How big is your parish??? That’s enough ministers for a PAPAL Mass!Well, all you anti EMHC’s will love this. My parish uses 40 EMHC’s at every mass. There is just no way it could be done without that many due to the size of our parish unless of course we all wanted to have two hour masses.
I think 40 EMHC’s would definately fall into the extreme category, although I have seen some churches where the design almost demanded a herd of EMHCs (asymetrical aisles, pews in the round) etc. Some of these church architects should stick to designing airplane hangers.Well, all you anti EMHC’s will love this. My parish uses 40 EMHC’s at every mass. There is just no way it could be done without that many due to the size of our parish unless of course we all wanted to have two hour masses.
You guessed it.
Hey what a minute Deacons are Ordinary Ministers of the Eucharist too.First of all, you should only be a Eucharistic minister if God gives you a vocation to the priesthood!
Our parish is built like a baseball stadium with an upper and a lower level with the seating done in sections. It’s not quite in the round, but more like a half round shape. We also have two cup ministers for every bread minister to prevent traffic jams. We actually only use 32-26 EMHC’s at regular masses, but will use at least 40 on those special days when the part timers tend to come to mass. On Easter, we have an indoor mass, an outdoor mass, and an overflow mass at the high school accross the street, so we would have 120 EMHC’s signed up for each time slot. I remember my first time at mass in this parish. I was amazed when I saw the credence table with all the cups on it.
It sounds like it would be difficult in that sort of environment to avoid using so many EMHC’s. The design seems to require them if the Eucharistic celebration is going to have any order to it.
Our parish although built to be very modern is really quite beautiful once you’ve take the time to look around and learn about the environment. I do appreciate the beauty of a traditional cathedral, or basilica style church. My wife and I were married in and attended mass for several years at a parish built in the basilica style in 1914. It was beautiful and we do miss it, but after moving out of state, I found myself really appreciating our new parish, but only after having a tour and understanding the symbolism of the art work, statues, and other things. It really is quite functional, except for the need for 40 EMHC’s.It sounds like a difficult environment in which to avoid using so many EMHC’s. You didn’t mention whether or not you liked this “unique” design. I’ve never heard of a church quite like it.
My tastes run toward a more traditional church design. But to each his own.
You are absolutely right! I am SO SORRY! 
Have you considered that your parish is creating a need where none exists by scheduling the Masses too close together?
I agree.
First, I think that we all have a responsibility now to use the correct term when referring to this ministry.
Question - How is a EMHC to react/respond to a priest who distributes the Eucharist to the EMHC before he himself consumes the host?
Perhaps one good reason FOR more EMHC overall, not at one particular Mass, is that it spreads the ministry out among more people, so one EMHC or a group of EMHC does not become a Regular/Everyday EMHC. I would seem that the rarer use of a particular EMHC the better. Having the individual do this ministry once in a blue moon is probably better than every other week, no matter how many EMHC the particular parish uses.