Men and women, boys and girls, vested as altar servers and processing to the Church of the Saviour, Groningen
The development of the ministry of altar server has a long history. In the early Church, many ministries were held by men and women.[citation needed] By the early Middle Ages, some of these ministries were formalized under the term "minor orders" and (along with the diaconate) used as steps to priestly ordination. One of the minor orders was the office of acolyte.[1] Altar servers are a substitute for an instituted acolyte.
In several Christian Churches, women have traditionally been excluded from approaching the altar during the liturgy. Thus The Service Book of the Orthodox Church (English translation by Isabel Florence Hapgood) states that "no woman may enter the Sanctuary at any time".[2] In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, the former rule was: "women may not enter [the sanctuary] at all".[3]
This did not exclude women, especially in convents of nuns, from entering the altar area at other times, for cleaning.
In Eastern Churches, women are further restricted by not being allowed inside the altar area and in several traditions even within the church building during their monthly periods.[4]
^Meehan, Andrew. "Acolyte." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 14 June 2023 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^"Service Book of the Orthodox Church, The (Hapgood)". SVS Press & Bookstore. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
^Fortescue, Adrian; O'Connell, J. B.; Reid, Alcuin (2009-03-29). The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-86012-462-7.
^Alessandro Bausi, Languages and Cultures of Eastern Christianity: Ethiopian (Routledge 2017)
and 26 Related for: Female altar servers information
diocese that does not allow females to be altarservers, after the only other diocese ended its prohibition on femalealtarservers in 2006. The cathedral...
that did not allow females to be altarservers in 2006, after the only other holdout ended its prohibition on femalealtarservers. However, it was joined...
called "acolytes" informally. Also, the term "altar-boys" is often used to refer to young altarservers. Subdeacons wear their normal vestments consisting...
Code of Canon Law removed the requirement that altarservers be male; permission to use femalealtarservers within a diocese is at the discretion of the...
Eucharist and the Cloistered Dominicans. In 2006, Loverde permitted femalealtarservers, at the discretion of the local pastors, for the first time. In 2015...
character; that is, it allows, but does not require, the use of femalealtarservers. Thus it is for each diocesan bishop to decide whether to allow them...
introduction of femalealtarservers as an unwelcome sign of the "feminization" of the church and a disincentive to boys to serve at the altar and start on...
Church led by Father James Callan where she was one of the first femalealtarservers and participated in anti-nuclear protests at the Seneca Army Depot...
reason are equal. Clergy celebrants are assisted by young male and femalealtarservers (locally referred as "sacristan") and acolytes. The church does not...
character, that is, it allows, but does not require, the use of femalealtarservers. Thus it is for each diocesan bishop to decide whether to allow them...
strictness, for officiating clergy, including boys as choristers and altarservers. Although it only emerged after the Protestant Reformation, it has been...
Anglican churches). In Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican churches, the altarserver who carries the thurible is called the thurifer. The practice is rooted...
cleric to help train and to admit some of their members, if needed, as altarservers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, or lectors—all ministries...
Francis (30 May 2011). "The Cambridge chaplain is right to accept femaleservers at Tridentine Masses". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2019. "Pastor...
Bruskewitz, the diocese was the only diocese in the United States where femalealtarservers were not allowed diocese-wide. Bruskewitz published a book entitled...
An altar cloth is used in the Christian liturgy to cover the altar. It serves as a sign of reverence as well as a decoration and a protection of the altar...
Rite of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Methodism and Anglicanism, an altar bell (also Mass bell, sacring bell, Sacryn bell, saints' bell, sance-bell...
prayers of the Mass. Only the server or servers join with the priest in reciting the prayers at the foot of the altar (which include the Confiteor) and...
or hanging, or, when speaking specifically of the hanging for the altar, an altar frontal (Latin: pallium altaris), is a decorative piece, usually of...
An altar crucifix or altar cross is a cross placed upon an altar, and is often the principal ornament of the altar. Early Christians were wary of publicly...
with an army of servers, a sub-deacon and deacon all taking part. In other parishes the chalice and paten may already be on the altar from the beginning...
is a thurifer and is accompanied by two servers on the more solemn occasions. Acolyte Altar cross Altarserver Processional Cross Thurifer Armentrout,...
of Oblation, which Readers and other servers may not do. He is also responsible for the training of new servers. The clerical street-wear of a subdeacon...
Sacramental wine, Communion wine, altar wine, or wine for consecration is wine obtained from grapes and intended for use in celebration of the Eucharist...
from precious metals, stone or wood, and is lockable and secured to the altar or adjacent wall to prevent the consecrated elements within from being removed...
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
