Altar Server

Dear Parents and young men and women,

I am Fr. Sudeep. I am the parochial vicar at the Church of the Nativity. I am writing to you and to your parents with a hope that you would consider assisting Jesus Christ the High Priest at the altar as an altar server by assisting the priests and deacons. Your role as an altar server is not a superficial one, rather it serves a twofold purpose in the Liturgical celebrations. One of those purposes is to assist the ministers and ultimately the faithful to pray without distraction, and secondly, it is a great avenue for you to grow closer in your friendship with the Lord by serving in close proximity to him when he makes himself present.

    Pope John Paul II, in a General Audience with young people who were altar servers who made a pilgrimage to Rome, said that our “Baptism is the starting point of your authentic liturgical service, which puts you beside your Bishops, priests and deacons.” Through your Baptism, you received the mission to serve the Lord and grow in friendship with him in many ways. Serving the Lord at the altar might just be one of the best ways to fulfill that mission of service and in return a great opportunity to grow closer to Christ and in him find a true friend for life. And by growing deeper in this greater friendship with Jesus, how blessed we would be, alongside your family and friends, to witness you grow to be faith filled young men and women. As various studies show that altar servers have better chance of living a faith filled, committed lifestyle to the teachings of Christ and may even serve the Lord as priests and religious if God is calling them to such vocation.

    I certainly can say that my time as an altar server has helped me to grow comfortable with my faith and has equipped me to be bold in my commitment to lead a faith filled life and to have the graces to answer the call to Serve the Lord as his Priest. In your kindness, dear young men and women, would you consider helping our faithful parishioners to pray and worship the Lord by volunteering as altar servers? And dear parents and grandparents, we desire for you and your son and daughter to grow in that same deeper friendship with the Lord. Would you please encourage young people in your families to consider serving the Lord in this particular way by serving the Lord at the altar? We are in great need of your help. I have been told that we used to have about 150 or so servers in the past and now we probably have little over a quarter of that. That difference in number concerns me and I hope it helps you see the greater need we face.  

    I know for some this could be intimidating to be up in front of so many people. Let me comfort you by telling you that many if not all our parishioners appreciate and are happy to see that you are taking time to serve the Lord and them. If you have served before and have not for a while, or if you have never served or learned to serve, and if you are in fourth grade and older, please know that with the help of a couple of our parishioners that have organized server training, I promise you that we will provide you with the necessary training. We will soon publish a plan as to the dates and other events we have in store for you. Some of these events include server practice sessions, an outdoor picnic with food and games, and weekly breakfasts during summer etc. For enquiries, please feel free to contact David Pope [email protected] or Ed Embree [email protected].

Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Fr. Sudeep.

Nativity Altar Servers begin training at the end of the fourth-grade. They are initially trained as Junior Servers. After a period of time, usually the beginning of their 6th-grade year, they are trained as Senior Servers. Servers who show a particular aptitude are then trained as Master of Ceremonies. These are generally 8th-graders and high schoolers. The Servers provide a direct service to the community by assisting at the regular Masses, as well as private functions, weddings, funerals, and school Masses. They receive the benefit of working directly with the priests and the Archbishop and learning more about the Mass and the Church. Contact: David Pope