EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS
Eucharistic ministers assist the priest at the altar. They lead parts of the service, including the prayers, and serve the chalice during the administration of communion. Our ten Eucharistic ministers are male and female, range in age from early 20s to many years older. Some have been part of the parish for many years; others are relative newcomers. All of them help us worship God.
"Then Jesus took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."
Eucharistic ministers assist the priest at the altar. They lead parts of the service, including the prayers, and serve the chalice during the administration of communion. Our ten Eucharistic ministers are male and female, range in age from early 20s to many years older. Some have been part of the parish for many years; others are relative newcomers. All of them help us worship God.
"Then Jesus took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."
Do you ever wonder, Who are all of those people on the altar each Sunday morning wearing white robes and administering the chalice? You might know their names, because they are members of the congregation just like you, but you may not know their title or function. They are the Eucharistic Ministers and they have many responsibilities. I am a Eucharistic Minister and it is my very great honor to serve my God and my Rector and the entire congregation in this way.
When I was much younger, and Roman Catholic, females were not allowed even to be in the sanctuary serving in any capacity during a service. Except for serving on the Altar Guild, which meant preparing the altar before services and cleaning up afterward, women had no role in performing the sacramental rites of the church. So it was a great joy for me to come to St. James and find females serving as acolytes, Lectors and, yes, even as LEMs; moving about with ease in the sanctuary, administering the chalice during Communion, leading Morning Prayer services, reading the Prayers for the Candidates during a Baptismal service or the Biddings on Good Friday, and generally assisting the priest at the altar however needed.
...I am not ordained and there are still many rites and prayers and actions that only my priest can perform, but I am on the altar and holding the chalice with consecrated wine and saying phrases that have been said for centuries. I am actually part of a ceremony with enormous historical, religious, and personal meaning. I am not watching it or hearing about it, I am part of it....I am helping to perform a rite originally instituted by my Lord and Savior thousands of years ago.
~Donna Austin, Eucharistic Minister