About 15 volunteers are needed to make Christ Church's Sunday worship a rewarding experience for all who attend. Although the same people perform some of these ministries each week, most liturgists rely on volunteers and anyone can sign up. The following are instructions for carrying out each ministry.

Acolytes

    Young people of the parish become acolytes around the age of 10, and serve through high school. The acolyte coordinator schedules them. Those members interested in serving may talk to the rector.

Bread and Wine

    Providing Eucharistic gifts is a very old tradition in the church. At Christ Church we share in providing the bread and wine that are blessed, broken and shared among us. In our tradition, the bread is made of wheat flour and is not to be encumbered by fruit, nuts or seeds. Please see Lil Fidler’s bread recipe below for instructions on making the bread. You may also make a donation and have one of the Christ Church bread bakers make the loaf for you. Call the office to make arrangements. The bread should be brought to the sacristy at least 20 minutes before the 11:00 am service. We use communion wafers for the 8:15 am service.

    As is customary in the Episcopal Church, we use wine and not grape juice. The wine should be a simple red table wine or a fortified wine. Since it will be used at both services, the wine needs to arrive at least 20 minutes before the 8:15 am service.

    The wine can be left in the office anytime during the week. Please provide a sufficient amount for 30 communicants at the early service and 90 communicants at the 11:00 service. A standard .75 liter bottle usually is enough. If you offer a larger bottle which can be used during the week, please provide port or tawny port.

Breakfast

   Breakfast at Christ Church feeds not only the hungry participants from the 8:15 am service, but it also provides a bridge to the 11 am service. People often come early to the Adult Forum in the expectation of having breakfast with “their friends from 8:15."

    If you have signed up to prepare breakfast, you will receive a postcard from the church office the week before. Plan a menu that will feed 25 to 35 people. It can be as simple as cereal, fresh fruit and muffins, or as elaborate as eggs benedict. Pancakes and bacon, or scrambled eggs are always popular. Bring all the food you think you’ll need, including staples like butter or flour. Be sure to bring a gallon of orange juice and a gallon of milk for coffee. The church provides coffee, tea, sugar and sugar substitutes, salt and pepper, paper plates, plastic cutlery, and paper cups. We encourage you to use real dishes for environmental reasons.

    Arriving between 7:30 am and 7:45 am should give you plenty of time. The coffee is kept in the cabinet near the microwave. Make 60 cups in the large pot of regular coffee, and make decaf in one of the small coffeepots. You will find the rest of the coffee set-up (sugar, sugar substitutes, stirrers) nearby.

    The tables and chairs will be arranged already for breakfast in a “u” shape. Paper plates, plastic cutlery, and napkins are kept in the cupboard next to the swinging doors. Set places for about 30.

    Plan to have breakfast ready to be served at 9:10 am (you can always keep it warm in the ovens). Parents who come to the nursery to bring children for the Communion are a good source of information about timing.

    Your fellow parishioners will be glad to help you serve breakfast. The Vestry Host will generally ask people to begin picking up about 9:35, in order to be ready for the Adult Forum at 9:45. Leave the coffee for Coffee Hour after the 11:00 service. The tables in the Parish Hall should be cleared and cleaned by you or your assistants. Please wash your dishes, and take home any leftover food. You may leave juice and milk for Wednesday if you wish. Two dishwashers are available.

Coffee Hour

    The social hour nourishes our community life. After the second service, we hope everyone, either individually or with a couple of friends, will help serve the coffee hour at least once each year. Special events in your life, like birthdays, are good occasions for you to prepare coffee hour.

    As a host, you are responsible for preparing the table, providing the refreshments and cleaning up afterwards. The refreshments may be very simple — cookies for the children and coffee and cold punch for everyone — or as elaborate as you want. Milk for the coffee is normally brought by the breakfast crew, and should be refilled from the refrigerator as required. Sugar and sugar substitutes are available in the kitchen.

    Punch bowls are generally on top of the wall cabinets, cups and mugs in the cabinets, serving platters and baskets on shelves underneath the island. Ladles are in the drawers next to the freezer. Tablecloths will be in the cabinets or stacked in plastic baskets. If tablecloths are soiled they should be placed in the hamper next to the refrigerator

    Coffeepots should be rinsed and glassware washed or placed in the dishwasher.

Choir

    Despite their professional sound, they're all volunteers. Do not let false modesty keep you from seeing the director of Music Ministries about joining! Choir practice is Wednesday night from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm and Sunday mornings at 10:00 am. The Youth Choir practices Sunday mornings at 9:30 am in the upper room. The music ministry also needs volunteers to ring hand bells. The Handbell Choir practices Thursday nights at 6:00 pm for about an hour.

Flowers

    Flowers return beauty to God and gladden our hearts. You are responsible for arranging the flowers and setting them out on the altar in the chancel. There are normally two vases of flowers, one on each side of the cross under the “mother” window. Please ask the sacristan any questions about what types of flowers or plants are appropriate. Potted plants might be a good alternative. A wide variety of vases is available in the sacristy. The office will send a postcard reminding you that you have signed up to do the flowers and will tell you who the sacristan is for that Sunday.

Greeter

    Works in concert with the ushers. Greeters welcome visitors to Christ Church, invite them to coffee hour and offer information about the church.

Readers (Lectors)

    Reading one of the lessons at a Sunday service is a special form of public worship. Christ Church takes lay involvement in our worship very seriously. Any communicant of the parish (youth or adult) may sign up to read.

    If you sign up to read one of the lessons, at either the 8:15 am or 11:00 am service, you will receive a package from the church office the week before. In the envelope will be the name of the liturgist for that Sunday and a copy of the lessons (the same as the insert found in the bulletin). If you have questions or if you would like to practice your reading in advance, call the liturgist. The liturgist would be happy to meet before the service to hear you practice. If you draw one of those lessons that includes long lists of Hebrew names, refer to the pronunciation guide in the sacristy. Our lessons are from the NRSV of the Holy Bible.

    On Sunday, if you check the lectern ahead of time, you will see that the lessons are marked. When it is time for you to read the lesson, walk up the center steps, stop for a moment in front of the altar, and then walk to the lectern. Please do not bring your lesson with you to the lectern. The lesson is always there.

    To ensure that you are loud enough pick someone in the back pews and pretend to read to him or her. After you have finished reading the lesson, say "The Word of the Lord." Wait for the congregation to respond, "Thanks be to God" before leaving the lectern. Walk back down the side steps and then to your seat.

Liturgist, Sacristan, or Lay Eucharistic Minister

    These three functions are all performed by the Liturgists, a group of parishioners who, with the rector and music director, plan the worship of the parish. Anyone interested in becoming a liturgist is invited to speak with the rector. Liturgists serve for three-year terms. Some of them, as well as some of the pastoral care team, are licensed to take communion to those who are sick or shut-in on Sundays or Wednesdays following the service.

Nursery

    Each Sunday our nursery is staffed by one or two paid caregivers. However, because the number of children in the nursery changes each Sunday, a rota of parents (having children under the age of 11) is created to help our paid care givers. Each parent usually has duty only one Sunday a quarter, lending a hand from 9:45 am to 12:15 pm. Those who are not parents of young children may also volunteer. Please call the office if you would like to help.

Pastoral Care

    A group of parishioners serves as pastoral caregivers under the leadership of the rector. Pastoral care givers visit parishioners in need, take them flowers and/or communion on Sunday mornings, and carry out other ministries. Please see the rector if you would like to be on the pastoral care team.

Prayers of the People

    Having the Prayers of the People come from the congregation is a cherished part of Christ Church's liturgical identity and the theology of The Book of Common Prayer, 1979. A little preparation is required to lead them successfully. During the week the office staff will send you a full text of the prayer form being used on the following Sunday. Read it over, noting the places where the congregation is asked to offer their individual petitions. Practice reading the prayers to develop a prayerful cadence and tone, while speaking loudly enough to be heard throughout the church. If you have any questions call the liturgist whose name will be provided with the text of the prayers. Bring the text with you to church on Sunday, and lead the prayers from your text.

    Sometimes the prayers are forms from The Book of Common Prayer, but adding the names is easier from the form you receive.

    On Sunday morning arrive a little early and check in with the liturgist, who will be reassured you have arrived. This will also give you a chance to learn of any last-minute additions to the Prayer List and check the pronunciation of any difficult names. During the prayers allow sufficient time for individual petitions at the appointed places. Where silence is called for, allow enough time for the silence to be noticed. Some find it useful to say a short prayer internally each time to keep the silences consistent.

    With practice many of us have found leading the prayers a moving spiritual experience. Anyone may sign up to lead the prayers.

Ushering

    The ushers perform many critical functions on Sunday morning: They greet and welcome parishioners and newcomers, pass out bulletins, direct traffic, take up the offering and present the gifts at the altar. A set of instructions is located in a red binder in the narthex. The usher coordinator, Charles Floto, schedules ushers on a quarterly roster. See him if you are interested in joining.

Other ministries at Christ Church

    Other volunteer ministries help our community of faith at times during the week. If you are interested in being an office volunteer during the week, one of the gardeners, soup kitchen helper, the person who delivers vegetables to the soup kitchen once a month, driver of food collected for Friendship House, rummage sale helper or other ministry not listed, please speak to the rector. We need many volunteers to help our life together.