St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill Altar Guild
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Revised June 2016 ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, CAPITOL HILL ALTAR GUILD MEMBERS’ HANDBOOK TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Dedication 4 Acknowledgements 4 The National Altar Guild Association Prayer 5 History 5 What Does Altar Guild Do? 6-8 The Sacristy: What It Is, Where It Is And What’s In It 9 Who Does What When? 9-10 How to Set a Holy Table (9 AM And 11:15 AM Services) 9-10 Before the First Eucharist of the Day 11 How to Set a Holy Table (5 PM Service) 12-14 The Set Table (photos) 15 After the First Eucharist 15 Before the Last Eucharist of the Morning 15-16 After the Last Eucharist 17-18 Church Seasons: Preparation, Setup, Cleanup 19 Advent 19 Epiphany 19 Lent 20 Ash Wednesday 21 Palm Sunday 21-22 Ordering Palms for Palm Sunday 22 Monday Night Confession Service 22 Tenebrae 23 Maundy Thursday 23 Good Friday 23 Easter Saturday 24 Easter Vigil 25 Easter Sunday 26 Special Saint’s Days 26-28 Special Services: Baptisms, Weddings, & Funerals 26 Baptisms 27 Weddings 28 Funerals 28-30 Holy Housekeeping 30 Keys 31-32 Candles 33-34 Definitions 35 Appendix 1: St. Mark's History and Place In The Community 36-37 Appendix 2: Wedding Arrangements Form 38-39 Appendix 3: Yearly Altar Guild Tasks 40 Appendix 4: Inventory 2 This edition of the St. Mark’s Altar Guild Manual is dedicated to the memories of our friends, Evelyn Sinclair Peggy Pecore Bert Cooper and Holly Madsen Requiescant in pace. 3 Acknowledgements Many people helped put this manual together. Thanks are due Sarah Rau and Doris Burton for writing earlier manuals upon which this one is heavily based, to Evelyn Sinclair who began editing for this edition, to Gretchen Wilson who provided the data on ordering palms, to Karen Falk and Janice Brown who provided information on Ash Wednesday, to Ruth Ann Hess for information on candles. Susan Sedgewick read several proofs and Karen Falk used her computer skills to produce the final version. Janice Brown also provided much valuable feed-back on a previous edition of the manual. Verger David Deutsch provided information on the 5 PM Service. Mary Cooper prepared an invaluable inventory and information on the history of the items contained therein. Anne Headley and Mary Jo Detweiler gave helpful feedback and saved the editors from numerous errors. Thank you all. This is truly a work in progress and will benefit from the input of old and new Altar Guild members. Karen Falk and Robert Headley Editors June 2016 The National Altar Guild Association Prayer by The Rt. Rev. E. Don Taylor, Vicar Bishop of New York City Most gracious Father Who has called me Your child to serve in the preparation of Your Altar, so that it may be a suitable place for the offering of Your Body and Blood; Sanctify my life and consecrate my hands so that I may worthily handle those Sacred Gifts which are being offered to You. As I handle holy things, grant that my whole life may be illuminated and blessed by You, in whose honor I prepare them, and grant that the people who shall be blessed by their use, may find their lives drawn closer to Him Whose Body and Blood is our hope and our strength, Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN. 4 St Mark's Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill Altar Guild Members' Manual HISTORY The Altar Guild is a relatively new ministry for lay people, dating only from the last half of the 19th century. Its roots, however, may be traced back to the earliest history of the church. In the early days of the church, the duty of caring for the Altar and Sanctuary was the responsibility of the priests and attendants. Later, care of the vessels, books, and buildings was assigned to several minor orders of the church, including monks, nuns, and lay persons. Today, some churches still assign these duties to nuns. In most churches, however, these duties are now performed by a group of lay volunteers known collectively as the Altar Guild. At St. Mark’s the Altar Guild has two teams, one for each of the regular two Sunday morning services. The entire guild comes together twice a year to polish the silver and brass liturgical and in June of each year for its annual potluck dinner. Members are assigned to serve on a Sunday based on a rota. WHAT DOES THE ALTAR GUILD DO? • Serves God and this parish • Assists the clergy • Prepares the altar for all services • Cares for the vessels and linens • Assists with weddings, baptisms, and funerals • Provides training and mentoring for new members. 5 THE SACRISTY: WHAT IT IS, WHERE IT IS AND WHAT’S IN IT The sacristy is the small locked room where the altar goods are kept and where the Altar Guild stores many of the items it uses every Sunday. It also contains a sink for washing the Communion vessels. The Communion silver is stored in the cabinets on the right side of the sacristy as shown in the photograph below. 6 Sacristy Closet 7 Sacristy Closet showing hangings and wine storage [THIS SECTION UNFINISHED – need to label cabinets and correct perspectives] 8 WHO DOES WHAT WHEN? Schedules are prepared by members of the 9:00 A.M. and 11:15 A.M. services respectively, based on information in the St. Mark's calendar and the Episcopal church calendar. These schedules usually cover a three- or four-month period. The 5:00 P.M. service on Sunday is handled independently of the Altar Guild. If a member finds an assigned date inconvenient, it is his or her responsibility to find a substitute, then email or phone the change to their scheduler, who will notify the office of the revised lineup for the Sunday bulletin. HOW TO SET A HOLY TABLE (for 9 AM and 11:15 AM services) Before the First Eucharist of the Day 1. Check the liturgical calendar for the correct color for hangings. The hangings are located in the closet in the sacristy. 2. Remove the dust cover from the altar, fold, and store near the chapel. 3. For most services, prepare the cart (which is stored in the sacristy) with the following items: • 3 chalices (2 tall silver and 1 ceramic for juice)* • 4 wider-mouthed intinction cups (2 silver for wine, 2 small silverplate for juice) • water cruet filled 2/3 full with water) • 2 missal stands (unless there is only 1 celebrant) • 2 Eucharistic candles (minimum 8" tall at beginning of service) • 1 fair linen • 1 corporal • 3 or 4 purificators • 1 pall • 1 lectern hanging • 1 pulpit hanging • 1 veil • Lectern Bible • Gospel Book on Pulpit • large alms basin • 4 small alms basins with maroon bags placed in each • 2 flagons of wine (total of 2 – 3 bottles of wine used) • 1 pitcher for grape juice • 1 loaf of bread on breadboard, covered with bread cover [Bread covers have seasonally colored embroidered crosses; some priests request that the loaf be partially sliced on the bottom for ease of breaking.] • 1 small green dish with 3 – 4 rice crackers • Credence table cloth 9 * These are the clergy’s preferred intinction cups: 4. Set the altar according to the diagram on page 13. • Fair linen, • Corporal unfolded, wrong side up for collecting crumbs, cross facing the high altar in the center • 1 silver chalice (from wooden box), covered with purificator, then pall • glass grape juice cruet • silver water cruet • 3 additional purificators • 4 rice crackers in little green dish • 2 candlesticks • 1 or 2 missal stands • seasonal veil HOW TO SET A HOLY TABLE (for 5 PM Contemplative service) The set-up for communion at the 5 pm service uses some implements from the sacristy and some from the 5 pm service cart kept in the area in front of the chapel. The verger for a particular service does the set-up and clean-up. From the sacristy the verger brings to the nave: 10 • Three ceramic vessels for wine and grape juice § One large green ceramic chalice donated to the 5pm service § One yellow ceramic chalice § One small round ceramic cup, used for grape juice, and donated to the 5pm service. The grape juice is obtained from the supply in the sacristy. • A bread board • A bread cover • A wafer holder and two wafers • A basket into which donations and visitor forms from the back of the bulletin can be placed. This basket is put on the table by the organ pipes. • A paper bag into which the money and forms are placed; the bag is put into the safe. From the 5pm service cart the verger: • Takes two pillar candles on two small glass dishes and places them on the altar. • Takes three small white paper napkins to be used as purificators and places them on the chalices and cup. Note: • A supply of 3x6 inch pillar candles for the altar was bought by verger David Deutsch. When these eventually run out, discussion about whether the Altar Guild will buy replacement candles can take place. • No altar linens are used. 11 Altar ready for worship [NEED PHOTO OF ALTAR WITHOUT VEIL] 12 Aerial view of altar Side view of chalice Place bread and wine on the credence table near the baptismal font. 13 Place all alms basins on the lower shelf of the credence table behind the pulpit, and place the remaining vessels on the top shelf of the credence table. 14 After the First Eucharist (9 A.M. service) 1.