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Altar
Guild
The Christ Church Altar Guild
consists of a dedicated corps of Christ Church ladies whose calling is to make
certain that everything is right for every service. This includes
hangings, Bible markings, communion elements, and many other details.
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Altar Guilds are a
relatively new ministry for laypeople, dating from the nineteenth
century. Before that time minor orders of monks or laymen called
sacristans performed the housekeeping chores in the churches.
Sacristans were followed by parish clerks in the Church of England
after the Reformation. In the middle of the 1800's, the parish
clerk's duties were assumed by a group of volunteers who became known
as the altar guild.
The rector is the
head of the altar guild. The liturgies of the church are his or
her canonical responsibility. However, the priest usually
appoints a person with deep devotion, who works well with others, to
function in a leadership role.
The basic duties of
the altar guild are to prepare the necessary things for celebration of
the Eucharist and any of the other sacraments and offices of the
church, so that they may be conducted in decency, order, and beauty. |
| Officers of the Altar
Guild of Christ Church: |
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Director: Jay Kephart |
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Secretary: Annette Osborne |
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Treasurer: Chris Justice |
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Members of the Altar Guild: |
| Becky
Beckett, Marla Creasy, Bea Paine, Elizabeth Sudduth, Kim Farmer, Louisa
Sowers, Kay Sudduth, Linda Thomas, Delia Kersey, Patty Richardson, and
Grafton Cockrell. |
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| Ann
Hillier and her friend, Lois Wells, prepare altar |
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| Peggy
Foster prepares to store communion vessels February 2002 |
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