Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Lots happening

Lots of info to be disseminated in a short manner:



- Thanks to everyone who emailed support for the new growth I mentioned in the last post. I look forward to seeing the servers at St. Ann's this Saturday, rain or shine, at 8 AM. After helping setting up outside, Sr. Helene has commandeered our group to help set up for Bingo. There will still be the 6:30 Latin Mass in the afternoon as well with Griffin and Will serving.



- Thanks to Fr. Reid who come out at the last training session to instruct the servers on the Canon. Please be sure to follow-up with him with questions and comments about what he talked about.



- Results are in from the Junior Acolyte Test: Good news - a majority of servers passed! I will be following up on an individual basis with everyone who took the test. For those who need to re-take the test, you'll have another opportunity in December when the postulants take the Junior Acolyte test. Anyone interested in applying to take the Senior Acolyte Test can email me. The test will be given at the end of October with a blueprint being provided beforehand. If you thought the Junior Acolyte test was challenging...



- The training schedule and Mass schedule have been updated and are awaiting your mouse click to see the changes. These schedules are not final until one week from today, so please leave comments, suggestions, and ideas for changes.



-Added the Diocesan Guidelines for working with minors to the blog. Thanks to all of the parents for helping our ministry be compliant with the Protecting God's Children requirements.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Our Ministry at St. Ann's

Our young little ministry is over two years old now, which is only a bit older than my daughter, Teresa. Like my daughter, the ministry had to develop slowly and with a lot of care and attention. We've had to learn to crawl and then learn to walk, with some falls, bumps, and bruises along the way. Little by little, our ministry continues to grow and develop, branching out in new ways and learning new things, all within the safety of Holy Mother Church.


As servers, our main focus is serving Christ, specifically in the Liturgy, but also in serving others. I would like our ministry, our service, to grow beyond the Sanctuary and into the parishes that our servers belong. Through Fr. Reid, St. Ann has been the home of our ministry, sheltering us and providing us with supplies, space, time, and resources. I would like to begin our new growth by assisting the community that helped to foster our development.


Specifically there are two events coming up that I would like to use to inaugurate this new growth. The first is the St. Ann Carnival on Saturday October 2nd. While the carnival runs from 10 am into the afternoon, there are lots of opportunities before, during, and after for service. It would give the servers an opportunity to meet more of the parishioners, and more appropriately, it would show the community of St. Ann's, that altar serving is more than just rubrics. Right now we're looking to help out with set-up on Saturday morning from 8 - 10 AM. After the set-up, we'll spread out and help Mr. Ted Peters fill in holes as needed at booths and rides until noon for a total of four hours. I understand this is short notice. I needed to wait for approval.


The second opportunity will be to witness for the unborn with St. Ann and St. Vincent parishioners at the Pro-Life Mass on Saturday October 23. After the 9:00 AM Mass, servers are asked to travel to the Hebron St. Abortion Mill (10 minutes away) to pray the rosary with Fr. Reid.

The comment box awaits...

Training and Updates

We have torches!!! Fr. Reid got a set of 6 nice torches. They will require an orientation and training to use as they are expensive, butane torches. (Don't burn down the new church, please.) Please take the opportunity to thank Fr. Arnsparger and the St. Michael servers for helping us utilize the St. Michael torches up to this point.

We have the surplices for the new Server Ranks!!! At various levels within our new hierarchical ranking system, servers will receive special surplices for Mass in recognition of their dedication, discipline, and achievement. Ceremonies for the various ranks will occur after the tests and trials.

September 20th:
Training is from 3:45 to 5:15 pm with Fr. Reid educating on the Canon. Translation: A very busy and holy man is taking time out of his schedule to come teach, and therefore everyone better be prepared to listen, answer questions, and engage in the training. Hint: Know Your Mass through the Canon. Afterwards, if time permits in Fr. Reid's schedule, he will lead the servers in Vespers. Please bring your Liturgy of the Hours for this great opportunity. (Volume IV for those with the full set.) If you do not have the Liturgy of the Hours, we will share. Then, after that, all servers who qualify for Junior Acolyte will take the test for it.


The Eucharistic Congress was AWESOME!!! Please check out the Diocesan photos below where you might see some familiar faces. More to come on the 2010 Eucharistic Congress.

Diocese of Charlotte Eucharistic Congress 2010 from Diocese of Charlotte on Vimeo.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

September Training


Next training session is this Tuesday September 7th at 4:15 PM. Postulants need to be prepared to run through all of the Latin and rubrics up until the beginning of the Canon. Experienced servers need to be prepared this month to take the test for the first level: Junior Acolyte. This test will cover the Ac2 position at a Low Mass and the TorchBearer position at a Missa Cantata.

On Monday September 20th, Fr. Reid will be present to educate the servers on the Canon. In order to accomodate his schedule, the training time has been moved a half hour earlier going from 3:45 to 5:15. This is a great opportunity to learn about the pinnacle of the Liturgy. Please make plans to attend.
Please review the Mass schedule for changes to assignments.
Photo Credit: FaceMePLS