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“Presently, my firm is redesigning the sacristy at our church which was originally built in @ 1950. This is the only article that I have been able to find on the subject although our clergy has tried to contact a number of churches for suggestions. Thank you!
Lucille McKey, IIDA “
Thanks for your email Lucille. Yes, finding information about how to design a working sacristy is nearly impossible. There are no sources. Of course common sense is always an ingredient and discussions with altar guild workers who have many years’ experience with the requirements can be beneficial. Altar Guild workers are frankly brilliant at making do and often have to be very innovative in making things work in unbelievably cramped and challenging spaces.
To be able to get it right from the beginning is wonderful, so put a lot of thought into the layout. Hire professionals and keep in mind any historic spaces or architectural elements in your church which should be conserved as you are renovating for the sacristy. Work with the style and architecture of your edifice. Here is my list of absolute basics:
1. Will there be a separate priest vesting sacristy or will one space have to serve for everything? Christ Church in Westerly is very lucky to have a small vesting sacristy for clergy and across the chancel, a large, airy working sacristy for the guild. If you can manage this, life will be simpler. Note the height of this vesting space in the photo below. This is convenient and one does not have to bend over a low counter top.
2. When measuring for horizontal storage, take the WIDEST chasuble you have in inventory, lay it flat and measure across and add on a little for maneuvering. This should be the width of your horizontal flat storage drawer. There ought to be at least FIVE horizontal chasuble drawers labelled top to bottom: green, white, purple, red, Lenten array (or other color such as blue, black, floral, unbleached linen Lenten array, etc.) It is helpful to store the whole Low Mass set together. In this photo below from St. Stephen’s House, Oxford, England, note the eucharistic set stored in horizontal fashion and a clean white cotton liner all ready to cover up the set- excellent! Better still if the fiddleback chasuble could lie flat.
3. You will need a deep pull out drawer for small eucharistic linens. I like to line these with damask fabric so the drawer looks beautiful when the linens are laid out inside.
4. Two drawers, deep ones, will be needed for rolled FAIR linens. Measure your LONGEST fair linen on a roller. That will be the length measurement for the drawer plus a few extra inches.
5. Measure your longest small linen, such as credence shelf or table linen. These should also be stored rolled and kept separate from the fair altar linens as they tend to get mixed up if stored with the fair linens. A label with the type of linen marked IN PENCIL lightly is a help.
6. Measure any pulpit fall or lectern hanging or Bible markers at the widest part and their length to get drawer dimensions. These can be stored flat if you do not store them with your frontals. It is easier to store them separately.
7. You will need a double sink, stainless steel is best. Lining it with a plastic dishpan will save dings and cracks in glass cruets from happening. Another small sink which drains into the ground is desirable ( a piscina) for pouring down consecrated wine and wafer residue when washing vessels.
8. You will need frontal storage for heavy paraments. Flat storage or vertical hanging storage are both good options. Measure the widest frontal from side to side to obtain the width and add on a few inches extra for good measure. If you opt for vertical hanging storage, then you will need suspension dowels to drape the frontals over. They should be sanded very smooth and sealed with polyurethane to prevent snagging. Always put the lining next to the dowel. You may wish to have a separate space to hang your large funeral pall apart from the frontals. Be sure the height of the cabinet unit allows for the frontal to hang freely down without touching the bottom of the cabinet. A top opening can make getting frontals in and out tricky, a front opening of two doors swinging OUT from the center is preferable.
9. Additional small drawers near the sink are great for storage of cloths, cleaning products, and small items. An ironing board hanger which has the built-in iron holder is a godsend and can be mounted inside a closet.10. A cork bulletin board is a must for posting rotas and announcements and a calendar.
11. A closet deep enough to hang chasubles with plenty of air space between vestments is a must-have if you opt for vertical hanging storage instead. A ventilation panel in the lower door is also helpful for air circulation, a light inside the closet is useful. Use hangers which have the curved shoulders, usually made of resin, – never unpadded wire hangers! You may wish to have a separate closet for albs and surplices if space is available.
12. Chalice safe: Measure the height of the tallest metal vessel and add extra inches for easy access. The chalice safe should have a LOCK. There should be ample room to set up a communion chalice with pall, and a breadbox or ciborium at the least. Some churches which have daily communion actually have 7 small safes labelled for daily Mass, Mon- Sun! Imagine that! Below is San Giovanni Rotundo showing the 7 chalice safes with communion set up in each. Wow!
13. Vessel storage cabinet for extra eucharistic vessels, wafers and wine, etc. Always store wine away from any heat source and light.
14. A roomy storage cabinet for broom, vacuum, dustpan, cleaning items which are tall. Hang your ironing board and iron inside.
15. Floral arranging supply storage: room for Oasis, vases, pruners, liners, holiday special mechanics for floral display.
16. Wedding and baptism supply storage for kneelers, pew markers, ewer, candleholder, aisle runner, any special equipment used for occasional special services and sacraments.
17. A hard-wearing countertop surface which resists stains and is easy to sponge off.
18. A bookshelf for reference books is a plus.
19. Don’t neglect good lighting, and a light wall paint. I do have a horror,however, of painting over beautiful wood if it is of architectural or historical significance just to make a sacristy “brighter”. Improve the lighting instead.
20. A specified place for plastic waste bins which should be emptied frequently of rotting floral material.
21. Drying rack for wet cloths. These usually are hung near or over the sink and fan out from the wall about 10 inches with about 4-5 separate hanging bars. This attaches on the wall.
22. The door to the sacristy should have a sturdy lock and either each member should have a key, or else the key should be hidden in a place known to the altar guild and clergy.
23. A carpet may be cushy to stand on and may look great but it is not practical. Wall to wall carpet holds dustmites and mold spores like mad. A tile or wooden floor is easily cleaned. A rubber work mat is great at the sink or in any area where one must stand in one spot for a length of time. Save the fancy oriental carpet for the priest’s vesting sacristy. That space can be made very beautiful with a prie-dieu, framed artwork, and a very handsome horizontal chasuble “press”. I particularly like to have framed vesting prayers, a shelf for books and notes, a clock, a beautiful religious picture or icon and cross, a damask vestment pad on which to lay out vestments, a small chair, a spot to have tissues, a pitcher of cold water and paper cups and a jar of cough drops, a calendar, notepaper and pencils,and a few comforts. Just look at the floor at Saint Paul the Apostle in the Diocese of Joliet! Clean enough to eat off of and easy care.
24. A safe is recommended if very valuable or historic vessels are in the inventory.
I know there may be more ideas out there. Please send in comments and photos of your good ideas in your sacristy. . If you are fortunate enough to be building a sacristy from scratch, you have a wonderful and rare opportunity to customize it to fit every need. Renovations later are expensive so there is every incentive to plan carefully first. Also check Craig’s List, Ebay and local classified ads, many churches which are being closed or are merging with another parish have cabinets and vestment presses, vessels safes and more fittings FOR SALE very reasonably-priced! In closing, gasp at this glorious sacristy in France at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Orleans. Once there were so many beautiful sacristies in America. Around the late 50′s, early 60′s so much beautiful wood, marble, and other quality materials were replaced and heaved out in the wish to “modernize”, to the deep regret of us now. Point to ponder.
One of my first big undertakings in the sacristy was to restore some old alb laces found in a suitcase in the top of a closet. The strips were tiny brown balls and looked nothing like lace. After gently unraveling the dirty bundles, the bobbin lace revealed itself in all its splendor. Old laces may never again be truly white-white, but you can come pretty close with some tender loving care and patience.
Most of the best 19th century bobbin lace came from Brussels, Venice, or England. Some convents began lace schools to teach young women a trade. Bobbin lace is worked on a cushion with fine linen or cotton thread, pins and spindle-like bobbins. Hand-made lace is highly collectible and valuable. Eventually machine-made laces proved cheaper and faster to make, but did not have the gossamer delicacy and airy-ness of handmade.
I first called Katy Kliot at LACIS in Berkely, California (see our links) who suggested using BIZ to clean and brighten the laces. I found that soaking the laces, and changing the water as it became soiled, loosened up most of the dirt and dust. Laces must be handled gently while washing so as not to break the “brides”- or the thin connecting threads which hold together the motifs. Sometimes I slipped a spatula under the laces to turn them. Never wring or twist lace, or lift it up while it is saturated- the weight of the water will snap the threads. This takes patience. When the Biz has been added to warm water, agitate the detergent to a froth with your hands , then lay in the lace for the soakings. I like to use a plastic dish pan for this process. When the rinsing phase is through, lay the lace on a clean white terry towel and gently pat the lace in an up and down motion which will absorb a great deal of the water. Gently press the lace out with your hand on the towel, smoothing the motifs into place. I then place the towel on my picnic table out in the sun where the brightening rays will do wonders for whitening the lace. When completely dry, store in acid -free tissue, as flat as space permits.
Insertion laces are easy to spot, the edges will be perfectly straight on both sides. Alb and surplice hem or sleeve laces usually have one straight edge and one scalloped or irregular patterned edge. Insertion lace was applied to hems of surplices or albs, then the back cloth was cut away to reveal the lace in front. Generally priests, bishops, Masters of Ceremony, and older altar servers wear the insertion style laces, very young servers have hanging lace on their cottas at the hem.
In the photo above I am getting the procession ready. Young Lucas has a stubborn cowlick that won’t lay down! Do you have an Acolyte Matron to assist before services? If there is a large acolyte guild, one or two people dedicated to keeping the vestments tidy and assisting with young members can be a godsend- and a lot of fun. Youngsters often need prompting to wash hands, comb hair, stand up straight, be quiet, and be ready on time. The position of Acolyte Matron is seen often in England for servers and young choirs.
Clergy always appreciates clean, laid-out vestments, ready to put on with no worries. Lace is making a comeback in the new vestment catalogues. Mostly it is detachable and synthetic on albs and easy to launder. In the good old days, nuns loosely stitched lace on so it could be removed for laundering. Now we have snaps and Velcro! All photos above are from Saint John the Evangelist in Newport, December 2000.
Yes- that is Father Douglas Burger from Woonsocket in the photo above, serving at Midnight Mass as Deacon in his dalmatic.
Photo from St. Peter’s in Columbia, Tennesee
This has been a week for receiving calls or emails about a problem many guilds share across the state- and the country. How do we entice new members to altar guild work? Along with this plaintive cry comes an affiliated sidebar, “Our gals are getting weary of the “holy housework”.” It’s a busy world today, with every hour crammed with places to go and things to do. For all the modern conveniences, it seems we are expected to do more and do it faster. Some guild members have been on the job for decades, some directresses have stayed on because nobody wants to take over the responsibilities. Burn-out is an expected commodity and the feeling guilty part about having this slump is not surprising. Here are some ideas I have found which work to inject some energy in the crucial ministry we perform in our parishes.
1. Have regular meetings of the guild, maybe monthly with a summer break.
2. Schedule your meetings at a time convenient for working members or members with young children. For instance, Thursday morning at 10 a.m. will reduce dramatically the possibility of attending for many. Early evening around 7-7:30 is an excellent window to accommodate young families and working persons.
3. Sons, husbands, fathers, and MEN in general are wonderful candidates for altar guild work. More and more guilds are discovering that women are not the only possibility for altar guild members! The guys are great at brass-polishing, handyman chores, church garden maintenance, constructing much-needed spaces and shelving in the sacristy, and yes- I have seen beautiful flower-arranging work done by men, and even ironing! One husband member made an ingenious cruet -drying device using wooden dowels. The cruets are washed and inverted over the dowels to dry. Tiverton has a fantastic mother and son brass polishing team- you should see that brass shine at Holy Trinity!
4. Have an annual Christmas party and June end-of-year luncheon at a local restaurant or in a member’s home.
5. Consider an “Open Sacristy” one Sunday in your church. After services, invite the congregation to see the sacristy. Have some of the most beautiful hangings and metalware on display, and be on hand to answer questions. You have no idea how many times I have heard parishioners shrink away from going near a sacristy- “Oh, I am not supposed to go in there”! You’d be surprised at how many folks think something mysterious happens in sacristies, just for the special few to enjoy. Yes, there are wonderful mysteries in our church to be sure, but the sacristy and the work done there should be information everyone can access without trepidation.
6. Offer training for probationers. The director should be able to facilitate this. Often newbies are scared of making a big mistake. Nobody is born knowing all about altar guild work. Training is fun. Assign a new candidate to a long-time member until he/she feels comfortable. Every member should know ALL facets of altar guild work.
7. Every member should have their own altar guild manual. Second- hand Diggs or Sturges/Gent or Edith Perry manuals are available through Morehouse or on Ebay or through used books services like alibris, Bookfind or Amazon.com.
8. Plan a parish visit to another sacristy. Your altar guild can pay a call on a nearby sacristy (Saturday mornings are perfect). Then reciprocate by having the host guild visit YOUR sacristy. Refreshments and a social time after will add some fun and you will enjoy seeing other ways of doing things, exchanging products tips, seeing vestments, needlepoint, metalware, etc. is great fun and can be very useful and informative.
9. Invite a speaker to a regular meeting. Flower arranging, textiles, history of vestments, conservation, church architecture, are all fun topics. Refreshment and education for your guild members is critical.
10. Guild work days can foster a sense of teamwork. Cleaning out closets, polishing and dusting and a general overhaul twice a year can be fun if done as a guild. Afterward, a lunch and social time at a local eatery is a great reward! Also consider an embroidery or needlepoint circle if you have enough women interested in handwork. Old linens can be recycled into small linens, new small linens can be made, repairs done on a guild “Sewing Afternoon”.
11. Invite your Diocesan or Provincial Directress to pay a call to one of your guild meetings.
12. Don’t be afraid to “take a break”. At one time Directresses used to serve no more than 3 years, then were replaced by a new person. The rector was in charge of this appointment. Sometimes a year off to pursue other ministry work in the church or in the community can recharge the batteries, and you will return refreshed and renewed to the altar guild.
13. Visit museums to see religious art and textiles- and read about your “craft” to learn the history of vestments, textiles, church architecture. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston has wonderful historic vestments.
14. In September, a Ministries Night in your guild hall may be just the thing! Each ministry has a table set up, the altar guild may display some vestments, flower arrangement, etc., and have a little printed handout about “What We Do” . Staff your table with members of the guild who can answer questions. This is your frontline for recruitment!
15. Ask your rector/vicar to do an “Illustrated Eucharist”. This is a wonderful teaching opportunity whereby the celebrant explains the WHY of everything that happens at the Eucharist as it is being celebrated. As each vestment is put on, the priest will explain what it means and where it comes from. Why do we genuflect, why is the Host and chalice elevated? To learn about the “equipment”, ritual, and ceremonial of our church is important for altar guild members and congregants alike.
16. Consider a junior altar guild for the youth in the parish.
17. Bring a daughter, grand daughter, niece, nephew, etc. to your team work day to help and see how things are done.
18. Invite your rector to a meeting. He/she may love an opportunity to offer appreciation for work done by the guild, suggest ideas, discuss vestments and needs for the sacristy, etc.
Don’t be afraid to suggest ideas to your parish directress. She is there to coordinate the work of the guild and to keep a lively, inspired and dedicated team on task. Input from guild members is always valuable for directors/directresses to hear. Don’t be afraid to try something new!
Thanks for the photos, Adelaide. (scroll down to see the photo slideshow) I am glad to see the hanger is not one of the wire variety. You might consider padding the ends of the hanger with a little foam or batting to ease the stress on the shoulders. Wow- the neckline IS grime-y! Hard to believe that chasuble ever saw the front door of a professional dry cleaners. First, let’s look at those reddish spots. They appear to be rust. Your fabric looks like a light wool in a twill-like weave. I think we will have to attempt spot cleaning on this chasuble. You will need a Q-tip and a bottle of WINK rust remover. First, apply WINK to the Q-tip and test a drop on the inside hem of the chasuble to see if any discoloration occurs. Then with cold water, blot out all traces of the WINK with a white cotton rag (Carbona is another brand of rust dissolver). Now check in a few minutes and see if there is any discoloration. Then proceed to try the WINK on one of those red rust spots. The red should come out very quickly. Apply the cold water once the red is gone and blot out the WINK residue. Blot with a white terry towel to dry . This will be a bit time consuming but worth it. Work “small” with as little product as possible for spot cleaning. Hence the Q-tip!
The grime around the neckline is unbelievable! Oh if we could only convince our beloved clergy to wear an amice again! It costs about 30 dollars for a cotton amice which you can wash in a machine- and $800-$1200 PLUS to buy a new chasuble! Here is what I would try first. Line the neckline with a fluffy white cotton terry towel so it fits all around inside the neck opening. Grime around the collar is oil- based, human sebum attracting and holding the dust and dirt. Summer is the time perspiration and body oils are even worse. *Note to amice-less clergy – wash your necks with soap and water with special care! 
Get a close shave on the beard under the chin, and make-up and perfumes are not kind to chasubles. So we approach this as an oil-based stain. Read more about oil-based stains here http://www.si.edu/mci/english/learn_more/taking_care/stains.html
This will take plenty of patience and multiple applications in most cases. Let’s start with a couple inches of the grime first. Take one cup of luke-warm water and add two DROPS of “ALL free and clear detergent”. ALL free and clear has no dyes and perfumes and is an excellent detergent to always have on hand. Do not use a sponge. A linen or cotton cloth (white) is the tool to use to apply the detergent. Blot on the detergent/water solution. Blot in one direction, don’t rub back and forth, this will cause abrasion to the threads. You may need to do this procedure several times to get the grime out. Be sure to rinse in clear water to finish and remove all the detergent. Blot up excess water with a clean white towel, patting dry. Let’s try this first and if you do not get the desired result, we will go on to more drastic measures! Keep us posted.
We had an email about crocheted edgings on three or four corners and here is a pattern which addresses that situation and is also lovely, The Cross & Tudor Rose pattern has been around for awhile and was revived in the late 1960′s when needlecrafts again became popular. Notice how smooth and flat the corners lay using this approach for small linens or large ones. Just left mouse click on the photo and a larger version will open up for you to print out.
Happy New Year! I have been down with the flu bug along with many others for the past two weeks. I am hoping you have taken many great photos of your church decorated for Christmas and will share with us here.
The catalogues are starting to come into my office so it must be January! I love looking through all of the religious goods catalogues and finding new items. You may want to keep one of those stand-up storage files in your sacristy for your supply catalogues. Almy’s and Egan’s usually are sent routinely to the church office, but all companies will be delighted to send a catalogue and sometimes even fabric swatches and samples upon request. If you have a good resource, please send me the company name so we can share it here. I will be posting catalogue resources this year beginning with Monastery Icons http://www.monasteryicons.com/
The company has a beautiful line of icons. I ordered the St. Damiano crucifix to the left a few years ago for Taize prayer services. You will enjoy surfing their website for cards, beautiful jewelry, statues, garden statuary, Celtic designs, incense, banners, and many other kinds of religious items. There is a link on the site to request a free catalogue. Perhaps someone in your altar guild will be appointed to maintain a catalogue supply archive for your sacristy. It is always a help to have a catalogue with photos at the ready when a donor comes forward wishing to donate an item to the church.
I am back from vacation! The weather has been so humid and muggy the past few weeks. Does your sacristy smell musty? So few churches are air-conditioned in New England and most sacristies are closed and airless during the week. This can be deadly in the summer months-but what can you do? If you do not have an air-conditioned sacristy, there are a few measures which can be taken to help prevent damage to vestments, mildew, and that musty odor.
Textiles like to be comfortable at about the same temperature human beings enjoy. Ideally, 50% humidity and 60 degrees farenheit is the dream climate for textiles- but highly unattainable unless you have a museum set-up. You can however, remove vestments from those big plastic storage zip-up bags. 
These have their own mini-environment which is not good in summer months for long-term storage. A de-humidifier is a cheap and effective device for removing moisture from the air. It’s a good idea to leave tight-fitting drawers and closet doors open so air can circulate. Simple standing fans placed at each end of the room can keep heavy air circulating, which is important. Recently I found at the Christmas Tree Shop, those dehydrating crystals which come in a small plastic tub. These absorb excess moisture in the air and can be placed in the closet. Although it is a strong temptation to open and leave open sacristy windows, street dust and pollutants and insects can enter and cause problems.
If you store wine in the sacristy, be aware that it may turn vinegary if stored where the temps rise high. There’s nothing worse than Taylor Tawny Port from under the sink in a hot sacristy! What a terrible “bouquet” and flavor! Keep your wines cool, even if it means storing them elsewhere in the church during the summer months. Pita, and other types of made bread for the altar will mold very fast. It is best to keep these refrigerated during the week and remove just before use. Even wafers become gummy and softened. You may try keeping wafers dry and crisp in a tight plastic container in the refrigerator instead of in a sacristy cabinet.
Finally, do remove all flowers and foliage from the sacristy trash can. Left for even a couple of days, the smell of rotting cellulose is very unpleasant, and becomes a source for mold and mildew. If flowers are left on the altar from Sunday, the water will need to be changed frequently during the week as bacteria grows fast inside the vases and the smell is horrific- something that must not be countenanced for altar flowers! Summer is a challenging time to keep things fresh and odor-free. The good news is that September is coming soon!
Fourth of July weekend is a great time to be out and about at flea markets, yard sales and antique shops. Who says sacristies cannot also be beautiful as well as orderly, neat, and clean? I enjoy finding little treasures when I am out on the antique trail which will add a little something special to the sacristy towel rack and linen drawers. The towel to the left is of a soft 100% cotton, loose weave. These were very popular in all sizes during Victorian-Edwardian times and even into the the 1920′s. Sometimes these are called “birdseye” due to the little tiny dots all over in the pattern, or sometimes hock cloth or huckweave. This fabric is very soft and absorbant and nothing is better for drying glass and silver. Often there is a dainty lace edging made of filet crochet, tatting, or bobbin lace- but more often the larger towels have a hemstitched plain end or fringe. Sometimes they are monogrammed. The more you wash them, the softer and more absorbant they become. Yes, they look best when ironed, but it is a very small price to pay for the look of a gleaming towel bar over your sink, lined with these lovely and durable towels. They also dry quickly after using if stretched out to air on the towelbar. I have tried terrycloth and linen towels and nothing beats these wonderful old vintage white towels. I see them everywhere in the $ 2-$ 8 dollar range-a little more for the larger size. $4 is on average for the hand towel size. And keep an eye out for lace trims (hand made), neat Irish linen tea cloths, linen napkins, damask weave cottons, and other white vintage textiles which can be transformed into amazing credence cloths and lavabo towels! Sometimes the exquisite whitework embroidery, all hand done is a FRACTION of what those expensive catalogues want -and the fabric and work far superior. This can be a fun project for your altar guild this summer-finding little treasures which are useful, practical- and beautiful!
I am delighted to promote the studios of Details in Design of Williamsburg, Virginia. After so many years of depending upon Mary Moore linens through the Almy company, I believe the quality of the linens of Details in Design is superior, and the service is spectacular. Not only can linen be ordered by the yard in Belgian or fine Irish linen, but the studio offers restoration and repair for old fair linens, workshops, needlework classes, and many other wonderful services for church altar guilds. You will enjoy exploring their website at www.communionlinens.com Please call for additional workshops not listed on the card above at 1-800-905-9556 Their catalogue is a MUST HAVE for every sacristy and features useful laundry tips and linen history.
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.
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
Here’s a great video which shows a tidy way to keep a drawerful of cinctures from turning into a tangled web! Just click on the video arrow to view the how-to segment.
Cincture Braiding:
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