Forming an Altar Server Program

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Howdy folks!

Need a bit of help from those of you that head up your altar server programs. I have been placed in that role at my parish, and I would love to hear how some of y’all run your programs.

Christmas mass was a mess, they didn’t know where to go, what to do, they laughed anytime something went wrong, they made father wait for the sacramentary…basically I am starting from scratch with these kids.

I do believe it is important to impart some discipline, I intend to suspend those servers that do not behave with decorum, they will be able to serve until they can do a run through without any problems, they will know all the responses, all the parts of the mass, so on and so forth.

Help me people! Give me ideas!
Stephen
 
begin with thorough instruction on the Mass itself, what is happening, when, why it is happening, the parts of the Mass, the role of the priest, deacon, servers and other ministers, and the role of the faithful.

do not accept anyone who does not attend Mass regularly with his family, or who has not made his first communion. You would be surprised how often this basic rule is broken.

They cannot understand isolated actions and movements if they do not have the context of the Mass and its parts and the dialogue.

insist on basic rules of cleanliness and dress- at least school pants and shirt and leather shoes, black or brown, polished and brushed, and neat hair.

then take them on a tour of the church so they can learn about all the furnishings and items used in Mass, as well as the devotional and catechetical content of statues, windows, furnishings etc.

Only then are you ready to begin to instruct them in their ministry. Have a meeting with the boys and their parents so everyone knows what is expected, especially attendance at training sessions. Have Father address this group about his expectations.

Liguori and Liturgy Training Publications both have books to help train servers. Spend some time on their spiritual formation as well, especially a few minutes of prayer and reflection with the Gospel for the coming Sunday.
 
Included with all those suggestions, we also have a contract for the servers/parents/parish staff to agree to. First of all, attendance, punctuality are all part of it. Plus in if for some reason that they cannot attend, family conflict in scheduling, illness, they are given a person to report to as well as number of alternate servers whereby they can arrange a sub to fill in when they cannot make it.

We also have a sign in book for the servers, and the servers are rewarded for their dedication and ministry.
Emphasis placed on their acceptance of responsibility.

We have a public ceremony where they are then inducted into the ministry, much like our Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharists, Ministers of Care, Catechectical teachers, Lectors and Cantors.

We also go into the explanation of colors used in vestments and why, what is expected for funerals, weddings, special holy days etc. With alot of affirmation thrown in.
Obviously, you have to redo what has already become bad policy for the kids. Fortunately, they are usually receptive and grateful for the assistance. Less stressful for them and for all those who are serving in the liturgy. And before we do any teaching, we pray!
 
Try to get the Fathers of the children to be altar servers too and have them serve with their children. We have had huge success with fathers and their kids. DOn’t be afraid to kick the kids out if they are screw offs.
 
Main thing is patience. When they do something incorrectly be sure to correct them before it becomes a bad habit for them. Explain to them why things should be done certain ways. Always be patient though and kind.

God Bless,
Matt
 
Explain the real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and that every thing they do must reflect on this fact of Jesus’ bodily presence. That is why they must do everything in complete silence and reverence. They cannot forget Him at any time during the Mass. Also, the servers have to learn not to distract by their behavior, others in the church from talking to or being aware of Him at any time during the Mass or in the church afterwards.
Genuflecting in fromt of the tabernacle every time they pass in front of the altar is a way of helping our bodies and minds not to forget He is there. No smiling, laughing, etc. Tell them where to put there hands at every part of the Mass. Have a plan for sickness, sneezing, coughing. Show the altar boy captain how to direct the others on the altar in a very discreet way.
Practice everything with them. Watch them genuflect. Correct them when they make mistakes. Cut them if they don’t do it right.
Ultimately, the priest has to enforce conformity to the rules.

Having a pizza party and group games is a great for the altar boys to do once or twice a year.

Have annual or semi-annual training schools. Require refesher courses for at least two years. Those who don’t seem to get need to go to several schooling sessions.

Learning to Serve by Fr.Charles J. Carmody from Angelus Press originally published in !962 is the best book I’ve seen for altar boy training. It explains some of the more subtle aspects. I ordered it from Kolbe Academy.
 
**See if you can get in touch with Assumption Grotto in Detroit.

I went to a lovely service they had for the Assumption of Mary in August. The altar boys ranged in age from about 8 to 18.

They were all dressed properly, right down to the black slacks with black dress shoes. The older boys helped and guided the younger ones and they all did such a lovely job.

There was no laughing, no making the priests wait for anything, no type of disruptions. They all acted like little priests.

Maggie**
 
i am in charge of our Alter Server programme here in Naas. I have only two pieces of advice for you if you wish to produce Altar Servers who act with reverence.
  1. Teach them with conviction.
  2. Do not be afraid to answer TRUTHFULLY the really difficult questions they will ask.
We have our weekly meetings in the Church as the parish centre is undergoing complete upgrade! I rermember only a few weeks ago one server asked me bluntly “Is there really a hell?”
I was amazed at the number of heads of those ‘praying’ who turned to look at me and listen to my answer.

I was put on the spot but interiorly felt I had to tell them the truth. Yes I said there is a hell and never let anyone tell you there isn’t. This led into a lesson on mortal sin and the sacrament of confession.

A week after we were invited to a friends house for dinner and to that day I had not yet met with his wife. We all sat down to dinner and I noticed that there was a wink exchanged from one lady to another. Then I heard “It is him” Now I stopped eating and had to ask what exactly they meant.

I was in the Church only last week and I saw this guy with a bunch of young people. As I passed him I heard him say “Yes there is a hell and never let anyone tell you there isn’t.” I partially guessd that the guy was you and I said I would confirm it with my friend with a wink if it was. She said she was very impressed and now can’t wait until her children are of serving age so that they can get ‘real’ instruction.

You just never know where your words will go or whom they will affect.

If you can manage this much then the rest will fall into place.

With the meetings that fall on the first friday we incorporate 20 mins silent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament before leaving the Church to hold the remaining 40 mins in the Parish Hall. I would urge you to incorporate some kind of adoration once a month. Servers always have some family or personal worry to bring to the Lord just as we do. It also fosters within them a great deep devotion to the Lord.

We are hoping in the new year to have one of our 6 Priest’s visit once a month and give them a meditation with the possibility of Confession during the meeting time. Possibily on the last Friday of the month.

Best of Luck with your new ministry! May God reward you richly.
 
I do all of the training myself and at special masses (and services), like Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil, I hold practice the morning of the mass or service, just for that mass or service, and then I act as master of ceremonies at the mass or service. That way everything goes much smoother and the servers don’t have as much anxiety (or fool around as much). Also, at these special masses the priest often gets a little confused at what goes next, and he apreciates the guidence so that he can concentrate on the mass and not have to worry about missing a part of the mass etc.

By the way, it is recommended that there be a master of ceremonies, for just these reasons and yes, this job can be preformed by a lay person. This makes it much more prayerful for everyone.
 
suggestion, and I hope all here involved in any liturgical ministry are listening:

meet with your priests, liturgy committee, deacons, cantors etc. and explain what you are trying to do. Ask for their (name removed by moderator)ut and suggestions (well the pastor goes without saying, but listen to everyone). then, and this is essential, remind them that these boys are being educated most of all by watching and listening to what everyone else does.

Remind them about reverence, genuflexion, care of the sacred books and articles, and the altar. Remind them to refrain from unnecessary speech, laughter, joking in the sacristy and elsewhere before and after Mass. Remind them to always assume the microphone is on. These kids are extremely impressionable and one rauncy joke in the sacristy or slapdash handling of sacred vessels makes more impression than all the formal teaching. Ideally all should be meeting weekly to pray with the Sunday scripture in preparation for Mass. If they won’t join you, at least do it with your servers, and invite them to participate.
My brothers left the Church in part (I am quite sure there were other reasons and this is just an excuse, but it left a big impression) because of irreverent behavior by young priests they witnessed in the sacristy as altar servers.
 
Morning Glory said:
**See if you can get in touch with Assumption Grotto in Detroit.

I went to a lovely service they had for the Assumption of Mary in August. The altar boys ranged in age from about 8 to 18.

They were all dressed properly, right down to the black slacks with black dress shoes. The older boys helped and guided the younger ones and they all did such a lovely job.

There was no laughing, no making the priests wait for anything, no type of disruptions. They all acted like little priests.

Maggie**
Click to expand...

I am going to attempt to see if Grotto has anything published. If not, maybe I oughta consider writing the guide, pictures and all.

Our altar server corp at Assumption Grotto is approximately 60 males, ranging in age from 8 on up to quite senior. One gentleman serves faithfully each morning, getting there around 5:15 to start opening things up in the morning and getting things ready prior to the 7:00am Lauds, which is open to the public. 7:30 Mass follows. This guy, either near or in retirement, serves 7 days a week, including the 6:30am Sunday Mass. There is another guy who regularly handles the 4:30 Mass that is probably in his mid-40s and some others in their 30’s. These guys all coach the smaller ones and often serve as lectors, as well. Most lectors are male. I’ve only seen a female read once.

I find the formations very interesting and it is clear that they are choreographed. For example, when we approach the Eucharistic Prayer, you would see two middle height ones come out from one side, and three taller ones from the other side and they cross past each other so that it is tall-short-tall-short-tall as they kneel behind the priest. Then, it is not uncommon on Sundays to see 3 additional very young boys in the 8-10 age range serving as torch-bearers. They come out from either side leading into the Eucharistic Prayer carrying their torches. When they are all kneeling it looks like the picture below. Now, our priests opt to use the ad orientem stance for this Novus Ordo, and they also opt to continue a tradition from days long ago when the chasuble was lifted due to weight during elevation. The chasubles are no longer heavy, but the chasuble is still lifted for traditional purposes. Just before consecration and just after, the one holding up the chasuble is back in his spot, usually on the center-right. There are still more altar boys at this mass, in the kneelers to either side of the altar. The priests like the boys serving and it is encouraged. They don’t discourage anyone due to age. The pastor told me recently that they just stay on and he figures why should he set an age limit.



And, here are some shots from the Grotto itself on August 15th, 2005. Three Masses were celebrated. The first appeared on the front page of the Wanderer. You will only see a few altar boys here, but in the next picture you can see there are many more.



Look at the wee little guy looking at the camera. On the far right is the middle-aged guy that heads up the 4:00 Mass and did this 7:00 pm Assumption Day outdoor Mass. This picture here still does not capture all of the altar boys involved.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a...Day 2005 at Assumption Grotto/PICT0160_a2.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a...Day 2005 at Assumption Grotto/PICT0160_a2.jpg
 
Hello friends!

Although I didn’t get the amount of responses I was hoping for, especially considering how it seems most folks feel on this subject, I want to thank all of you who had something to share, and be sure I will be updating you on my progress!

God Bless,
Stephen
 
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slewi:
Howdy folks!

Need a bit of help from those of you that head up your altar server programs. I have been placed in that role at my parish, and I would love to hear how some of y’all run your programs.

Christmas mass was a mess, they didn’t know where to go, what to do, they laughed anytime something went wrong, they made father wait for the sacramentary…basically I am starting from scratch with these kids.

I do believe it is important to impart some discipline, I intend to suspend those servers that do not behave with decorum, they will be able to serve until they can do a run through without any problems, they will know all the responses, all the parts of the mass, so on and so forth.

Help me people! Give me ideas!
Stephen
Click to expand...
Here are my recommendations:

1.) Pray and continue to pray, both as an individual and as a group.

2.) If I were you I would make certain that I was truly in charge of the program before I stepped in. You may have some difficult decisions to make and you need your pastor’s 100% backing. You cannot waste your time engaging in politics when you should be selecting and training servers.

3.) Read-up on altar serving. Choose one of the available handbooks for you to use with your team.

4.) Learn how to serve and then serve as much as you can. The daily EWTN Mass and a good handbook is almost all you need. Watch EWTN Masses, tape them, study them. Their servers are outstanding.

5.) With a great deal of prayer and tact, carefully choose 4-6 trainees. I would personally choose 3 adult males and 3 males around 12 years of age. Choose them with care and make certain they have a deep interest. This is an extremely critical step.

6.) Train the servers with 60-90 minute evening sessions and then “on the job” training when they serve with you. Make sure there is truly an “investment” for becoming an altar server. Some people may wince, but 8-10 hours of training at night and at least a half dozen Masses served with you (or another capable server) should be the very beginning for what’s required to be a server.

7.) Build espirit de corps through excellent in service and sharp vesting. In time you will have people searching you out, wanting to be servers. At that point I would make the training even more complete.

8.) Start a group of the Archconfraternity of St Stephen at your parish: guildofststephen.org/index.htm

Good luck.
 
Right now there are about 4 females in their early teens and two guys, early and late teens, serving mass, respectively. And I mean serving mass in the loosest sense of the word.

Father has already told me he wants girls involved as well. :rolleyes:

He is however, pretty infuriated with the current crop, so I will be putting an ad in the bulletin “…looking for 4 - 6 devout men and ladies to serve our Lord in the Sacrifice of the Mass.” or something like that with my contact number. Any ideas on how I can word it tactfully? Hopefully more men will apply. But I somehow doubt it. But I am optimistic none the less! I am going to try to set something up with father for this week. I’ll let y’all know how it goes!

And please keep the comments coming!

Stephen
 
A number of weeks ago, there was a link to a booklet of instruction for altar servers. I printed it out…it was quite well done. I gave it to my pastor… and now I can’t find the link.

Anyone remember what it was?? Thanks in advance.
 
I believe the Guild of St. Stephen is linked to the SSPX. And if so, that’s not gonna fly with father. He already called FSSP “radicals”, so he would probably be far less charitable to SSPX affiliation…

The reason I ask is because I search for an American branch of GOSS, and found an SSPX site talking about them and that they are being used in SSPX chapels…

Stephen
 
A few words of a former altar server:
  1. I believe the priest picked out kids (only males) to be altar servers based on how frequently / regularly a family went to church.Before I become an altar server, myself and a few other candidates went through some training. The training mosly consisted of what you do during a mass and how you supposed to behave during the sacrifice.
  2. We were sort of ‘ordained’ to be altar servers. I remember that we stood at the foot of the altar in our reqular clothes. During the mass the priest annouced that there he was going to initiate us into that ministry. After some prayers each of us put on her own surplice and we finished the mass as altar servers. That realy stood out in my mind.
  3. We also regularly met during the year with the priest who talked about where our shortcomings were and to explain why being an altar server was so important during the mass.
  4. There were also some classes and courses that I was sent to deepen the faith, learn more about the faith to help me to understand my faith and the sacrifice of the mass better.
  5. Since my church was on the way to school, I very often stop there before going to classes. The priest had a log where he marked who served that day. During meetings (see 3) the priest also ‘rewarded’ those who served the most with some prizes - books, Bibles, rosaries, etc.
 
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