Altar Guild ministry

Saint Philip’s Altar Guild* at its luncheon in May, 2022. Photograph courtesy of Tom Spitz Photography

Altar Guild is a ministry that works behind-the-scenes to support the clergy by preparing the altar for Eucharistic services. New members are always welcome!

What do Altar Guild members do?
Altar Guild members prepare the sacred vessels and linens for Eucharistic services every week. There are four teams of volunteers. Each team has a captain and the teams are assigned to work one week per month.

What is a volunteer’s time commitment?
Being on Altar Guild is not a huge time commitment. Teams’ monthly volunteer assignment is approximately 2.5 hours.

Two teams work on Friday mornings and two teams work on Saturday mornings. All teams polish the silver and brass, fill the candles with oil, iron linens, steam vestments, and complete a few other tasks. The time flies by because everyone works together.

Some new members have said, "I hate to iron—never do that at home any more—but ironing and folding these beautiful sacred linens is different."

Each week one team is responsible for the Eucharistic services of its scheduled week. The captain will assign specific services to her team’s members. Work schedules, family commitments, vacations, physical disabilities are all taken into consideration when preparing the schedule. The idea is to have volunteers enjoy being part of Altar Guild ministry—not find it onerous.

On the first Thursday of every month (excluding June, July and August) there is a short business meeting from 11:00am-12:00pm. Volunteers typically gather at 10:30am to have some coffee and socialize. Anyone unable to attend the monthly meeting will be brought up to date by their team captain.

Is there training for new members?
A new member is assigned a mentor (or mentors) who offers training in the first provisional year. A Procedure Book is also provided; it has very detailed instructions and interesting history and detail about Anglican traditions. At the end of the provisional year a new member will have a good knowledge of all Altar Guild duties and, at a special church service, will be recognized and honored as a full Altar Guild member.

What type of person is well suited for Altar Guild?
The person who will probably most enjoy this ministry is someone who enjoys paying attention to details, likes to work behind-the-scenes, and experiences satisfaction knowing he or she is part of a long tradition.

For more information, please email the current Director of Altar Guild, Sue Cross, at karakasue@gmail.com. Thank you!

*Pictured (from left)
Front row: Cecilia Hunter, Marje Jorden, Marianne Cooley, Carolyn Donges, Renee Clift, Jane Chilcott, April Richards

Middle row: Marge Wallendorf, Carolyn McKeeman, Pam Henderson, Debbie Walker, Cyndi Miller, Linda Dewey, Ana Nygren

Back row: Fr Robert Hendrickson, Sue Cross, Jean Windmiller, Therese Trujillo, Silvia Walker, Elaine Damgaard, Jodi Sheridan, Fr Peter Helman

Absent: Taffie Eiff, Cynthia Guldberg