Instructors of new altar servers

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Convert1 said:
My husband was an “Altar Boy” almost 50 years ago and was trained by a Layman. He said it was some of the most stringent training he ever received. (Bells and lights to flash on cue, etc.) This particular gentleman trained at his church for decades and took great pride in his service.

Our parish now has training by Laymen for “Altar Servers” as well. I agree our Priests are so busy, I’m sure this is a great help. I will be curious to see other’s answers.
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60 years ago the nuns trained us in the Latin and the rest was done using upper grade mentors. The training was such that we could go to any parish and serve.
 
In my parish, training is informal and on-the-job, so it is primarily done by an adult altar server, or in his absence, a teenager who knows what he’s doing. The priest also steps in with directions, if needed.
 
Convert1 said:
My husband was an “Altar Boy” almost 50 years ago and was trained by a Layman. He said it was some of the most stringent training he ever received. (Bells and lights to flash on cue, etc.) This particular gentleman trained at his church for decades and took great pride in his service.

Our parish now has training by Laymen for “Altar Servers” as well. I agree our Priests are so busy, I’m sure this is a great help. I will be curious to see other’s answers.
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I’m layman and the parish MC and I do alll of the trading of the alter servers in my parish
 
Back in the day, when I was in 5th grade, 8th graders were assigned to teach us. In my current parish it is done by a layman (woman). Our Deacon assists with training for the Easter Vigil and Conformation Masses.
 
Mystrx said:
One or two of the priest teach the altar boys. I wonder if learning all those Latin responses is difficult. :confused:
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I’m currently memorizing the responses. It’s really not difficult, just requires practice. I’m semi-fluent in French, so that kinda helps learning the responses in Latin.
 
smead2942 said:
I’m currently memorizing the responses. It’s really not difficult, just requires practice. I’m semi-fluent in French, so that kinda helps learning the responses in Latin.
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I’d say it took us fifth-graders about a month to learn the Latin responses, most of them being the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. And they are the same today as they were back in the 50’s and for a lot longer than that.
 
We used to have a laywoman train the altar servers. When she retired, it became “on-the-job” training. New servers observe for a few weeks and are gradually integrated under the direction of the older servers/MC.
 
Chatter163 said:
As a teacher of both altar boys and 8th grade students, I would say that only a small number of 8th graders today would have the maturity to handle such a task.
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Thanks. It’s been about 10 years since I’ve worked with middle schoolers, so I was just curious. The older mentoring the younger seems like it would work well, but you certainly have a valid point.
 
For my parish it’s both a layman and a seminarian from our parish that runs the boot camp for alter boys.
The seminarian is perfect because he is only 20 and was an alter server for our parish from age 8 until he graduated high school.
Our priest and deacon are both heavily involved too.

Last I heard there were 40 boys serving from age 8 to 18.

We have 15 girls run the sacristy and prepare for the Mass.
 
From what I have seen at the RC church that I go to, the deacon that is assisting the priest with Mass is usually the one doing the instructing. It seems to be an “as you go” type of training. Usually seeing the deacon motioning or saying something to the acolytes (most of them are girls) to please do X or get ready for Y, etc.

Whomever is ringing the bells during the Eucharist is usually someone who is more experienced.

When I was an acolyte in my church, instruction was done beforehand in the parish hall. If you messed up, you would hear about it in the middle of service.

Short story: One time I was the first server (taking care of the offertory plates, pouring the water over the priest’s hands to wash them, etc.) It was Easter and the church was packed (standing room only). I thought that maybe they were running out of hosts, so I took someone from the credence table (that’s what my church calls it - Catholics call it the tabernacle) and put it on the altar. The hosts were in wrapper - almost like a cracker wrapper. Well, I caught lots of grief for doing that. I was yelled at in front of the entire church. I know the mistake I made now, but back then I thought I was just helping and didn’t really think through the consecration part.
 
At the church here a man from the Worship Committee instructs the new altar servers.
 
Chatter163 said:
As a teacher of both altar boys and 8th grade students, I would say that only a small number of 8th graders today would have the maturity to handle such a task.
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Actually, it did not work out well - at least for me. My 8th grader never trained me, and I could not pass the “practical exam”. I did not get to go on the alter server fishing trip.
 
For the TLMs, the task is mainly with the experienced servers to teach the new ones as I’ve seen boys as young as 7 or 8 serving alongside men ages 18+. My parish doesn’t use altar servers/boys, the tasks they would do are delegated to lay people scheduled weekly.
 
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