Girls as alter servers

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I agree. There needs to be an effort to recruit by EVERYONE: parents, teachers, friends and peers.
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AltarMan:
That “notice” may not be enough.

How often are boys and their parents contacted directly? How often do existing altar boys recuit their friends? Is there a knights/pages of the altar program at your parish? Does your pastor ever preach on the need for servers?

The best recruiter I ever heard of was a PE coach at the local Catholic high school. He actively recruited youg men to serve at the altar. After a few years it become an honor (the group had quite an espirit de corps – it’s very cool to serve) and he had more volunteers then the could handle…
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George Waters:
I do not have an issue with girls being alter-servers. If the boys in a parish are unwilling to serve because of whatever excuse (and anything that keeps one from serving God is simply that, an excuse) than the Father needs someone to assist him. We have about a 50/50 split in my parish **and as the sacristan I can attest to the greater reverence and attention to detail that most of the girls exhibit. **

No, girls can not be priests, but they can become Sisters, or good Catholic mothers who will teach their children the respect for service that the boys of their generation seem to be lacking. What was that Paul said? “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female.”
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The exact reverse is true in my parish.
 
Amen!
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AltarMan:
There are dozens of other ways she could choose to serve God.

Also, I don’t think the current shortage of priests is helped by an increasing number of altar girls…
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AltarMan:
It only becomes an issue when people try to use it as an excuse.

For those tying to justify the use of female altar servers by suggesting a “crisis of servers” were it not for female servers, perhaps they should instead put a little more effort into recruiting more males…
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What has happen at our parish is now the boys do not even attrend mass any more. We have 14 boys attending CCD but not one go to Mass at any time. They all have better things to do.
 
You don’t see religious sisters celebrating the Mass, do you? They actively participate in the celebration but they will NEVER celebrate the Mass like the priests do.
That’s the way the Church has always been and the way it always SHOULD be. If women are ever allowed to celebrate Mass, I hope I’m dead and gone by then.
I see the step of allowing girls to be altar servers gearing toward that transition of women being priests and celebrating Mass.
I’m not attacking those of you with daughters who currently serve because it was the decision of the Church leaders to let that happen. I’m simply saying it’s a decision that was made that contradicts Church tradition and I sure hope that this is as far as it goes.
 
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AltarMan:
It only becomes an issue when people try to use it as an excuse.

For those tying to justify the use of female altar servers by suggesting a “crisis of servers” were it not for female servers, perhaps they should instead put a little more effort into recruiting more males…
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Well my friend, I am not using it as an excuse. As I said it is a non-issue in my parish and to me. Like it or not the bottom line is in many parishes there are more girls willing to serve than boys. Who do we blame? The boys, the parents, Catholic education, the priests, the bishop, society? Does it matter?

So whose fault is the lack of recruiting success? The people who don’t have a problem with girls serving or those who insist alter-servers need to be boys?

If a Catholic is willing to serve they should be allowed to serve.
 
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mrs_abbott:
You don’t see religious sisters celebrating the Mass, do you? They actively participate in the celebration but they will NEVER celebrate the Mass like the priests do.
That’s the way the Church has always been and the way it always SHOULD be. If women are ever allowed to celebrate Mass, I hope I’m dead and gone by then.
I see the step of allowing girls to be altar servers gearing toward that transition of women being priests and celebrating Mass.
I’m not attacking those of you with daughters who currently serve because it was the decision of the Church leaders to let that happen. I’m simply saying it’s a decision that was made that contradicts Church tradition and I sure hope that this is as far as it goes.
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No female sacristans, lectors, greeters, ushers or EMs then? Women can participate as long as it is only in the pews?

As far as contradicting tradition, traditions are man-made and the Catholic church as changed many, many things over the years.
 
Ok, point taken, i didn’t mean to make this about me, but re-reading my post, maybe I did. Sorry. We’re all expressing our opinions here, though, right? Some people think girls shouldn’t serve, others think they should. Obviously, decisions have been made in the past that it’s now ok for them to serve. I would just love to enjoy Mass and hear God’s word and NOT worry about the servers! It just bothers me that this topic keeps coming up. The girls aren’t “taking over” or they aren’t "icky ", they just want to help. Can’t we just all enjoy Mass and ignore the kids up front ( ignore might be a bad word, can’t think of another right now ) and just concentrate on the celebrant and the gospel? Makes more sense to me ( but then again, maybe this is just all about me…😉 no offense anybody…)
Peace!
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MrS:
Yes Jesus loved and loves us all equally.

But your comments are so obviously (to me) about you and not about Him. Perhaps if you try to make this and other issues
“Less me and more Him”,
you will see the real benefits of traditional decisions that lay people have unfortunately changed for their benefit and needs.
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Beaver:
What has happen at our parish is now the boys do not even attrend mass any more. We have 14 boys attending CCD but not one go to Mass at any time. They all have better things to do.
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That’s just plain odd.

Are you honestly suggesting that no boys/young men attend Sunday Mass at your parish? I simply don’t buy that.

Even if you attend a tiny mission, you still have 14 boys in CCD. Those boys should be required to attend Mass via their parents. There’s your pool of possible servers right there…
 
George Waters:
Well my friend, I am not using it as an excuse. As I said it is a non-issue in my parish and to me. Like it or not the bottom line is in many parishes there are more girls willing to serve than boys. Who do we blame? The boys, the parents, Catholic education, the priests, the bishop, society? Does it matter?

So whose fault is the lack of recruiting success? The people who don’t have a problem with girls serving or those who insist alter-servers need to be boys?

If a Catholic is willing to serve they should be allowed to serve.
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If a Catholic might just possibly be discerning a call to the priesthood or permanent diaconate, they should be given preference.
 
George Waters:
No female sacristans, lectors, greeters, ushers or EMs then? Women can participate as long as it is only in the pews?

As far as contradicting tradition, traditions are man-made and the Catholic church as changed many, many things over the years.
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Well, let’s see…
  • First women cannot be lectors, but they can be readers. That’s that.
  • While the position of usher has been traditionally filled by men, it’s certainly now open to women yet I don’t see many women clamoring to be ushers at least around here. I find that fascinating.
  • The position of greeter seems especially suited to females.
  • I’m not sure what an “EM” is, but it would be nice to see all EMsHC abolished for good by having enough priests, deacons and instituted acolytes.
  • Women cannot be sacristans in some Catholic churches anyways – they can’t venture beyond the iconostasis.
  • None of the above positions foster vocations to the priesthood or diaconate like serving at the altar.
  • None of the above positions have such an ugly genesis (abuse) as that of female altar servers.
Next?
 
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AltarMan:
There are dozens of other ways she could choose to serve God.
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But the fact is that Rome and our bishops - to whom we are to be obedient - have given their blessing to have girls serve on the alter. So if a girl wants to serve God as an alter server, I don’t see any reason why she shouldn’t. If someone is upset about female alter servers, it should be taken to the bishop, not addressed at the girls who are legitimately participating in a ministry that is available to them.

Personally, it is not a change I pushed for, but when our bishop allowed female alter servers, I was thrilled with the opportunity. It was an honor and a privilege to assist the priest during Mass. I certainly wasn’t a wannabe priestess - it never even crossed my mind. For me, it was simply the chance to assist at the Lord’s table. If given the opportunity, why would anyone pass that up?
 
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dhgray:
YES you are wrong on this. My daughter asked to be an alter server because she wants to serve God. You were right in what you were taught as alter serving being a platue to becoming a priest. However, (as a society) we are not encouraging our sons to become priests, as usual, the women (girls) have to pick up the slack.
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I agree w/ you Davis… I have two grandchildren who are Altar Servers, one is a boy and one is a girl and they serve together proudly serving at the Altar of God.
 
I’ll add one more thing. While some will discount the following as judemental, bigoted or just plain false, I’m simply reporting what I (and others) see.

At my parish if you attend an altar server orientation meeting (held at 7pm, which I have), 80-90% of the new potentail servers will be young girls. Without exception they will be accompanied by their mothers. Not by their fathers, and not by both parents. This is not true of male candidates.

While I have only been to a few such meetings (as an instructor), each and every mother that I have seen has been known sexist/feminist/“we need female priestesses” presences around the parish. It’s very clear that the mother are pushing their daughters to be servers. I would guess the wash-out rate is at least 90%, suggesting the girls weren’t too interested to begin with.

There is something deeply wrong with the notion of female altar servers and though approved (currently) by the Church, I see some definate practical negatives.
 
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maryalene:
But the fact is that Rome and our bishops - to whom we are to be obedient - have given their blessing to have girls serve on the alter. So if a girl wants to serve God as an alter server, I don’t see any reason why she shouldn’t. If someone is upset about female alter servers, it should be taken to the bishop, not addressed at the girls who are legitimately participating in a ministry that is available to them.

Personally, it is not a change I pushed for, but when our bishop allowed female alter servers, I was thrilled with the opportunity. It was an honor and a privilege to assist the priest during Mass. I certainly wasn’t a wannabe priestess - it never even crossed my mind. For me, it was simply the chance to assist at the Lord’s table. If given the opportunity, why would anyone pass that up?
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Oh, don’t get me wrong. I am well aware that it’s approved by the Holy See and I would be upset if a layperson in my parish was actively trying to stop females from serving (as they do with males around here) via backroom tactics.

I am however quite pleased to learn when either a bishop or priest instructs the use of male-only altar servers in their diocese or individual Masses.

The more I think about it though, the more I resent the sleazy genesis of allowing female altar servers – massive abuse. If these forums exist prior to approval by the Holy See, you can bet there would have been people actively supporting the ongoing abuse.

In the end though there is one thing that trumps everything else: There is no better way to foster vocations to the priesthood or permanent diaconate than by serving at the altar and that reason alone should make female altar servers all but nonexistant…
 
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AltarMan:
I’ll add one more thing. While some will discount the following as judemental, bigoted or just plain false, I’m simply reporting what I (and others) see.

At my parish if you attend an altar server orientation meeting (held at 7pm, which I have), 80-90% of the new potentail servers will be young girls. Without exception they will be accompanied by their mothers. Not by their fathers, and not by both parents. This is not true of male candidates.

While I have only been to a few such meetings (as an instructor), each and every mother that I have seen has been known sexist/feminist/“we need female priestesses” presences around the parish. It’s very clear that the mother are pushing their daughters to be servers. I would guess the wash-out rate is at least 90%, suggesting the girls weren’t too interested to begin with.

There is something deeply wrong with the notion of female altar servers and though approved (currently) by the Church, I see some definate practical negatives.
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EDIT
I was a CCD teacher for many years and constantly encouraged the boys to become Altar Servers…never the girls…but the girls were the ones who on their own, wanted to serve.
My granddaughter is serving to help her brother who is younger and not as ready to come forward to be a server even though his father served the Altar till he was16!
She has no aspirations to become a Priestess…I can assure you! She did it as an act of kindness and now my grandson is doing just fine…thanks to her.
 
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AltarMan:
Wow, that’s quite a sample size…

You’re flat-out wrong about having server-less Masses if it were not for females – unless you live in a female prison or convent. That attempt at an excuse is one of the oldest (and least valid) on record. Most people don’t even attempt its use anymore.
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Well, we only have three parishes in our diocese that have altar servers at all! And the majority of those are girls. If you don’t allow the girls to serve, altar servers will be as rare as hens’ teeth.
 
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