ACOLYTE HANDBOOK Almighty God, you have called us to be your servants through the office of Acolyte in your Church, that clothed in your grace we may minister before you; we pray that you will guide, strengthen, and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit; that always doing your will, we may both by our service in your House and by our daily life, please you and give glory to your Name, that we may always stand by your altar of worship; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The word ”acolyte” comes from the Greek word “akolouthos” which means a servant or attendant who waits on another. The Acolyte ministry in which you participate finds its origins in Old Testament times. The Scriptures tell us of the prophet Samuel assisting Eli the priest and of Eli being assisted by Elisha. The New Testament illustrates early Christian adoption of this custom, which has been carried forward to the present day. In the Anglican tradition, Acolytes actively assist the priests in the worship of Almighty God. The Book of Common Prayer states, “At all celebrations of the Liturgy, it is fitting that the principal celebrant...be assisted by other priests, and by deacons and lay persons.” The Acolyte is a very important part of the worship at Christchurch, and your duties should be approached with reverence, humility and care. The following information is intended as a step-by-step guide to the responsibilities executed by you as acolytes. What you do is a ministry for the church that requires accountability, diligence, and a worshipful spirit. At Christchurch, we have one Sunday morning service at 9:00 AM at which we celebrate Holy Eucharist, Rite II. If you look at the Sunday bulletin handed out to all those entering the church, it divides the service into three parts: 1) The Word of God is where we hear the Holy Scriptures, we are instructed on the Holy Scriptures by our Priests, we pray to the Lord for His guidance individually and corporately, we confess our sins and ask forgiveness, as well as other various prayers and supplications. 2) The Holy Communion is, to me, the central act of our worship. It is here that we are brought face-to-face with the awesome sacrifice Jesus made in order that we might live eternally. It is here that we present our material offerings to God as
well as offering “ourselves, our souls and bodies” as sacrifices to God. It is here that we eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus that we might remember His sacrifice. 3) Go In Peace To Love And Serve The Lord is where we take the message we learned within the walls of the Church, spread the message to others, and bring them to know Jesus, i.e., we enter the mission field. ************************************************************************ You can probably figure this out, but S stands for Server, C stands for Crucifer, T stands for Torch Bearers, and F stands for Flag Bearers. 9:00 AM – Holy Eucharist, Rite II Altar candles should be lit by both Flag Bearers approximately ten minutes before the beginning of the service. (See last page of this handbook for more detail about lighting the Altar candles.) T’s should have Torches lit just before the beginning of the Processional hymn. This service normally calls for a Server, a Crucifer, and two Torch Bearers and two Flag Bearers. Immediately after the pre-service announcements are made, the service begins with the Processional hymn. C leads with the Processional Cross followed by the T’s, slightly behind and to each side of C with F’s behind the T’s, American flag on the right side and Anglican Communion flag on the left. CRUCIFER PLEASE NOTE: WALK AT A MEASURED, SLOW PACE DURING THE PROCESSION. S will follow behind the Priests, and will lead the small children to their worship. At Dexter Avenue Church, if you have a question, please verify with Jeanne Dean where you need to lead the children and where you need to meet them to bring them back in after the Peace is exchanged. C will ascend the steps up to the Altar rail and place the Processional Cross in its stand immediately upon arriving at the Altar rail. Be sure the Processional Cross is facing the congregation when placed in its stand. T’s will place their torches in their stands, leaving them lit. At the steps leading up to the pulpit, F’s will go to the right and place their flags in the respective flag stands, American flag standing on the right side; Anglican Communion flag on the left side. Proceed from there through the side doors and up the side steps to your seats near the altar rail. All take your seats, which are marked. After the Scripture reading by the Lay Reader will be the Sequence hymn, which signals the Gospel procession and reading: C: Proceed to take Processional Cross and walk down the center steps and up the aisle to the sixth row of pews, turn to face the Altar and let the Processional Cross rest on the floor. At the completion of the Gospel reading, walk back toward the Altar, replace the Processional Cross in its place, and take your seat. T: Retrieve the torches and follow C just as you did at the Processional down the steps from the stage; when C stops to turn around for the Gospel, T’s stop on each side of S, turn 90 degrees toward S and rest the torch on the floor. After the Gospel reading, allow
C to pass between you, then follow back up the steps, replace the torches in stands and take you seats. S: As C gets the Processional Cross, move the Altar prayer book from the right (Epistle) side of the altar to the left (Gospel) side. Take the Gospel Book, supporting it at its bottom with both hands with the top of the Gospel Book leaning against your upper chest, follow C, continue up the aisle, and stop in front of the C and turn to face the Altar. The Priest will take the Gospel book and read the Gospel while S holds it in place. S props the Gospel book against the upper chest while supporting the book at its bottom. At the completion of the reading, follow the Priest just past the front row of chairs, step to the right and allow C to pass by, and take your seat behind the Altar. After the sermon and Nicene Creed, S will exit down the side steps to bring the small children back to church. Bring the children up the spiral stairs that will bring all of you to the front door of the church. (Ask me or Jeanne Dean if you have a question about this.) Hold the children outside the Sanctuary until you can hear the congregation exchanging the Peace, and then bring them in to the center aisle. Go back to your seat behind the Altar. At the birthday prayers, C will take the stack of four offering plates down the steps to collect the birthday offerings, and then remain to distribute the plates to the ushers. At the offertory invitation, S will proceed down to collect, along with the Lay Reader, the sacraments from the Oblation Bearers. S and Lay Reader then take the sacraments to the celebrating Priest at the altar. At the completion of the offertory anthem, C will take the large offering basin and collect the offering plates from the ushers. Take the plates back up to the altar and give them to the Priest. Take the plates from the Priest at the end of the Doxology and place the stack in their original place. S will stand between the Altar and the creedence table to assist the Priest while he prepares the sacraments for Holy Communion. This includes placing all covered chalices on the altar as well as removing emptied vessels from the altar and placing them on the creedence table as well as assisting the Priest in the washing of his hands. Drape the linen covering the lavabo (bowl) on your left forearm, place the silver lavabo (bowl) in your left hand, and gently pour water from the pitcher over the Priests fingertips. He will cue you when done and he will use the linen to dry his fingers. Once the congregation is invited to receive Communion (“The gifts of God for the people of God…”), S will hold the large wine vessels behind or to one side of the altar in order to refill chalices as needed. After Communion, S will assist in removing items from altar to be placed on the creedence table. During Communion, T’s will proceed out each side door and stand at the bottom of the steps to assist parishioners who need help negotiating the steps. After the Post-Communion prayer and the Blessing, the Recessional hymn will start. C will retrieve the Processional Cross and proceed immediately to the top of the steps between the pulpit and the lectern. C will turn with the processional cross and face the
Altar. T’s will retrieve the torches and take their places on either side of C. At the conclusion of the post-communion prayer and during the priest’s blessing (“The peace of God which passes all understanding….”), F’s will exit through the side door and retrieve their flags. As C and T’s pass by, enter the line immediately behind the T’s , just as you were lined up during the processional hymn. (Remember: American flag to the right side; Anglican Communion flag to the left.) S will extinguish the altar candles. As soon as approximately half the choir has lined up for the recessional, C will turn again, and lead the recessional down to the end of the aisle at a slow, steady pace. Holy Baptism Holy Baptism presents two major differences with respect to the order of the service – (1) after the Gospel procession and the reading of the Gospel, [C carries the Processional Cross to the top step, turns to face the congregation, and rests the Cross on the floor. T’s go back to their seats and replace the Torches in their stands. S will return to his/her seat.] At the completion of the Baptism, C will take their seat. IMPORTANT: Before a service of Holy Baptism, S should check with the Priest who is preaching the sermon and he will tell you when in the sermon to go get the children from their worship. There is no “Prayers of the People” nor is there said the Nicene Creed, so this is important.
REMINDERS: Crucifer, please make sure that the cross you carry is facing forward, square to the direction you are walking, and that it is placed in its bracket facing squarely. Flag Bearers should, approximately 10 minutes before the service begins, light the Altar candles as well as any other candles present, depending on the occasion and church season. There are two tapers used to light the candles – each of you should use one and light the candles on each side simultaneously. If only one is lighting the candles, as you face the Altar, light the left side (Epistle side) candle first, then the right side (Gospel side) candle. Please make sure you securely hang the vestments after the service to save unnecessary wear-and-tear and cleaning. ON SUNDAYS WHEN SCHEDULED FOR SERVICE, PLEASE BE AT CHURCH NO LATER THAN 8:40, 20 MINUTES BEFORE THE SERVICE STARTS. ARRIVING AT 8:55 AND RUSHING TO VEST AND GET INTO PLACE ONLY INCREASES THE STRESS ON EVERYONE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO CHRISTCHURCH! Last modified: 8/4/06