Altar Guild and Sacristy Handbook

Fourth Revised Edition

S. Anita Stauffer, Suzanne Burke

• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781451478099
• eBook ISBN: 9781451479270
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Rituals & Practice

S. Anita Stauffer's original work for altar guilds has been a fixture in churches everywhere since the 1970s. This fourth, revised edition of her classic reflects recent developments in liturgical practice and gives attention to the Evangelical Lutheran Worship family of resources. Altar guild members and sacristans will appreciate the practical and expanded information on caring for the worship space, furnishings, appointments, vestments, and linens; the nuts and bolts of preparing for the sacraments and for funerals, weddings, and other occasional services; and a thorough overview of the church year. Also included are suggestions for organizing the altar guild's work and a helpful glossary. Altar Guild and Sacristy Handbook invites you to approach this role not just as a task, but as a ministry to the whole assembly in God's service.

6

The Church Year

The church year is a wonderful way in which we recall and celebrate the mighty acts of God in history and in our own lives and times. It is a reminder of God’s constant activity—not only God’s interventions into human history, but also God’s grace-filled activity among us now. Through the liturgical year, we realize more and more deeply that we are a part of God’s ongoing saving and loving activity.

For many centuries the church year calendar has shaped our worship: the readings, the sermons, the hymns and other music, the color of the paraments, and the appearance of the worship space. Through a rich observance of the church year, each season and festival can make its fullest impact on the assembly. The church is the grateful recipient and careful steward of the liturgical year. Faithful observance of it is both a privilege and a responsibility. In its ministry of preparation, it is important for the altar guild to study the background and significance of the various liturgical days and seasons. Each day of the church year has its own unique character and message, determined by the appointed readings for the day. Close attention to these readings enables us to celebrate the events in the life of Christ and in church history with meaning.

For a calendar of Sundays, principal festivals, lesser festivals, and commemorations, see appendix A.

Sundays

All Sundays of the year are festivals of our Lord Jesus Christ. In a profound sense, Sunday—the first day and the eighth day of the week, the weekly celebration of the day of resurrection—is the primary Christian festival. The principal festivals, when they fall on a Sunday, are observed on that day. The Sunday takes precedence over any other observances falling on that date, with the exceptions noted below.

Principal festivals and observances

Principal festivals and observances are the Nativity of Our Lord and the Epiphany of Our Lord; Ash Wednesday and the days of Holy Week; the Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Resurrection of Our Lord; the Sundays of Easter, the Ascension of Our Lord, and the Day of Pentecost; and The Holy Trinity. These days always have precedence over any other day or observance.

• If the Ascension of Our Lord is not celebrated on the Thursday after the sixth Sunday of Easter, its observance may be combined with that of the seventh Sunday of Easter, using the propers appointed for either day.
• If, when it falls on a weekday, the Epiphany of Our Lord is not celebrated on January 6, it may be celebrated with its propers on the second Sunday of Christmas when that Sunday is January 2, 3, 4, or 5.

Seasons and times

• The church year includes two seasonal cycles—the Christmas and Easter cycles—and the periods of time after Epiphany and after Pentecost.
• Governed by the fixed date of Christmas, the Christmas cycle begins with the first Sunday of Advent, four Sundays before December 25, and concludes with the Epiphany of Our Lord on January 6.
• Governed by the movable date of Easter Day (between March 22 and April 25, inclusive, always the first Sunday after the full moon that falls on or after March 21), the Easter cycle begins with Ash Wednesday forty days before Easter and concludes with the Day of Pentecost on the fiftieth day of Easter.
• The weekly progression of Sundays characterizes the time after Epiphany and the time after Pentecost.

Lesser festivals

Lesser festivals are additional days when the church celebrates the life of Christ, the witness of those who accompanied and testified to him, and the gifts of God in the church.

Andrew, Apostle
Stephen, Deacon and Martyr
John, Apostle and Evangelist
The Holy Innocents, Martyrs
Name of Jesus
Confession of Peter
Conversion of Paul
Presentation of Our Lord
Joseph, Guardian of Jesus
Annunciation of Our Lord
Mark, Evangelist
Philip and James, Apostles
Matthias, Apostle
Visit of Mary to Elizabeth
Barnabas, Apostle
John the Baptist
Peter and Paul, Apostles
Thomas, Apostle
Mary Magdalene, Apostle
James, Apostle
Mary, Mother of Our Lord
Bartholomew, Apostle
Holy Cross Day
Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
Michael and All Angels
Luke, Evangelist
Simon and Jude, Apostles
Reformation Day
All Saints Day

• The Sunday takes precedence over lesser festivals falling on that date, with the following exceptions. Lesser festivals that normally replace Sundays when their date falls on a Sunday, using the propers of the festival, are the Name of Jesus (January 1), the Presentation of Our Lord (February 2), Reformation Day (October 31), and All Saints Day (November 1).
• Other lesser festivals may be observed on a Sunday when their date falls on a Sunday. The propers of the festival may replace those for the Sunday, especially on the festivals of John the Baptist (June 24), Peter and Paul, Apostles (June 29), Mary, Mother of Our Lord (August 15), Holy Cross Day (September 14), and Michael and All Angels (September 29).
• Local congregations may consider whether observing a lesser festival (with its propers) other than those named above outweighs the value of observing the Sunday with its propers.
• However, because when they coincide with a Sunday the following festivals always occur in the seasons of Advent, Lent, and Easter, these festivals never replace a Sunday observance: Andrew, Apostle (November 30), the Annunciation of Our Lord (March 25), Mark, Evangelist (April 25), Philip and James, Apostles (May 1), and Matthias, Apostle (May 14).
• Except as noted above, when a lesser festival coincides with a Sunday or principal festival, it is normally transferred to the first convenient open weekday. When the Annunciation of Our Lord coincides with any of the days from the Sunday of the Passion through Easter Day, it is normally transferred to the Monday of the first week of Easter.
• Reformation Day, when it falls on a weekday, may be transferred to the preceding Sunday, and either the propers of that Sunday or the propers of the festival may be used.
• All Saints Day, when it falls on a weekday, may be transferred to the following Sunday, and either the propers of the festival or the propers of that Sunday may be used.
• Even if the propers for the Sunday are used, the lesser festival that coincides with or is transferred to a Sunday may be marked through means such as mention in the sermon, inclusion in the prayers, selection of hymns and other music, and a note in the service folder.
• The anniversary of the dedication of a church, or the observance of the festival for which the church is named, may be transferred to a Sunday in the time after Epiphany or the time after Pentecost.

Commemorations

Commemorations illumine various aspects of the church’s life and mission through the lives of women and men who have followed Christ in succeeding generations. Commemorations included in the calendar may be observed as desired. Local custom may suggest the addition of further commemorations. Both Libro de Liturgia y Cántico and This Far by Faith suggest a number of additional commemorations.

• Most commemorations are accompanied by a descriptor, such as martyr, renewer of society, or missionary. Propers for various categories are intended to support the weekday observance of commemorations.
• Commemorations never have precedence over Sundays, principal festivals and observances, or lesser festivals. However, the commemorations for the day or the week may be included in the prayers of intercession as part of the thanksgiving for the faithful departed. When two commemorations share the same date, local circumstances may determine which (if either) to observe.

Occasions

Propers are appointed for occasions, which may be observed at any time except as the primary service on principal festivals and observances, Sundays, or lesser festivals. However, the dedication of a church or a harvest festival may be observed on a Sunday in the time after Epiphany or the time after Pentecost, particularly as a second liturgy for the day.

Weekdays

Propers appointed for Sundays or principal festivals and observances may be used at a communion service or service of the word during the weekdays following unless provision is otherwise made for a lesser festival, commemoration, or occasion. Alternatively, the propers for the preceding Sunday or festival may be used from Monday through Wednesday, and the propers for the next Sunday or festival may be used from Thursday through Saturday. Or, readings may be selected from those provided for the week in a daily lectionary. At daily prayer on days other than Sundays and festivals, the psalms and readings designated by a daily lectionary may be used.

The green Sundays

For over half the calendar year, Christians keep the discipline of a weekly assembly even though there are no regularly recurring festivals. A practical way to designate these standard Sundays is with the term “the green Sundays.” The color for paraments and vestments is green, signifying the life of the church in the Spirit and recalling the tree of life that is Christ among us. Some churches use the terminology “ordinary time” for these Sundays (for example, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches). However, it is important that the label be understood, so as not to diminish the extraordinary nature of each Sunday’s celebration of word and sacrament. (In this usage, “ordinary” refers not to the quality of the Sunday but simply means that the Sundays are ordered—counted or numbered—rather than given specific or seasonal names.)

Two blocks of time in the liturgical year are marked by green Sundays. During the first block—the time after Epiphany—the Sundays between the Baptism of Our Lord and the Transfiguration of Our Lord are green Sundays. The time between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday was formerly called the season of Epiphany. It has never been a true season of the church year, but rather a time, like the time after Pentecost, to live with Christ and one another as the church.

People are sometimes confused by the varying lengths of these blocks of green Sundays. Easter is a variable feast, its scheduling computed cosmologically by the movements of the sun and moon. Because Easter is set on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, and this date varies from year to year, the number of Sundays between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday also varies, from three to eight. The number of Sundays that are dropped because of an early Lent are picked up after Pentecost. The Sunday directly before Ash Wednesday is the Transfiguration of Our Lord, a Sunday adorned in white to celebrate the day when Jesus shone like the sun.

The second block of green Sundays occurs in the (approximately) six months that constitute the time after Pentecost. In Evangelical Lutheran Worship, green Sundays have been named in two ways. The calendar dates within which each Sunday will fall are stipulated, and the numerical ordering of each Sunday’s place in the semicontinuous reading of the year’s gospel is listed. Thus we have, for example, “Sunday, July 24–30, Time after Pentecost—Lectionary 17.” That will be true in any year, no matter how early or late Easter falls. This naming convention provides a reliable, undated system as compared with “Nth Sunday after Pentecost,” since depending on the date of Easter, and therefore Pentecost, the Sunday that falls within the span of July 24–30, with its accompanying propers, could be the sixth or the eleventh Sunday after Pentecost—or anything in between.

The green Sundays make clear that the liturgical year is not primarily a teaching technique for narrating the biography of Jesus. Rather, week in and week out, the church gathers to worship the triune God, sometimes to enact how a specific event in the life of Christ calls forth a festive celebration in the baptized community, but often to enact how word and sacrament inspire the assembly in its life of faith.

Advent

Advent consists of the four weeks before Christmas. The name of this first season of the liturgical year comes from a Latin word that means “coming.” Advent focuses on this “coming” in three ways: the infant Jesus coming in the past—two millennia ago in Bethlehem, Christ coming in the present in word and sacraments and in the fellowship or communion of the church, and Christ coming again in the future at the end of time. In Advent we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s coming in the incarnation, but more importantly we prepare for his second coming, when he will make all things new and judge the world in righteousness.

The preferred color for Advent is blue, the color of hope. Blue helps to distinguish the thematic differences between Advent and Lent. The blue used for Advent is royal blue, not pale or navy blue.

Most churches use an Advent wreath. Select one sized proportionally to the space, and also use proportionality in the ceremony around the wreath. It is a beloved aid to prayer, but other aspects of the worship have far more importance. What can the Advent wreath communicate? As December progresses and the days grow darker, the increasing light signifies our prayer for the coming of the light of Christ into the world. The round circle of fire is an ancient human archetype, a symbol of the sun and the life it brings. The four candles need have no specific allegorical meaning. The old practice of two purple candles, one pink or rose, and the last purple arose in coordination with the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table Of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Ministry
• Space
• Furnishings and Appointments
• Vestments and Paraments
• Nuts and Bolts
• The Church Year
• Holy Communion
• Holy Baptism
• Life Passages, Daily Prayer, and Occasional Services
• Organization
• Meetings
• APPENDIX A: CHURCH YEAR CALENDAR
• APPENDIX B: COMMUNION BREAD RECIPES
• APPENDIX C: RECOGNITION OF MINISTRIES IN THE CONGREGATION
• APPENDIX D: INSTALLATION OF LEADERS IN THE CONGREGATION
• GLOSSARY
• FOR FURTHER READING