The ministry of the Altar Guild is to prepare the church (or other designated place) for worship, whether that worship be the Sunday morning Eucharist, a wedding, a funeral, or any of the seasonal services, such as Christmas, Holy Week, and Thanksgiving. We arrange the Lord's Table with the vessels, linens, wine and wafers for the Eucharist; decorate the church at Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving; prepare the font for baptisms. We care for, and sometime create, the furnishings, vessels, vestments and linens that are a part of worship in our church.

Tradition

Although Altar Guilds are a relatively new ministry for laypersons (dating only to the latter part of the 19th century) their roots can be traced to the earliest times in the history of the church. In the earliest years of the young church, when followers of Christ met to break bread together, they met in private homes and the head of the household would provide all that was necessary for the meal. Later, when worship moved to more public places, this responsibility was delegated to certain church leaders. For hundreds of years, clerics and sacristans (always men) supervised the sacristy and all the paraphernalia of worship. Sometime in the 19th century, lay women of the parish became involved in this function, and by the end of the century, they began organizing into guilds. Today, Altar Guilds are groups of men and women who are called to serve God by preparing and tending the places where Episcopalians worship. It has been said that the Altar Guild is a ministry of love undertaken in the name of Christ.

Fellowship

The Altar Guild offers not only the opportunity to learn more about our worship by participating behind the scenes, but also the opportunity for fellowship. The Saint James Altar Guild consists of 28 members. We are organized into 12 teams of between 4 and 6 members. Each team is responsible for preparing for services for one month of the year. (If you are counting, some teams take on 2 months and some members are on more than one team.) During their assigned month, the team members meet at the church for an hour on Saturday morning to make general preparations and then tend the sanctuary before and after the services on Sunday. The full Altar Guild meets two or three times a year for business and fellowship.

If you want to know more, ask any Altar Guild member. We are happy to share our ministry with you!