Lay Liturgical Ministers Roles & Responsibilities

Overview

This document sets out guidelines for lay roles in helping maintain our worshipping community and in particular to celebrate the Eucharist, as we prefer to see them performed in Sacred Heart, Hook. We will not always have a dedicated Priest and the ordained ministers in our Pastoral Area (priests and nuns) are fully occupied leading the liturgical and pastoral life in North Hampshire. As lay members, we recognise that we are responsible for supporting for our Priest and facilitating any visiting priests. This includes Welcome, Musical Liturgy, Altar Serving, Reading, Ushers, Offertory Procession and Distribution of the Eucharist, Each role is distinct and, in its own way, important to the reverent celebration of Communion at Mass.

Ministry of Welcome

Those who welcome are usually among the first of the congregation to arrive. They ensure the church is open, that the heating, ventilation and lighting is appropriate for the season and conditions. They check the supply of Mass Booklets, Hymnals and Bulletins are sufficient and relevant for the service to be held.

Each person arriving for the service is greeted and offered the Booklets, Hymnals and Bulletins. If there are any special rotas, forms or messages for named individuals, then the welcomer should ensure that the named parishioner is alerted.

By checking the current rota for the other Lay Ministries, the welcomer should identify a backup for any late arriving duty minister.

During the first Hymn (or when the Priest ascends the altar) the welcomer should resume their seat and allow latecomers to serve themselves.

At the end of the service the welcomer should take Mass Booklets, Hymnals and unwanted Bulletins from departing parishioners. They must leave the stock of Books and Bulletins in a tidy state ready for the next service. If they are the last one to leave the church, they should close all windows, turn off heating and lights, bolt the doors and lock up the church.

Musical Liturgy

The Organist or Choir leader is responsible for selecting the Hymns and Anthems in coordination with the Liturgy Group, who co-operate with the Parish Priest.

The organist advises the congregation of the selected hymns by using the boards hanging in the church.

Children’s Liturgy

For the main mass of the week, currently 10:00am Sunday, provision is made for a special liturgical celebration for younger members of the parish. This takes place within the confines of the mass and the Ministers of Children’s Liturgy are responsible for collecting the children together and leaving the church acknowledging the tabernacle. They then lead the children in appropriate prayer and reflection on the Gospels according to the age and ability of the children. They bring the children back into the church at the end of the Creed and participate in the offertory procession. All Ministers of Children’s Liturgy must be approved by Police record checks for working with minors.

Altar Servers

Server’s lists are prepared up to six months in advance by the Altar Server’s Co-ordinator for each Mass time using the pool of commissioned servers available for that Mass time.

They should arrive in time to put on vestments, ensure the Altar is prepared for the service and process to the back of the church with the priest before the designated start time for the Mass.

Training will be provided for servers and continuing development is encouraged through membership of an appropriate society.

Reading

Readers’ lists are prepared up to six months in advance by the Co-ordinator for each Mass time using members of the Parish who have been commissioned as Ministers of the Word.

They should prayerfully prepare their passages before the service and, if no other provision has been made, prepare Bidding Prayers. There are clear guidelines for the range of topics to be included in Bidding Prayers and writing them is best done as a group activity.

On the day, they must check the lectern and microphone to ensure they are set up correctly and that the Missal is open at the correct page and that the Bidding Prayers are available.

After the Opening Prayer, they should approach the Altar, bow and enter the sanctuary to proclaim the Word of God. If there are two readers, the second should stand or sit behind the lectern.

At the end of the passages both readers should descend from the Sanctuary, bow to the Altar and return to their seats.

During the last paragraph of the Creed, the second reader quietly returns to the lectern to read the Bidding Prayers.

After the Bidding Prayers, the Ushers (or in their absence, the Readers) take the collection.

Just before Communion, immediately after the bell rings to summon the congregation to the altar, the second reader leads the Communion Antiphon.

Ushers / Sidespeople

One or more members of the congregation are needed to guide worshipers to their seats when the church is crowded. They should secure their own place and then respectfully help other parishioners find a suitable place to participate in the service, paying particular attention to seats reserved for children participating in their own liturgy. After the service starts this must be done in a tactful and respectful way that does not disrupt the concentration of other worshippers.

After the Bidding Prayers, the ushers (or Readers) take the collection, normally working both sides of the church at the same time starting at the front.

When the collection is complete, the Offertory procession is formed with two worshipers carrying the hosts and chalice, followed by the ushers with the collection.

The ushers are responsible for ensuring the collection is securely passed to the Priest after the service. (Counting the collections is the responsibility of one or more delegated officials).

At the end of the service they are responsible for any retiring collections as the congregation leaves the church.

Offertory Procession

Two members of the worshipping community should be nominated at the beginning of the Mass to be part of the Offertory Procession. One carries the un-consecrated hosts and the other carries the wine. The ushers make up the rest of the procession with the collection bags.

When the collection is complete, the Priest and Altar servers assemble at the foot of the altar to receive the procession. Only when they are ready should the Procession start their journey.

The speed should be dignified but purposeful. The wine and hosts are handed to the Priest, who passes them to the servers for placing on the altar. The usher/sidesman deposits the collection at the side of the Altar.

All the participants in the procession should bow and return to their seats at the same time.

Eucharistic Ministers

Eucharistic Ministers’ lists are prepared up to six months in advance by the Co-ordinator for each Mass time using Parish members who have been commissioned as Ministers of the Eucharist.

Immediately after the Kiss of Peace, the ministers leave their place in the congregation and enter the sanctuary, positioning themselves close to the raised platform. They receive under both kinds and take the chalice or ciborium from the priest. When all the Eucharistic Ministers and Altar Servers have received communion, the Ministers and the priest descend from the platform to the aisle of the church where communion is distributed.

When distributing the communion, any members of the community who are not in full communion (children, lapsed Catholics or other Christians) are offered a blessing (“May the peace of Christ be always with you”) instead of communion.

After all communicants have been served, including any less-mobile participants, the ministers consume any consecrated surplus wine. They then perform the cleansing rituals on the vessels. When complete, both ministers return to the middle of the altar to bow and return to their places.

If communion is being taken to the sick, the Eucharistic Ministers responsible present themselves to the priest after the distribution of communion in church is complete. This may mean leaving only one minister to complete the cleansing rituals.

Duplication of Roles

With small congregations, we recognise that it is sometimes necessary for one person to perform more than one role at certain masses. It is essential that the Minister of the Word is not the same as the Minister of the Eucharist and that the other roles are spread as widely as possible among the faithful to avoid overloading the priest.

Other Roles

To make these roles work efficiently we need parishioners to take overall responsibility for certain specialist areas.

For each Mass Time we need a coordinator for each Lay Ministry; Welcome, Musical Liturgy, Altar Serving, Reading, Ushers, Offertory Procession and Distribution of the Eucharist

o Coordinators draw up rotas for lay Ministers, including contact details of all participants.

o The rotas are normally for six months and are prepared two months before the expiry of the current list.

o All major Solemnities are included in the rotas.

o Coordinators should give copies of the rotas to everyone on their list and the Parish secretary, for inclusion in the parish bulletin – current week and next week.

o Coordinators should place copies of the rotas in the sacristy and on the notice board of the church.

For each Lay Ministry, one of the coordinators will take a lead role so that in addition to the role described above they will:

o Work with other lead coordinators to ensure there are sufficient volunteers for their ministry.

o Ensure that new ministers have appropriate initial formation and training and that existing ministers have opportunities for annual ongoing formation.

o Work with the parish priest and the PPC to encourage more parishioners to participate.

o Work with the parish priest, the PPC and coordinators to maintain parish guidelines for lay ministers.

o Act as a focal point for communications with the Pastoral Area and Diocese.

Current Coordinators

Ministry	6pm Saturday	10am Sunday
Welcome	Andrew Edworthy	Maggie Wood
Music / Organist	Richard Sugden	Jill Blackburn / Vida Trehern
Children’s Liturgy	Not Applicable	Gill Byrne
Altar Servers	Maura . . . .	Jonathan Blackburn
Readers	Edna Welton	Michael Rogerson
Ushers	Jason Cross	Kevin Saunders
Offertory	Jason Cross	Andrew Aldous
Eucharist	Sylvia Hooker	Kevin Saunders