The Altar Server Ministry is a liturgical ministry of St. Louis King of France Catholic Church and School. It is a ministry to the liturgy of the Church, ensuring that the sacred rites are celebrated in a solemn manner, worthy of the mystery of God.
Liturgy means “work of the people”. This tells us that it is the responsibility of the faithful to ‘work’ at worship. Altar service, a special component of this work, is a privilege to be approached with respect and humility.
New Altar Server and Parent Orientation is held this year on Saturday, April 12th from 9am–12pm. Please register at the link below. Immediately following the orientation, prospective altar servers will join the other altar servers in their Serviam Saturday training.
La orientación para padres y monaguillos nuevos se llevará a cabo cada año en la primavera. Por favor, regístrese en el siguiente enlace. Inmediatamente después de la orientación, los futuros monaguillos se unirán a los otros monaguillos en su capacitación sabatina Serviam.
Boys and girls in grades 4-12 who have received their First Communion are eligible to join the program. They must complete a period of observation where they spend time watching other servers and the liturgy at the altar. After their observation period, server candidates are elevated to their appropriate server level, based on their grade and/or age and become active members of the server team.
Requirements to join the altar server program:
- Family is registered parishioners at St. Louis Catholic Church.
- Student has received their First Communion.
- Student has completed the 3rd grade or has turned 9 years old by October 1st.
Parents of altar servers partner with their child in this ministry. The baptismal rites of the Church explain that the parents are to be the first teachers of their children in the faith. Parenting an altar server is a perfect opportunity to embrace this commitment to God. We encourage parents to remember that even though they, as parents, are not serving directly in
the ministry, it is their duty to promote altar service in a professional and courteous manner, consistent with the loving discipline of our faith, the love of the sacred liturgy, and the community of St. Louis.
There are several ranks of altar servers. Each rank performs certain functions during Mass. The Altar Server Coordinators, made up of Acolytes, Parent Volunteers, and Senior Altar Servers, train all ranks of servers.
Regardless of grade status, each rank is only served for these set number of years (i.e., can only be at Senior level for 4 years, Junior level for 2 years, etc.).
Observers must serve a minimum of 8 Masses before they are eligible for elevation. Elevation is dependent on successful completion of the observation program. In addition to observers, students moving to a higher rank are also invited to elevation. Parents and altar servers will be notified by the office if they will be elevated in a particular year to the next level. The ceremony is generally held in October, and the date will be announced.
The altar server schedules for weekend Masses as well as Holy Days of Obligation, St. Louis School Masses, and other church services are prepared by the Office of Engagement and Worship. Any changes regarding family addresses, phone numbers, Mass preference, or recurring scheduling conflicts need to be changed in the Ministry Scheduler Pro (MSP) application and reported to the ministry coordinator.
The schedules are prepared monthly. Once the schedule is created, posted, and distributed, a server’s assigned times to serve are theirs and their family’s responsibility.
Preferred times are respected. However, due to the high number of preferences for certain Masses, some servers are not able to serve as often. Servers may serve more by being available for multiple Mass times, serving at funeral Masses, or picking up substitute requests.
Altar Servers are responsible for recruiting their own substitutes. Should an emergency occur which prevents a server from fulfilling their commitment to serve, they may request another server to substitute for them by filling out the sub request form in the MSP app. Servers should include their rank in the request. For example, in the Comments field, the server or parents should write “Illness--Junior level, please.” Servers should accept sub requests at their rank to ensure that the work of the liturgy is properly distributed. An apprentice, for instance, has not been trained to carry flags, but most juniors have. Please contact the Engagement and Worship Office for more information.