Formation

What is the Sacred Order of Acolytes?

It’s a gamified version of Acolyte training that is designed to celebrate participation in worship and a long-term commitment of service to the church.

Sharing Resources Across the Diocese

As Formation Leaders continue to share resources across the Diocese and make meaningful connections across ministries and churches, we are so grateful for their generosity!

Kelsey Cooper, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at St. David’s in Austin, recently used this training and said it was a big success.

Thanks for sharing with us, Kelsey!

Here is the way she promoted this training when running a workshop at St. David’s:

• What? The Sacred Order of Acolytes is a relaunch of our acolyte program using a gamified training model. It’s going to be a fun, interactive, and age-appropriate workshop. The workshop will be teaching students about the order of service, what acolytes do, and how to respectfully behave in that role using games and intrigue.  
• Why? One thing I have really struggled with as the staff person in charge of the acolyte program is effectively articulating what and why we’re asking young people to serve at the altar. I read a book this summer (I Serve at God’s Altar by Speer Jr & Pearson) and spoke to several experienced acolytes to get a better sense of why they acolyte and how I can best lead this ministry. One thing that I have discerned we are missing is the importance of why. We don’t just want young people helping at the altar because “that’s how it’s done” or because it “makes us look good,” but because serving in worship is a tool of discernment for those young people. Acolyting helps youth and kids feel at home in their worship space. It gives them specific, important tasks that are necessary for our worship to continue. It reminds us that worship is not a performance, but a ritual. A work of the people. And meaningful worship rituals must include all ages, races, genders, etc. of the people in the community. All of us have a role to play to make our worship services function to praise God.  
• Age group? This new acolyte program is offered to students in 3rd-12th grades. This is a change from prior years, since we previously started at 6th grade. Many of my colleagues have found that asking for younger students to serve as acolytes increases the number of potential acolytes and gets them involved at a younger age at the altar before many are old enough to feel self-conscious or too cool for helping with worship.  
• Time? The workshop itself lasts for two hours, including lunch. That’s all that this invite asks you to commit to. If you or your child is on the fence about joining our Sacred Order of Acolytes, I do still invite your child to the workshop to see how it feels. I know every family has to make difficult decisions about what programs to say yes to and what obligations to uphold; I completely understand if you decide joining our acolyte ministry is not right for y’all at this time. I also respect if you got this letter and thought, “oh God, please, not another thing.” I certainly do not want church to be “another thing” in the long list of things that wears on your family each week, but if you’re feeling drawn to more accountability in your worship attendance or considering ways to help your child feel like they belong in this community, this might be a good fit. 
• Commitment? After the workshop, if you do decide to join the Sacred Order of Acolytes know that I’m flexible with my students on when/how often they serve. Asking for substitutes, trading spots, and inputting your availability are all simple processes in our volunteer management software Ministry Scheduler (sign-up information will be sent after the workshop) and no, you do not have to download another app if you don’t want to!
  • I ask students to serve roughly once a month in the 9 a.m. service and twice a month at 11:15 a.m. You tell me what commitments you can make, and I will do my best to honor that.