How to Become an Altar Server

A worship stole

Lay members of most churches can assist pastors with worship preparation and service as altar servers. These service groups generally are called altar guilds. At the least, the work of altar servers can greatly enhance the overall ministry of a church by freeing overworked ministers to focus on specifically pastoral matters like counseling and visitation. At the most, altar service has a great impact collectively on the church membership since it concerns that time when members gather for worship.

Instructions

1. Participate actively and fully in the life of your church. This is an important prerequisite for altar service. Church worship extends beyond that hour or so on Sunday. You can't expect an Easter or Christmas-only attender to understand the overall worship needs of a congregation.

2. Pray and reflect on your desire to serve God as an altar server. Who better than God to help you understand whether this area of service is right for you?

3. Discuss your desire to serve with your pastor. She should be able to define any institutional requirements you would need to meet for altar service. Different denominations and branches of Christianity have different criteria for determining the suitability and capability of church members for this responsibility.

4. Study the Christian calendar and learn the liturgical seasons. Churches that have organized altar guilds are generally highly liturgical. Much of how you carry out your responsibilities is determined by the Christian season. Highly liturgical churches usually have formal training for altar servers.

5. Follow your pastor's lead in your role of worship planning and execution for a particular church. After all, he is likely seminary-trained and has studied in depth the worship discipline of a particular Christian tradition.

6. Be creative within the strictures of your particular worship tradition. Share any inspired ideas for change in worship décor and protocol with your pastor. You may be surprised by the flexibility of your church tradition for new forms of worship.

Resources

• Altar Guilds, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• National Altar Guild, The Episcopal Church