Ministry of Worship
Children and young adults, from 1st through 12th grades, participate in the acolyte program which encourages a reverence for the Sacred and a sense of belonging to the Church community. Adult members of the Parish family also serve in this ministry and often do, especially during the summer months.
Our adult acolytes serve at the 8:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service.
Our junior acolytes serve at the 10:30 a.m. Sunday Worship Service.
One-on-one training is provided for roles as junior crucifer, torch bearer, and crucifer/server. Our youth and adults also serve as flag bearers at our Christmas and Easter services. In 2016 we had 20 students & adults in the acolyte corps.
Anyone interested in this ministry is welcome to participate.
The Altar Guild of St. Paul’s is supported by a group of very dedicated members who are called to serve their Lord by preparing His Church for all worship services. Their work is a thank offering of time and talent, a ministry undertaken in the name of Christ. Preparing a place for the Holy Eucharist is like preparing for any family celebration: cleaning and polishing, decorating for the Guest of honor with candles and hangings, setting the table with fine linen and silver. All these tasks are part of preparing for the great celebration where Christ comes to be with his followers in the breaking of the Bread.
Our membership includes men and women who work in teams of two. The time commitment is minimal, and members find this ministry to be very fulfilling. A comprehensive training manual complete with pictures is included in the training. New members are always needed and welcomed.
When we receive the bread and the wine during the Eucharist, we are touching and being touched by God. Something we all know – and sometimes need to remind ourselves – is how very sacred and powerful is the action of sharing the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior. It is also sacred and powerful when a Bread Baker prepares bread that is then blessed, broken and distributed to be for us the spiritual food of Christ. You do not have to already be a “Bread Baker,” as we will share recipes and techniques when we get together. New bakers are always welcome!
Music is such a fundamental part of our Christian heritage. It is often said that by singing to God, you pray twice. The St. Paul’s Adult Choir, Bell Choir and Children’s Choir helps lead our congregation in joyful music to God and serves at our Sunday morning 10:30 service and most of our special services throughout the year. Our organist and Choir Director is Kedron Miller.
The adult choir sings every Sunday for the 10:30 a.m. service, performing a variety of anthems that tie directly to the scripture readings. We prepare special anthems with the brass ensemble for All Saints, Christmas Eve and Easter. In addition, the choir perfors a special anthem with the brass to commemorate the anniversary of 911. We have also been fortunate to have a few singers from the Church Farm School who have helped supplement the men’s section of our choir for All Saints and Easter. We are grateful for the
continued dedication of our choir members.
We continue to have a need for more singers in the choir and are prayerful that more singers in our parish will come forward join our beautiful choir as our church membership continues to grow.
Our youth choir sings for special services throughout the year. The youth choir sing for the Christmas Eve pageant and also perform a special anthem for Palm Sunday with the adult choir. Our children are a vital part of our community and need their voices to be heard.
We are currently thinking of new ways we can tap into all of that talent. We are hoping to establish a practice schedule in the fall that will work with everyone’s schedules. This will provide the youth choir with more opportunities to sing during the year.
The handbell choir performs monthly during the prelude at the 10:30 a.m. service, as well as Christmas Eve and Easter. The ensemble has worked very hard over the past year and we are thankful for their time and the talents. At this time, we are in need of a couple of ringers to fill positions that are open in our bell choir. The great part about playing in a bell choir is that no musical experience is necessary. The only requirement is that you come to rehearsal with the expectation of having fun while learning how to play handbells (which definitely has a ring to it). Rehearses held Thursday evenings, 7:00 to 8:30, from September thru Mid-June.
For all of our unidentified enthusiasts, please feel free to let us know that you are interested in joining our bell choir by “chiming in” with your inquiries. Your unparalleled experience in the handbell choir is guaranteed to be nothing less than “a-pealing!”
Eucharistic ministers at St. Paul’s assist the Rector during worship services. At St. Paul’s, Eucharistic ministers lead the reading of the Psalms and the Prayers of the People, however, their primary responsibility is to assist the priest in administering the Holy Eucharist to the congregation. Those who are members of this guild find their service as Eucharistic ministers, particularly distributing the body and blood of Christ to their worship community, to be deeply enriching. St Paul’s is blessed to have 21 men and women currently serving as Eucharistic ministers. We are eager to add members to the guild, will provide mentoring to make our newer members comfortable serving on the altar, and invite anybody who feels called to service to please contact Maxine.
Members can elect to serve at either the 8 a.m service (Rite I), the 10:30 a.m service (Rite II), or both.
The Flower Guild’s mission is to beautify our parish by arranging and caring for the flowers, plants and floral decorations. The members of the Flower Guild offer their dedication and creativity to the beauty of the worship at St Paul’s by arranging flowers for Sunday services – and by decorating the church for Easter and Christmas.
Flower Guild members pull out all the stops on Easter and Christmas when our church is filled with greenery, lilies and other beautiful flowers. These special feast days require many hands – for those with busy schedules, being a twice-yearly Flower Guild member might be just right. Classes in flower arranging for new Guild members are held throughout the year.
Please consider helping make our worship beautiful by joining the St Paul’s Flower Guild.
Altar Flowers
The beautiful flowers on the altar are given to the glory of God by members of our congregation who want to remember a loved one or give thanksgiving for the people and events in their lives.
Requests can be made for a specific Sunday to coincide with remembrances and celebrations. A donation of $50 is requested to help with the cost of the flowers; payable to “St. Paul’s Episcopal Church,” with a note Altar Flowers on the memo line. There are forms for requests on the bulletin board in the Lockwood Reilly building.
St. Paul’s is fortunate to have a committed group of people to read the lessons each Sunday at both services and special services throughout the Church Year. Two people are assigned to read at the 10:30 AM worship service and one person is assigned to read at the 8:00 AM worship service. A schedule is prepared and distributed monthly, listing both the readings and the people assigned to them.
Although it has not been tested in St. Paul’s collective memory, we can only imagine that worship without personable and well-trained ushers would be chaotic. Our ushers are the first to greet us upon arriving for worship and then keep everything moving – from bringing down the alms basins to directing the flow of our receiving communion. It is all the more remarkable because they exercise their ministry in such a loving and giving way, without drawing attention to themselves. It is a ministry for which we are all grateful.
If you think that this ministry might have your name on it, contact Paul Heinmiller or Pastor Maxine to be put on the schedule.
As new members become part of the family of St. Paul’s, it is important that everyone wear their name tags (or have an usher make one for you if you are visiting). The aim of the ushers is to make it easier to call everyone by name.
