One of the liturgical ministries that I would really love to see grow is Altar Serving. Right now we have only 3-5 who come reliably, including this week’s witness, Dominic Scanlon, the oldest son of Rich Scanlon, our Director of Faith Formation. 

I was spoiled at my first parish assignment. I was in charge of the altar servers and we had 125 altar servers. They served in 5-person teams, with the more experienced altar servers training the newer ones on their teams. That parish has been the exception; all my other parishes have had a difficult time recruiting boys and girls to serve at the altar.

Any boy or girl, who have reached the 4^thgrade are invited to be an Altar Server. I am also looking for two adults who can help me train them and organize their schedule. If you are interested, please let me know. Now, here’s Dominic’s witness:

My name is Dominic. I’ve been an altar server for five years, serving both the traditional Latin Mass and the English Mass. Since before I received my first Holy Communion, I wanted to be an altar server. I thought it was so awesome that they got to be right up on the altar and assist the priest in the sacrifice of the Mass. 

Altar serving is really fun and helps me grow closer to the Lord, both literally by being so close to the altar, and spiritually by serving God in new special ways. Being an altar server is more than just bringing the chalice to the altar before the consecration or being ready to go grab the forgotten purificator from the sacristy, it is being a model of respect to our Lord in the Eucharist thus encouraging others to do likewise. An altar server’s job however is not just to serve, but also to receive all the special graces God offers to us for taking that extra little step to serve him. 

Altar serving can be looked at as simply taking a new position in the Mass, moving from the pew in the back of church to the one right beside the altar. Serving at Mass is easy, and it takes very little time. You are there to serve the King of the world. If you take that seriously, you could really have an impact on someone. 

To me altar serving is a fun and amazing experience. I would strongly suggest someone considering altar serving to at least try it. If you decide its not for you, that’s fine.