What if your pastor announced that from now on all new altar servers will be girls?

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What if your pastor announced that from now on all new altar servers will be girls?
 
I have been around a lot of girl altar servers both Catholic and Lutheran. My expereince is that the girls are for the most part much more self-conscious. The boys may just sit there with their eyes vacant and thier mouths slightly open, but the girls are crossing their legs, twiddling their hair, looking at their nails, just generally fidgeting.

Also in general, I find that a boy’s motivation is either a true sense of duty (in love) to serve in which case you get boy scout precise servers, or their parents make them which gets you the vacant stare boys, but they usually perform their dutes fine.

Again, in general, girls want to be servers to be seen. There is a theatrical aspect to it all. The bridal walk up the altar, the flourish of the candle lighting, etc. Or the self-consious hair twirling.

I’m sure parents of girl servers will tell me that their daughter is different and I sincerely hope she is. I am just telling you what my experience has been.
 
Sr_Sally said:
I have been around a lot of girl altar servers both Catholic and Lutheran. My expereince is that the girls are for the most part much more self-conscious. The boys may just sit there with their eyes vacant and thier mouths slightly open, but the girls are crossing their legs, twiddling their hair, looking at their nails, just generally fidgeting.

Also in general, I find that a boy’s motivation is either a true sense of duty (in love) to serve in which case you get boy scout precise servers, or their parents make them which gets you the vacant stare boys, but they usually perform their dutes fine.

Again, in general, girls want to be servers to be seen. There is a theatrical aspect to it all. The bridal walk up the altar, the flourish of the candle lighting, etc. Or the self-consious hair twirling.

I’m sure parents of girl servers will tell me that their daughter is different and I sincerely hope she is. I am just telling you what my experience has been.
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Oh my! Your interpretation is different than mine.

My own daughters were once alter servers and they were very good! The were very attentive - much more so than some of their male counterparts. And they were by all appearances there out of love and a sense of service to the Church.
In the end I believe only God can read the hearts of these youngsters as they serve.
 
AJV said:
Does he have that authority?
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I guess that is the twist about this poll.
No - the pastor does not have authority to have only girl servers but he does have the authority to have only boy servers or combo boy/girl servers.
Yes, I hoped to turn a couple heads anyway. Shocking isn’t it?
Pastor chooses to have only girl servers.
 
Beautiful said:
Oh my! Your interpretation is different than mine.

My own daughters were once alter servers and they were very good! The were very attentive - much more so than some of their male counterparts. And they were by all appearances there out of love and a sense of service to the Church.
In the end I believe only God can read the hearts of these youngsters as they serve.
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Your right, we have girls in our parish and they are very nice and care about doing a good job. They are doing nothing wrong at all in serving. I believe most of the girls serve quite well and they are not doing it out of a desire to do something wrong.

I would never promote them or allow my girls to serve as it would be wrong for me to do so. I support vocations to the priesthood and to negatively effect them in any way is wrong, not to mention it is supporting a movement which is in direct opposition to obedience to Christ. Altar Girls were promoted in direct opposition to the Vatican and in a spirit of disobedience.

My pastor cannot allow girls, as we have no pastor. 🙂
This kinda goes with the territory here in California. Back 20 or so years ago when my parish was a third the size, we had several altar boys and a couple of priests, but as I said before there cannot be any connection. It is a coincidence.🙂

God Bless
Scylla
 
Beautiful said:
Oh my! Your interpretation is different than mine.

My own daughters were once alter servers and they were very good! The were very attentive - much more so than some of their male counterparts. And they were by all appearances there out of love and a sense of service to the Church.
In the end I believe only God can read the hearts of these youngsters as they serve.
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ya, that is normally the argument against having girls. My daughter does not cross her legs or play with her hair for heavens sake. It depends on who is doing the training and the tone of the parish. She sits and keeps her eyes on the Mass, folds her hands in prayer when not holding anything, sitting or helping with something.

If kids are not paying attention and crossing their legs etc…then the trainer and priest are not doing a good job to correct them.
 
scylla said:
Your right, we have girls in our parish and they are very nice and care about doing a good job. They are doing nothing wrong at all in serving. I believe most of the girls serve quite well and they are not doing it out of a desire to do something wrong.

I would never promote them or allow my girls to serve as it would be wrong for me to do so. I support vocations to the priesthood and to negatively effect them in any way is wrong, not to mention it is supporting a movement which is in direct opposition to obedience to Christ. Altar Girls were promoted in direct opposition to the Vatican and in a spirit of disobedience.
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I’m glad that we can agree that girls are as capable as boys in the arena of serving.

I fail to see how having altar girls is supporting a movement which is in direct opposition to obedience to Christ. While I cannot speak for all female altar servers I can say that my daughters were never under the illusion that they would someday be a like the male priest they served under. Being an altar server isn’t and never was meant to be an entitlement to the priesthood. Little boy altar servers are not necessarily going to be tomorrows priest.

I would rather see youngster altar servers eliminated altogether rather than discriminate against females. Yes - that is a better alternative. Or up the age of altar servers to age18+ That would narrow the field to people truly interested in Church. Upping the age requirement would eliminate parental control and discriminations of sorts.
 
What if your pastor said, “we are allowing only girl altar servers, because boys might get their grubby paw prints on the nice clean Altar, and besides, they are never going to have vocations to the Sisterhood in the future, so what would be the point of them learning how to wash dishes and fold linens for the priest?” 😛
 
fix said:
Why is this discrimination wrong?
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Discrimination: treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit:

Females are just as capable as males when it comes to altar serving. It has been proven for few decades now. There is no turning back the tide. Parishes with all-male altar servers aren’t any more likely to produce a saintly priest than a parish with male and female altar servers.
 
Beautiful said:
Discrimination: treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit:
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But, why is it wrong? All the years when females were not allowed was that wrong? Is there a theological reason it is wrong to only have male servers?
Females are just as capable as males when it comes to altar serving.
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So what?
It has been proven for few decades now. There is no turning back the tide. Parishes with all-male altar servers aren’t any more likely to produce a saintly priest than a parish with male and female altar servers.
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Your opinion. How has it worked out so far? Also, the Church specifically encourages male servers, does She do so for females?

This is more of a political issue than a theological issue. That is what bothers me.
 
Beautiful said:
Discrimination: treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit:

Females are just as capable as males when it comes to altar serving. It has been proven for few decades now. There is no turning back the tide. Parishes with all-male altar servers aren’t any more likely to produce a saintly priest than a parish with male and female altar servers.
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Amen.

There was a very long thread on this very subject in the vocations area.
 
anamchara said:
ya, that is normally the argument against having girls. My daughter does not cross her legs or play with her hair for heavens sake. It depends on who is doing the training and the tone of the parish. She sits and keeps her eyes on the Mass, folds her hands in prayer when not holding anything, sitting or helping with something.

If kids are not paying attention and crossing their legs etc…then the trainer and priest are not doing a good job to correct them.
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Oh I agree. I am simply speaking about my experience. Of course, the worst behavior occurs in locations with the least training. But, again, my expereince is that girls who aren’t attentive are more distracting because of their mannerisms, than the boys.
 
jmcrae said:
What if your pastor said, “we are allowing only girl altar servers, because boys might get their grubby paw prints on the nice clean Altar, and besides, they are never going to have vocations to the Sisterhood in the future, so what would be the point of them learning how to wash dishes and fold linens for the priest?” 😛
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How silly is that scenario? You know full well that a young male today isn’t going to be negatively or positively influenced if a young female is serving with him. There are so many more influences in day to day living that will make or break that chance or hope for priesthood. Mass is for one hour a week for most youngsters. Long gone are the days when the young boy or girl gets up at 5am to rush to 6am daily Mass and serve. Maybe it does happen somewhere but it is rare. Think about this - one hour per week. What is happening in the lives of these children - males and females - the rest of the time.
 
jmcrae said:
What if your pastor said, “we are allowing only girl altar servers, because boys might get their grubby paw prints on the nice clean Altar, and besides, they are never going to have vocations to the Sisterhood in the future, so what would be the point of them learning how to wash dishes and fold linens for the priest?” 😛
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:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
 
Beautiful said:
Females are just as capable as males when it comes to altar serving. It has been proven for few decades now. There is no turning back the tide. Parishes with all-male altar servers aren’t any more likely to produce a saintly priest than a parish with male and female altar servers.
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That’s true. All of the boys I know who are discerning for the priesthood come from parishes where there was a mix of girl and boy altar servers. Some of them didn’t even serve at the altar - they sang in the choir, or helped with ushering, instead.
 
Beautiful said:
What if your pastor announced that from now on all new altar servers will be girls?
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i’d log onto Catholic Answers as soon as humanly possible to put a thread on it up, then i’d pop a beer, sit back and watch the rage and fury.

i personally wouldn’t care one iota. if a female wants to serve on an altar as a helper, go for it.

this is one of those non-issues that doesn’t deserve the time in our minds we give it.
 
Sr_Sally said:
Oh I agree. I am simply speaking about my experience. Of course, the worst behavior occurs in locations with the least training. But, again, my expereince is that girls who aren’t attentive are more distracting because of their mannerisms, than the boys.
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Both female and male have mannerism that can be distracting. One is not worse than the other. Children in general, can fidget regardless of sex. I’ve seen boys sit there and bite their nails, shove the altar server next to him, play with their fingers…all distracting. Again, it honestly depends on who has done the training, how often and also if the priest has done some gentle reminders here and there.
 
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