{"id":5358,"date":"2025-06-15T15:30:45","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T19:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/?p=5358"},"modified":"2025-06-15T15:30:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T19:30:45","slug":"do-this-in-remembrance-of-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/?p=5358","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDo this in Remembrance of Me\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Judy Mathis<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the early 80s when I was 40 years old, we moved to Florida where I was welcomed into a loving Episcopal Church. I was a high school teacher and counselor with a husband and two teenagers at home. To say I was busy was an understatement. The altar guild at my new home church needed help, and the idea of serving on the altar guild really appealed to me because it was a quiet, behind-the-scenes ministry. As the altar for Sunday was prepared on Friday morning, I couldn\u2019t participate because I was working. We did, however, have a mid-week 6:00 PM service in our chapel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The directress who trained me was patient and loving, and I looked forward to this time each week. This was only five minutes from my home, and I could set up the altar for the service on my way home from school; I returned to worship, and after the service, washed and put away the holy vessels. I did this for several years and always loved the quiet time spent preparing our Lord\u2019s table. What a contrast to the commotion of working in a high school setting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to 2003, when I retired from the school system and was ordained a deacon. I really appreciated the role of the altar guild even more as I witnessed all the preparation necessary for the different types of services. I was always impressed by the love and care with which the members served. I learned a lot from them not only practically but spiritually as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly six years ago, we moved to Colorado to be near family, and once again, I was warmly welcomed into an Episcopal Church. While I no longer serve as a deacon in the formal sense, I am active in several ministries of the church. I am always encouraging and notice the loving care the members of the altar guild demonstrate as they go about their duties. Perhaps that is why the leader of our altar guild asked me to share my thoughts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why I Love Serving on the Altar Guild <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I thought since I had learned so much from the members over the years, I\u2019d share some of their thoughts about serving on the altar guild with you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked a friend, who has only served for a year, to write a few observations about her experience. She writes, \u201cRaised in a faith, at a school and at a time when tradition dictated that girls could clean the sacristy but were to touch nothing, the altar guild has given me a greater sense of participation in the profound mysteries and miracles of faith. Every time I touch the instruments of worship is like the first time: awe-inspiring<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She goes on to say, \u201cI am always struck by the way in which our team works like a well-oiled machine going about the various tasks and rolling with the changes that crop up \u2014 and there can be a number of them. Adjusting to the changing church calendar, funerals, interim clergy, and a variety of programs hosted in the church are just some of the challenges posed to the altar guild participants. What doesn\u2019t seem to change is the patience with which these adjustments are addressed.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometime in the past, the leader of our altar guild asked the members to answer the question, \u201cWhy I love serving on the altar guild.\u201d Here are just a few that stood out for me. \u201cWhat I like about the altar guild is working together as a small team to help with the service. It truly is a privilege to serve the Lord in this way.<\/em>\u201d Another answered, \u201cI serve with love and joy in my heart<\/em>,\u201d and \u201cServing on the altar guild I feel more connected when I worship<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One member had several observations to share. \u201cI feel we honor God and Jesus by making thoughtful and careful preparations to carry out Jesus\u2019 command to, \u2018Do this in remembrance of me.\u2019 The altar guild prepares the church and the elements of communion so that all who enter will have the opportunity to feel that this is a special place and something special is going to happen here. The congregation may not notice all of the details, as altar guild members do, but they notice that everything is prepared, ready and beautiful, and they don\u2019t have to do anything \u2014 the Holy just happens.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope you enjoyed hearing and learning how serving on the altar guild affects those who serve. These thoughts warmed my heart; I can only imagine they warmed our Lord\u2019s heart too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judy Mathis is a retired deacon of the Episcopal Church, living in Broomfield, Colorado<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since I have learned so much from altar guild members over the years, I thought I\u2019d share some of their thoughts about serving on the altar guild with you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,9],"tags":[24,53,119,44],"class_list":["post-5358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry","category-your-ag","tag-altar-service","tag-ministry-2","tag-training","tag-volunteer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5358"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5368,"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5358\/revisions\/5368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalaltarguildassociation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}