The Acolyte’s Book (Tone: solemn respect; reverence to the Lord)
Back to the CORE
Commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
Offering praise to God through Worship
Reaching out to the Unchurched in the World
Equipping and empowering believers to become mature disciples
Contents
You Are an Acolyte
Worshiping God
Materials
Duties
The Procession
Special Times of the Year
You Are an Acolyte
So you have been chosen to be an acolyte in your church. Congratulations! Your job is important because you will be helping everybody else in your church to worship God. In a special way you will be helping the pastor of your church. The pastor is the leader or minister of the church.
Churches have had acolytes since ancient times. The earliest record of acolytes we have tells us that in a.d. 251 there were forty-two of them helping in churches in the city of Rome.
The word acolyte is taken from an ancient Greek word that meant companion, attendant, or helper. In some churches today, acolytes are called servers.
You will be working closely with your pastor, or with some person or a committee that your pastor has asked to work with acolytes. That person or committee will decide how many acolytes are needed and exactly what you are to do.The important thing is to follow the instructions of the person who trains you.
You and the other persons who take part in the church service are like members of a team, and your teamwork will help all the people worship God.
Worshiping God
An important part of your job as an acolyte is to light and extinguish (put out) the candles on or near the special table that we call the Lord’s table, or Communion table, or altar.
We call it the Lord’s table because it is the Lord Jesus Christ’s table. We are the family of Christ. We gather as a family at his table for the holy meal with him, Communion. When you as an acolyte approach the Lord’s table reverently, you are reminding everyone to be reverent. (Reverent means expressing or showing honor or respect, such as bowing your head.)
There is a large cross behind the Lord’s table. It reminds us that Jesus died on a cross but has been raised from the dead and is with us here and now. Because it is a symbol of Christ’s presence, it is the custom in many churches to stop and face the cross before lighting the candles.
Since ancient times, light and fire have reminded people that God is here with us. When you bring the light (fire) into the place where people are gathering to worship and when you light the candles, you are reminding the people that God is with us at home, at school, and at work, as well as in the worship service.
When people look at the lighted candles, they more easily think about God and feel God’s presence.
When you light your candlelighter again before extinguishing the candles and then walk reverently out with your lighted candlelighter, you remind the people that when we scatter out into the world, God will be there with us.
Lighted candles also remind us that Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. Many persons like to think of the two candles on or beside the Lord’s table as reminders that Christ is both human and divine.
After you light the candles, you will go to your assigned seat and remain there throughout the service, until it is time to extinguish the candles or until you have some special duties to perform.
As you sit or stand reverently during the service, worshiping God, you will be an example and a reminder to other people that they should be reverent when worshiping God.
Materials
A candlelighter is used to light and extinguish candles. Inside of it is a long wick called a taper, which can be pushed farther out as it burns down and with which the candles are lighted. It also includes a bell for snuffing out candles.
Acolytes often wear special robes, or vestments, such as an alb or a cassock and cotta. An alb is a long white robe, sometimes tied around the waist with a rope called a cincture.
Albs were everyday clothing in the time of the early Christians, and they remind us of all the other Christians who have worshiped through the ages. Ministers and other leaders of worship often wear albs.
A cassock is a long dark robe, over which a short white cotta is worn.
Duties
1.Arrive fifteen minutes before the service, wearing white shirt or blouse, dark socks (for boys), and well-polished dark shoes. Be sure your hair is combed and your hands and fingernails are absolutely clean. Never chew gum.
2.Be sure the wick in each candle sticks far enough out of the wax to light. If it does not stick out far enough, wax will have to be dug out around the wick or the candle must be replaced. (This should not have to be your job as acolyte, but if it has not been done, you might not be able to light the candles.)
3.Be sure there are matches and that the taper in the candlelighter is long enough. (Children: ask an usher or other adult.)
4.Put on your vestments.
5.Check with the pastor for any special instructions.
6.Light the candlelighter, and then hold it in front of you. It should be tipped slightly forward, with the flame pointing ahead of you and the bell pointing back toward you. Your left hand should be near the bottom and your right hand where it can adjust the knob that regulates the length of the taper.
7.With the lighted candlelighter, walk in a dignified and unhurried manner toward the Lord’s table. Take short steps. Keep your head up and your eyes straight ahead. If you open any doors on the way, close them behind you.
8.The exact pattern for candlelighting will depend upon how many candles there are and the number of acolytes. Be sure your pastor or adviser has made clear to you the pattern you are to follow. Here is a typical pattern where there is a center aisle that leads directly to the Lord’s table, and where there are two candles and two acolytes. a.The two of you walk down the aisle side by side.
b.When you reach the front of the church, before you climb the steps, pause and look reverently at the cross for a moment.
c.Walk up the steps to the Lord’s table side by side, then separate and turn until each of you is in front of the candle you are to light. Watch each other out of the corner of your eyes so that your movements are in agreement.
9.When there are two candles and only one acolyte, light the candle on the right first and then the one on the left.
10.When there are several candles on each side of the Lord’s table, light them in the order shown here.
11.If there are both candelabra (floor stands with several candles on each) and the two altar candles, light the two altar candles first.
12.As you reach each candle you are to light, stand directly in front of that candle. Expose enough of the taper so that the flame is large enough to light the wick of the candle. Hold the candlelighter so that the taper is horizontal and touches the candle wick. Hold the taper on the wick until you are sure the candle is lit. Watch the other acolyte out of the corner of your eye so that neither of you gets ahead of the other.
13.Carry a book of matches* with you so that you can relight the taper if it goes out before you light the first candle. (*There should be a lighter in the lectern for emergencies.)
If there are two acolytes, you may relight your taper from the other acolyte’s taper. If a candle is already lit, you may relight your taper from that candle. In any of these cases, do the relighting without attracting attention and as reverently as possible.
14.After the candles are lit, draw the candlelighter toward you so that it is not over the altar, and pull the taper into its metal stem, snuffing out the flame.
15.Move quietly to the side bench on the right. Hang the candlelighter in its place as quietly as possible.
16.Participate actively in the entire service. When the congregation stands or sits, you also stand or sit, straight and still, with both feet on the floor.
Keep your eyes on the person who is leading or preaching, and do nothing to attract attention to yourself. Rest your hands quietly in your lap, without unnecessary hand or finger movements.
17.At the end of the service, when it is time to extinguish the candles:
a.Pick up the candlelighter, and point the bell away from you.
b.Go to the altar and pause in front of the cross.
c.If there are two acolytes, be careful that neither of you gets ahead of the other.
18.Extinguish the candles in the following order:
a.Light the taper of your candlelighter from the last candle before extinguishing it, and then walk up the center aisle and out of the sanctuary with the taper lighted, to signify that we are carrying the light of Christ out into the world.
b.Outside the door, pull the taper into its metal stem and snuff out the flame.
19.Put the candlelighter where it is stored during the week.
20.Take off your vestments and carefully hang them up. If they are torn, soiled, or for any other reason not ready to be worn at the next service, notify your advisor.
* * *
In review:
Light the taper while in the narthex
Process up the aisle
Light the candles; sit down
Follow the service; help the pastor as necessary
Snuff the candles; light the taper from the last candle
Recess down the aisle
Snuff the taper when back in the narthex
Put away the candlelighter and robe/belt
* * *
The Procession Churches often have processions at the beginning and the end of the service. Acolytes often take part in these processions.
Sometimes acolytes with lit candlelighter lead the procession before lighting the candles and then lead the procession out after extinguishing the candles.
Sometimes an acolyte acts as the crucifer (cross carrier) and leads the procession, holding a processional cross on a staff (long pole).
Sometimes two acolytes act as torchbearers, following the crucifer in the procession. Each carries a torch (large lit candle on a staff), with the case of the candles at about eye level.
An acolyte may also act as a banner or flag bearer, following the crucifer and torchbearers in the procession. Your pastor might want you to follow about one step behind the crucifer.
Hold the staff of the processional cross, torch, banner, or flag with your left hand, about twelve inches above the right. You may rest your right elbow at your waist for support. During the service these are all placed in stands on the floor.
Because the processional customs of churches differ, check with your pastor or adviser to be sure you understand exactly what is expected of you.
Special Times of the Year
There are special days and seasons that we celebrate in the Christian Year or Christian calendar.
The Christian Year centers around Christmas and Easter and is divided into two parts—the Christmas Cycle and the Easter Cycle. Each cycle is divided into a season of preparation, a season of festivity, and a time of growth.In the Christmas Cycle, Advent is the season of preparation. It begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas (the Sunday between November 27 and December 3) and lasts until sunset on Christmas Eve. Advent always contains four Sundays. The festival season of Christmas begins with Christmas Eve and goes through Epiphany (January 6, when we remember the visit of the Wise Men).
Many churches have an Advent wreath with five candles. Four of these, placed on a circle of the wreath, represent the four Sundays in Advent.
On the first Sunday in Advent one candle is lighted. On the second Sunday, two (the one lighted the previous Sunday and one other) are lighted. On the third Sunday, three (the two previously lighted and one other) are lighted. On the fourth Sunday, all four are lighted.
These four candles may all be purple (the color associated with seasons of preparation), or one may be rose-colored. Some churches use the color rose on the third Sunday in Advent to symbolize joy, and if your wreath has a rose candle, it should first be lighted on the third Sunday in Advent.
The fifth candle is in the middle of the wreath and is white, the color associated with festival seasons. It is called the Christ candle and is lighted on Christmas Eve. If a church does not hold a service Christmas Eve, the white candle may be lighted at the first service held on or after Christmas Day.
The candles of the Advent wreath may be lighted by an acolyte immediately after the other candles are lighted, or they may be lighted by designated persons in a ceremony at a special time in the service. They are extinguished by an acolyte immediately before the other candles are extinguished.
In the Easter Cycle the season of preparation is called Lent. It begins with Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter. The festival Easter Season (sometimes called the Great Fifty Days) begins with Easter Day and goes through Pentecost (the Sunday seven weeks later). Easter Day can fall on any Sunday from March 22 to April 25, depending on the year, because it is the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the first day of spring.
At services throughout the Easter Season many churches light a Paschal candle. This is a large white candle that stands in a tall holder on the floor to symbolize the risen and living Christ. During the Easter Season, the Paschal candle is kept near the Lord’s table; at other times of the year it may be kept by the baptismal font and lighted for baptisms. It may also be lighted and placed near the head of the coffin at church funerals.
The lighting of the Paschal candle at the first service of Easter is a special ceremony. At other services during the Easter Season, it is lighted immediately after the other candles are lighted. It is to be extinguished immediately before the other candles are extinguished.
There will probably be other ceremonies during the year when acolytes are given special duties. For example, you may be asked to help when the pastor baptizes, confirms, or receives persons into membership from another church.
There are many things acolytes can do, either every Sunday or at special times, besides those mentioned in this booklet. Your pastor or adviser may talk to you about some of these things and give you a chance to do even more to help your congregation worship God.
Downey United Methodist Church Telephone 562 861-9777 FAX 562 861-1749 Address: 10801 Downey Ave. Downey, CA 90241
