Junior/Senior High Youth Groups
Alcoholics Anonymous-Narcotics Anonymous
The ACOLYTE ministry is one of service: service to God, to the altar party, to the congregation, and to the community in which the acolyte belongs. When acolytes were first used in church services, they answered the responses for the people. This was done because the common people did not speak Latin, and most acolytes were boys and young men in monasteries and church seminaries. Women and girls became a part of this vital and important ministry beginning in the early 1980s.
These days, men and women, boys and girls all serve as acolytes. They provide help to the deacon and priest with setting the table for communion, as well as leading processionalsand recessionals, ringing the Sanctus bells at appropriate points in the service, and lighting and extinguishing candles before and after services. Acolytes are often the first members of the chancel party the congregation sees before the service actually begins.
The acolyte gets to see and hear the service as well as participate which brings new meanings and dimensions to the words and actions of the priest and deacon and the readings from the Bible and Gospel. It is a rewarding and enlightening service for many as they mature and grow spiritually. For information on becoming an acolyte, contact Jackie Evans.