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Today we have had a frantic note from a new guild which has to set up for Holy Communion on Sunday. Every sacristy should have an altar guild manual in plain view, – and always consult your rector, deacon, vicar, or head acolyte if there is an answer you need to know about how to set up for any type of service. Every single member of your altar guild should be trained to set up for any kind of service held at your church: weddings, baptisms, confirmations, Holy Communion, funerals, healing, etc.
Both the Gent/Sturges and Dorothy Diggs altar guild manuals are recommended for Episcopal church use. Edith Weir Perry is also a favorite, but hard to find as it is currently out of print. Here is an online altar guild manual which may be very helpful-and it covers most questions you may have. Click on this link below from the Diocesan Altar Guild, Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
Usually two purificators are tucked into the burse with the corporal. One purificator for the use of the celebrant will be already on the vested chalice between the chalice and paten. If your congregation is very large, or it is a special service where a larger-than-usual attendance is expected, sometimes a flagon must be used for the wine, and a second chalice may be needed. Always ask your clergy if there is any doubt. Ushers often keep a count of the number in the congregation, which is helpful. This number can be discreetly sent up to the chancel on a small slip of paper during the presentation of the gifts. It is better to have all supplies which may be needed at the ready rather than to run short. Your celebrant should never have to worry about these details- this is the job of the altar guild. Be prepared. Fresh small linens, wafers, wine, and a spare fair linen must always be in the sacristy without fail. Matches should also be handy in the chancel at all times, along with a hymnal, Bible, and Book of Common Prayer. Real thoughtfulness might also include a glass or bottle of drinking water, tissues and cough drops discreetly tucked away in the pulpit or within easy reach somewhere closeby to the chancel. Your priest may choose such a place to store these emergency items. You may just enjoy the everlasting gratitude of your priest! Anticipate probable and possible need before it becomes a crisis and things will run smoothly.
ttp://www.epicenter.org/Images/edot/Documents/PDF/2006_AGManualComplete.pdf
I recently picked up this useful little booklet of 51 pages, printed by the Diocesan Altar Guild of Massachusetts in the 1920′s and costing 25 cents. These were available at 1 Joy Street, Boston and are full of helpful information. I will be scanning some of the pages to post here every week. The booklet is now out of print.
There are many topics covered from setting up a guild, sacristy care, care of the altar and font, vestment care, linens, choir vestments, candles and flowers, prayers for altar guilds, and even an official Altar Guild Hymn.
There’s a good deal of sensible advice in this little volume- more to come.
Hallelujah! Yes, the source is found for those lovely gold crosses. It has taken me awhile to find Mrs. Newell, who had the cross designed by a friend who was a priest. The company is in Rhode Island and still has the mold or die and will accept a minimum order of 100 pins. There is a small increase in price as the cost of the gold plating and buffing process has increased since 2005 (the year of the last order). The pins at that time sold for $4.50 each and I am glad to report that the new price is only one dollar more at $5.50 each.
This pin is apparently worn all over the Province I area, and not just Rhode Island, as I recently heard from our Provincial Directress, and is especially popular in Massachusetts. So, if you received the round parish guild pin at the Cathedral last weekend, I think we could wear that as a sign of our parish guild, and if you wish, the gold Diocesan cross above it. That’s what I plan to do. Now, the thing is to get together an order. I must have at least 100 pins to get an order together. If you wish pins for your guild-and this request goes out to ALL of Province I, please email me at Revdma@aol.com and let me know your church, city and how many pins you need. I think it will not take long to get enough for an order together. Stay tuned for updates!
Email and questions are still coming in for our Altar Guild Gathering on Saturday, the 28th. If you are planning to have members receive their pins during the service, please come to the Cathedral early with your pins and give them to me at the back of the nave by 8:45 so they may be placed on the altar for the blessing and distribution.
Each church will be called up to the foot of the altar to receive their pin from the Dean and Bishop.
What to wear? Well, many but not all guilds wear a simple dark skirt and blazer with a white blouse and small cross when they assemble as a guild in public. You may wish to do this if it is you custom, otherwise, whatever you usually wear on Sunday morning to church will be fine!
Who is hosting the coffee hour? The members of the Cathedral Altar Guild and ECW.
Speakers: Mrs. Nancy Feid, Provincial Directress, Mr. Robert Egan,
Special tour of the cathedral and sacristy after the presentation will be given by The Very Rev. Harry E. Krauss- a tour which is NOT to be missed!
If your entire guild or directress cannot attend, think about sending one member to report on the event to your guild at its next meeting.
A Morehouse Publishing book and supply table will be set up at the coffee hour. Checks will be the preferred method of payment.
A selection of items for relocation (tippets, stoles, frontals, etc.) will be available for your inspection to be relocated to another Rhode Island altar. Please know your altar measurements if you are looking for a frontlet or frontal.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, and in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
The following parishes will be attending on March 28th. About 70 altar guild members and their priests are expected as of this date but it is not too late to email me at Revdma@aol.com if you plan to attend. The Eucharist for Altar Guilds begins at 9 followed by a social hour and silver tea and presentations by our provincial directress and Mr. Robert Egan. Surplus vestments will be on hand to “adopt” for your parish, and a Morehouse Publishing table of titles of interest to altar guilds. Hope to see you there!
St. Barnabas
St. Mary’s Warwick Neck
St. John’s Newport
Epiphany East Providence
All Saints Pontiac
St. Augustine’s
Emmanuel, Cumberland
St. David’s-on-the-Hill
St. Paul’s Pawtucket, Grace Church, Providence
St. Elizabeth’s Canochet
Cathedral of St. John, Providence
Responding to date for the Annual Altar Guild Gathering at St. John’s Cathedral, Providence on March 28th:
St. Barnabas
St. Mary’s
St. John’s Newport
Epiphany East Providence
All Saints Pontiac
St. Augustine’s
Emmanuel, Cumberland
St. David’s-on-the-Hill
St. Paul’s Pawtucket, Grace Church, Providence, St. Elizabeth’s Canochet, Cathedral of St. John’s.
Please send an email to Revdma@aol.com this weekend with your church name and number of ladies attending. If you have members receiving pins, please indicate the number and bring your pins to the 9 a.m. Eucharist. See you all in two weeks!
Every sacristy should have a copy of an altar guild manual on hand, whether the Gent/Sturges or Dorothy Diggs or Don Taylor issue. I prefer Edith Weir Perry’s, which is available very cheaply on Amazon for used copies. Here are two altar guild manuals I have not yet seen. If you have read them and would want to do a review, please send one in! The Stauffer book is from the Augsburg Fortress. Both are available used through Amazon.
A new catagory on the right side of the home page (Book Shelf ) will feature any helpful books available on sacristy care, vestment ,making, conservation of textiles, and other topics of interest. If you have a favorite title, please send it along to be featured to Revdma@aol.com
At last! I have located Eileen Newell, my predecessor who held the position of Diocesan Altar Guild Director for many years. I have received numerous notes and calls about where to find the beautiful little gold cross Altar Guild pins Eileen used to obtain for us. I am hoping Eileen will be able to attend our special day on March 28th at the cathedral, and I hope to have the source for these pins for you all VERY soon!
On March 28th, the last Saturday in March, altar guild members, sacristans and parish directresses are invited to attend a morning at the Cathedral of St. John in Providence which will be devoted to the ministry of altar workers in our diocese. We will begin with a Eucharist at 9 a.m., with our bishop as celebrant. After coffee hour, we will be welcoming several speakers discussing topics of interest to altar guild workers, as well as enjoying a time to get to meet each other. If there is a specific topic you might wish addressed, please contact me at Revdma@aol.com If you have probationers in your guild who will be receiving their altar guild pin, please let me know if you would like this presentation included in the programming for the morning. Bulk mailing invitations and details will be going out after Christmas, but do reserve this 3 hours in Lent to come together with all of us for the first time in a very long time.
Bishop James DeWolf Perry, Bishop of Rhode Island 1930-37 (Courtesy of the Diocese of R.I.)
At present, the old familiar guild manual by Edith Weir Perry is out of print but a new edition is in the works at Morehouse Publishing. No date has been announced when this will again be available. Mrs. Perry was the wife of former Bishop of Rhode Island, James DeWolf Perry. Mrs. Perry died in 1955 and her manual for altar guild workers is seldom out of print. The Perry family papers and letters may be found at the University of Rhode Island. For more on the life and career of the Bishop click here: http://www.uri.edu/library/special_collections/registers/manuscripts/perry_james_dewolf/bio.html
A favorite prayer to begin each altar guild meeting comes from this little blue manual. Used copies may be found on Amazon.com starting at $3.99 Here is one of several beautiful prayers from Mrs. Perry’s manual:
| From the “Altar Guild Manual” |
| O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst accept the ministry of faithful women during your earthly life; We pray you to accept and bless the work that this altar guild undertakes in the care of your sanctuary. Grant us a spirit of reverence for your house and worship, your Word and Sacraments, and preserve in purity and holiness our own souls and bodies as living temples of Your presence. Amen. |
All available through Amazon.com new or used or through Morehouse Publishing http://www.morehousepublishing.org/mp.htm Out of stock and awaiting a new printing, date not yet released is the popular Edith Weir Perry’s Altar Guild Manual which can be found as cheaply as 3.99 for a used copy on Amazon. The Diggs and Gent/Sturges manuals are those most often used by R.I. guilds. The Gent/Sturges comes in a large print edition. Training Guide for Altar Guilds by Taylor is also excellent and written with much humor.
Greetings from your Diocesan Altar Guild Director!
I hope this little web log will prove a useful resource and contact for information regarding care of linens, vestments, supplies, helpful tips, and other matters concerning the preparation of our altars for worship. There are many altar guild workers in the state of Rhode Island with DECADES of experience, and I hope you will share your knowledge with us all.
First of all, you are probably wondering WHO is this person “blogging” away about altar guilds in Rhode Island? My name is Shelley Dziedzic, and I have been appointed, as are all Diocesan Directors by the bishop to serve as a resource for all Episcopal churches within the state. My predecessor was Eileen Newell, who held this position for many years.
I have met some parish guild members and directors at the convocation workshops I have given at Roger Williams College and at the Marriott in Providence, but I suspect many do not know me or how I am here to help if needed. Please click on the “About” button at the top of the page to find out more about my experiences in the crucial ministry which is the Altar Guild in every parish.
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