Ministry Highlight: Altar Guild & Altar Servers

Dear St. Paul’s,

I would like to say something about the Altar Guild and Altar Servers are two ministries that work very closely together to provide support for the clergy and prepare the cathedral for the services. Also, the servers assist during the services so that the service flows smoothly.

Many of the dedicated members are on both teams. This is a help so they can be better informed about what should be happening and what vessels should be where.

The work requires being a team player and following the worksheets to get the service to be done smoothly and seamlessly!

Talk to a member of the teams at coffee hour on Sunday. The two ministries are providing the coffee hour treats and will be there to talk to you.

Konnie Dadmun, Canon for Altar Guild

What does the altar guild do? They are a volunteer group of the parish whose ministry is to care for the altar, vestments, vessels, and altar linens of the parish. Altar Guild members prepare the sanctuary for services, and clean up afterwards. Altar Guild members frequently supervise the decoration of the sanctuary of the parish with flowers.

What does an altar server do? The altar server are volunteers who as acolytes, or vergers, or thurifers, assist priests and deacons during the Eucharist and other liturgical ceremonies so that the liturgy can be conducted with grace and reverence.

In the photos below, you can get a sense for what these two ministries often see as they go about the work they are called into, like on this bulletin board in our sacristy, the service preparation area adjacent to the chancel, where the altar and choir stalls are at the front of the nave, the main sanctuary space where we hold our main services. As you can see, there’s a lot to keep track of! You can also find some more info about what the altar servers do by clicking here.

They try to keep things looking good too, whether by ironing…

Or polishing!

And sometimes getting new people prepared!

It takes a village to make it all come together as elegantly as possible, including the altar servers. Here, you can see the vergers getting and keeping everyone informed as the services begin.  

All of these people make it possible for us to have a flowing service, and that keeps the clergy smiling, too, as ou can see in this picture below 🙂