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Angel_Bradford
Guest
I am trying to locate a good training maual to use when training altar servers. There are several available online through amazon but I’m not familiar with them. Can anyone suggest one?
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John_Lilburne
Guest
Four books I have are:
Called to Serve, ISBN 0879736631, 48 pages with good illustrations of things like the aspergillum.
The Ministry of Servers, ISBN 0814613004, 47 pages, no illustrations of different things.
Serve the Lord with Gladness, ISBN 1568541511, 106 pages. I think an impressive book, with labelled photographs of things, and detailed instructions for how teams of servers can divide the things to do. Designed for children, but comprehensive.
Ministry at the Altar, ISBN 0855742038, 198 pages. Published in Australia in 1980, so probably difficult for you to get. It does not have illustrations of items.
All of my copies of the above books were published before the 2002 Roman Missal, so they may not be up to date regarding changes.
For example, it has in the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :
“274. … If, however, the tabernacle with the Most Blessed Sacrament is present in the sanctuary, the
priest, the deacon, and the other ministers genuflect when they approach the altar and when they
depart from it, but not during the celebration of Mass itself.”
This was a change made in 2002, so I expect the above books will have the wrong instructions about this.
Called to Serve, ISBN 0879736631, 48 pages with good illustrations of things like the aspergillum.
The Ministry of Servers, ISBN 0814613004, 47 pages, no illustrations of different things.
Serve the Lord with Gladness, ISBN 1568541511, 106 pages. I think an impressive book, with labelled photographs of things, and detailed instructions for how teams of servers can divide the things to do. Designed for children, but comprehensive.
Ministry at the Altar, ISBN 0855742038, 198 pages. Published in Australia in 1980, so probably difficult for you to get. It does not have illustrations of items.
All of my copies of the above books were published before the 2002 Roman Missal, so they may not be up to date regarding changes.
For example, it has in the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :
“274. … If, however, the tabernacle with the Most Blessed Sacrament is present in the sanctuary, the
priest, the deacon, and the other ministers genuflect when they approach the altar and when they
depart from it, but not during the celebration of Mass itself.”
This was a change made in 2002, so I expect the above books will have the wrong instructions about this.
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bpbasilphx
Guest
Since there are so many local practices, preferences of pastors, and personnell available in different parishes, I don’t think one already packaged server’s manual will do for all churches.
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churchsecretary
Guest
I agree with you, basil. My pastor simply wrote up a set of rules, and he guides the servers each time they serve, especially the “newbies.” My son, age 10, is a newbie right now, and the rule is that they serve as a 4th server for the first 3 times (with 3 “seasoned” servers) and then they serve for the next 6 mos. or so with 2 seasoned servers (i.e., no 2 newbies on together!) I have seen Fr. gently guide a server & whisper, too.
Practice makes perfect…or nearly so.
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Mrs_Sally
Guest
Our previous PV, who was in charge of the altar servers when my son first trained, made a great little dvd for the boys. Kind of “Goofus & Gallant” approach, with one boy being the ‘bad’ altar server and throwing his cassock on the floor after etc. and the other being the ‘good’ boy and listening to the priest. Very effective.I agree with you, basil. My pastor simply wrote up a set of rules, and he guides the servers each time they serve, especially the “newbies.” My son, age 10, is a newbie right now, and the rule is that they serve as a 4th server for the first 3 times (with 3 “seasoned” servers) and then they serve for the next 6 mos. or so with 2 seasoned servers (i.e., no 2 newbies on together!) I have seen Fr. gently guide a server & whisper, too.
Practice makes perfect…or nearly so.
The nice thing about it is when he shows and names everything–it is the actual item they will see in our sacristy, not a generic version.
The scheduler also does try to be sure that each new boy is scheduled with an experienced server. What my son found is that there is nothing like being the only server for the early morning daily Mass to learn!
We have a new PV who does not require the boys to do quite as many ceremonial things (ie, incense and ‘lucifers’ for the Gospel) so the job is a bit easier now. But I think the boys really like doing those extra things, so they are very willing to learn about them.
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Angel_Bradford
Guest
Thanks for the great information and suggestions:thumbsup:!!!
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need_to_know
Guest
This manual (link) is very comprehensive.
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threeboys
Guest
I agree. One of my boys is one of the more experienced servers in our parish. He encounters different practices when someone other than our pastor says Mass.
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Angel_Bradford
Guest
It is for the revised Mass.
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