Age of altar servers

  • Thread starter Thread starter KimberlyAnn0218
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
40.png
St_Hilary:
Thhere are no set ages in being a server; in fact, at my parish, the high school students will not serve, so the pastor is having the adults serve.

Children are not interested in serving any longer; in factl,l after t hey receive Confirmation, you never see them at the Sunday Liturgy.

God bless you
 
Children are not interested in serving any longer; in factl,l after t hey receive Confirmation, you never see them at the Sunday Liturgy.
Aw, no! That is horrible! What is wrong? What is causing this?
 
Aw, no! That is horrible! What is wrong? What is causing this?
You mean you haven’t experienced the phenomenon of parents presenting their kids for catechesis for First Communion and then once they’ve received never setting foot in church again except, maybe, at Christmas? Lucky you. It’s pretty much SOP here. Out of a class of 20 you might have a third who are in church regularly.

In our town what’s causing it is lack of anything but sacramental preparation. There is no ongoing catechesis. Hockey is more important than Mass and even a member of the baptismal prep team misses Mass through most of the hockey season because, well, “You have to compromise.” :eek:
 
You mean you haven’t experienced the phenomenon of parents presenting their kids for catechesis for First Communion and then once they’ve received never setting foot in church again except, maybe, at Christmas? Lucky you. It’s pretty much SOP here. Out of a class of 20 you might have a third who are in church regularly.
My parish is pretty strict. Those preparing for sacraments must be registered and active members of the parish, meaning that they are using their donation envelopes every Sunday, for at least four months before we will even talk to them about beginning preparation. Children in RE are issued punch cards for attending Mass. Those not using a contribution envelope after a few months are inactivated from our system. Yet we still have quite a few members who do not pick up their envelopes in a given year, or are disappointed when we turn them down for a sacrament. But, in the years we have held this policy, we have managed to train people pretty well about it.
 
My parish is pretty strict. Those preparing for sacraments must be registered and active members of the parish, meaning that they are using their donation envelopes every Sunday, for at least four months before we will even talk to them about beginning preparation. Children in RE are issued punch cards for attending Mass. Those not using a contribution envelope after a few months are inactivated from our system. Yet we still have quite a few members who do not pick up their envelopes in a given year, or are disappointed when we turn them down for a sacrament. But, in the years we have held this policy, we have managed to train people pretty well about it.
all of the above is a horrible abuse and violation of canon law rights.
 
all of the above is a horrible abuse and violation of canon law rights.
Tell that to our bishop then. We are guided by an extremely orthodox and faithful pastor who is in good standing, and there has not been a peep of complaint from above that we are abusing anything. Indeed, we regularly receive seminarians and the newly ordained priests to train them in the ways of parish life and pastoral care.
 
When I was a kid, every boy in school was given the opportunity to sign up in 2nd grade once they’d received First Communion. Typically, every boy did, then within a month or so, they’d weed out the ones who didn’t actually want to do it. I was one of the go-to servers and served regularly from 2nd-8th grade, then occasionally for another year or so. For a few years I served at least one Mass per week and was also honored to serve 2-3 Christmas Midnight Masses and a couple Easter Sundays, not to mention countless funerals.

At my current parish, kids can’t start until 5th grade and it’s open to boys and girls. My daughter just signed up, in fact. Despite allowing girls, we seem to have a chronic shortage of servers and usually have an adult server at least once per weekend. I know one local parish only has adult servers, although it’s a very small parish with an older population so there aren’t many kids to choose from. When we go to Mass there, there’s usually more kids in our pew than in the rest of the church.
 
Okay I am Anglican
The two boys, err lads now, one is 16 and the other is 21. Their younger brother is about 12. I am female, and am 44 and the youngest adult server…

Be it that I think your two lads may be feeling bored or something, outgrown it stuff and think that age might help them out to get out of it.

Why not with them and the priest or them and the priest without you, may be they chat with the priest individually so he and them could work out as a team what else could be on offer for them to encourage them to stay. May be take on some other roles too in the church like the readings or something that will help them feel that they haven’t outgrown it per se. I bet that is the bottom line of their discomfort rather than they are too old.

With the priest they may feel happy to continue or choose their own route. Priests are good listeners…👍
 
Eucharistic ministers would be awesome! Please pray for vocations to the priesthood, because the more Eucharistic ministers (priests) we have, the fewer Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHCs) are needed!
Yes! Let’s ordain em’!
 
I have been looking for videos what give the real and best message about alter serving
and this video is it

benefaciat vobis Deus et vos custodiam :signofcross:
 
I am an altar server. I’m 49 years old. 😃

If I don’t become a deacon, then I hope to be buried in a cassock and surplice so that everyone can say that I served at my own funeral. I think that would be fun. 😛

-Tim-
😃

My husband is 82 and has served from age 7. I must pass on your comment on cassock and surplice at his funeral. That will be manageable 6 ft below ground than the pipe organ in Church. 🙂

My son is 32 and still serves. Son-in-law is 33 and still serves. One of my grandsons was invited to serve at age 6 even before First Holy Communion because his Parish Priest would often find him kneeling in prayer (forehead to the floor) in front of the altar.
 
I watched this video (it was very nice) and then read the comments. I was especially touched by the one made by the username “LongSkirts1”. I went to her youtube page to see more about her and was horrified that this seemingly devout women (hence her “long skirts” and sweet commentary about her sons) would end up with posting her own comments laden with profanity and the “F-bomb” about others! (see comment about David Parkman) :eek: youtube.com/user/LongSkirts1

She is promoting SSPX videos, too. Doesn’t do them any favors by acting like that, does she?

Not to do a total derail- that video would be great for any altar server to watch for training and also for a reminder about their very special job!
 
You mean you haven’t experienced the phenomenon of parents presenting their kids for catechesis for First Communion and then once they’ve received never setting foot in church again except, maybe, at Christmas? Lucky you. It’s pretty much SOP here. Out of a class of 20 you might have a third who are in church regularly.

In our town what’s causing it is lack of anything but sacramental preparation. There is no ongoing catechesis. Hockey is more important than Mass and even a member of the baptismal prep team misses Mass through most of the hockey season because, well, “You have to compromise.” :eek:
No stones thrown by me. Trying to find that perfect balance between nto driving your family from the church and obeidience is hard. I am trying to keep the kids active.
 
I served through college and even on a few occasions after graduation.
 
For servers, there is no such thing as old. I have been Serving since I was probably about 6 or 7. I have been Serving since then and I am now 17. In fact, I can probably thank Altar Serving for my Priestly vocation. I grew up on the Altar, assisting the Priest, etc. I loved and still love it. Its as close to the real thing as I can get, without actually being the real thing (For now… :D).
 
Thhere are no set ages in being a server; in fact, at my parish, the high school students will not serve, so the pastor is having the adults serve.

Children are not interested in serving any longer; in factl,l after t hey receive Confirmation, you never see them at the Sunday Liturgy.

God bless you
:(:(:(:(:(😦
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top