR BACK WHILE THEY SERVE AS USHERS

According to George T. Grier, first president of the Illinois chapter, who codified the Black ushers' hand symbols in 1948 in "The Universal Church Ushers Manual," a loose fist at the small of the back — the "service position" — means an usher is on duty. (quoted in https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/bs-md-church-ushers-20150711-story.html  "Ushers History: Ushers serve as 'doorkeepers' to worship" by Jonathan M. Pitts, July 11, 2015

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Here's a comment exchange that refers to African American ushers with the left hand behind their back in the "service position":

From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBuz-zRVGb0 

[quoted in https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/02/old-school-black-church-choir-march-st.html "Black Choir Processions - Videos Of Marching With The Right Hand Held Up"

Joantaatlanta, 2009
"Nice Video, why do they march in with their hands up? What does it symbolize?"*

Reply 
DrSTW4 years, 2009
in reply to Joantaatlanta
"That's a old school thing. That means an elevated heart and hand to Christ. It's like at the end of service when you raise your hand for the benediction. The left hand behind you is what the ushers tend to do called service position."

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I also recall reading online that the reason why African American church ushers hold one hand behind their back (or used to hold one hand behind their back) while they are on duty is because this was an outward sign of submission to God. (Unfortunately, I didn't document where I read this.)

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ADDENDUM - PUBLISHED ESSAY ABOUT THE EXPERIENCES OF AN AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH USHER

From http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupCulturalAid.asp?LRID=158

The African American Lectionary
A collaborative project of the African American Pulpit and American Baptist College of Nashville

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Tammy L. Kernodle, Guest Cultural Resource Commentator

Associate Professor of Musicology, Miami University, Oxford, OH

Lection –  2 Kings 22: 3-6

"The Old Testament is full of references to those individuals referred to as the doorkeepers of the Temple. In the selected lection for Usher’s Day, we find an account that speaks to the importance of the doorkeepers and how their ministry impacts all of the inner workings of the Temple. It becomes clear that if the doorkeepers failed to function properly; the day-to-day operations of the Temple would have halted. This level of importance of ushers/doorkeepers can still be witnessed today. While it is one of the familiar symbols of the Black Church, few understand the cultural importance of the church usher.

The usher board has historically been a “catchall” for those who did not know exactly where they fit within a particular congregation. But over the years, as pastors and parishioners have come to understand the function of the usher, such practices have been restricted. Similar to other auxiliary roles like that of deacons and trustees, certain spiritual attributes have become criteria for acceptance onto usher boards in a small number of churches. Leslie Parrott asserts in the book Serving as a Church Usher, “The usher board is now generally viewed as the fourth great ministry of the church, behind preaching, teaching and music respectively.” Participants within the ministry of the usher board view their primary responsibility as tending to the details of each service and insuring that, as the Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 14:40, things are done “in a fitting and orderly way.”1 

This orderly way extends beyond just philosophy and is at the center of an ethos that has developed within the auxiliary. This ethos is constructed around the belief that the usher is there to maintain order within the context of the service, assist as necessary as the Holy Spirit moves, and welcome parishioners and visitors into the sacred space of the sanctuary. This is done through intricate practices that range from rules for walking down the aisle to the proper manner for distributing offering plates. Manuals and help aides, as well as “usher schools” and “conventions,” which instruct beginner and veteran ushers in the intricacies of this ministry have also shaped a code of conduct that stretches across generational and denominational lines.

Although many usher boards have moved beyond the traditional white dresses and black suits that defined the traditional view of ushers, their role as one of the foundational ministries within the worship life of the church remains. For additional information on the etymology and history of organizations such as the National United Church Ushers Association of America, see the cultural unit written by Bernice Johnson Reagon.2 For more information regarding more traditional practices such as the “Grand March,” which was an important part of Usher Day celebrations, see Ralph Wheeler’s contribution to the lectionary from year two.3

II. An Usher’s Story - “It was military!”

Each experience as an usher, or the perspective of others about ushers, is vastly different.  This account represents Tonya Jones’ experience as an usher and her observations regarding the ministry in the church she grew up in during the 1970s in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Although she no longer participates in the ministry, she recounted fondly how important it was in shaping her maturation in the church. 

It was military! It was order! No kids running down the aisles of the church all willy-nilly. Nothing like what you see today! My momma was an usher. That was her pride and joy. She was always on the back door and on guard. Crisp uniform, white gloves—snap, snap in the military style. I became an usher because there was a rule in my house. If you didn’t sing in the choir, then you ushered. No one in my family was going to sit on a church bench and do nothing. So I came from a family where my momma and brothers ushered. And my aunt was one of the instructors at the usher school in Cincinnati.

But know that even if this was something you wanted to do, you couldn’t just stand up and be an usher. You had to be trained because everything was intricate and there were expectations as to how you were to act and look. There was an usher book, a manual you had to go through before they would let you out on the floor and you had to go to usher school. Usher school met every Saturday, and churches from all over the city of Cincinnati would participate. The school would move from church to church each week.  But the instructors remained the same and you learned a lot. Everything from the way you were suppose to turn, all of the hand signals and all of the requirements regarding your uniform, were drilled each week. You see, there were so many rules to follow. For instance, you couldn’t turn your head when ushering; you had to use your peripheral vision. The only usher allowed to turn was the one in the middle and she would signal to the rest of us. The door usher was the head usher, and she gave all of the commands and determined who went where and did what. With an usher in each aisle it meant that complete order was kept in the service. Every usher kept their left arm behind their back, especially when you went out on the floor. You didn’t scream, “I need a fan! I need an envelope!”  You performed the hand signals. If you needed an envelope, you put up two fingers on your right hand. The demeanor of an usher was serious and disciplined.

The youth ushers went through the same training as the adults. What I liked was that they partnered you with an adult—like a buddy system—and they helped you learned the ins and outs. You were gradually worked into the regular rotation and not just thrown into the service after a certain point. It was like one generation passing the torch to the next. It made us (the youth) feel that we were really contributing something to the church. My church had one Sunday a month where the youth ushers functioned alone. But even then you had to have proven to be disciplined and serious about it. I can’t believe I can remember all of the signals and rules after all these years; especially since I haven’t ushered in twenty-plus years. But being an usher made me feel important and I knew that I was contributing to the church and my family in what I was doing.

[…]

I don’t usher anymore, and when I look out from the choir stand these days I see how things changed. No one talks about the usher’s manual anymore, and the usher school is now defunct. Most of the ushers remain in the back of the church and wait until offering time or something that requires their assistance. The military precision that I witnessed and was a part of as a child is no longer evident. While many people felt it was obsessive--all of the stuff we used to do--there was something special about it. People were very serious and professional about their roles as doorkeepers for the Lord."

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This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.

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