Adoration Chapel Startup Notes:

Speak to Pastor, get his approval to start up Adoration Chapel

Pastor obtains Bishop’s approval to have Adoration Chapel ( mandatory)

Ask pastor what sort of oversight & involvement he wishes to have

with the organization/running of the Adoration chapel

Perpetual Adoration is a Lay Apostolate, and is under the oversight and direction of the pastor. It must not pose additional administrative burdens on the pastor (or he will not support it.) The lay organization is responsible for the day-to-day efforts of organizing and covering the hours. The pastor makes policy decision re the chapel: hours it is to be open; holidays it is to be closed; resolution of special situations ( ordinary decisions are made by adoration chapel committee)

Decide on how many days, how many hours each day Adoration is to be held.

Recommendation: Start with 5 days/week, 9am-midnight, or whatever

the pastor recommends.

Organization: See Organization Document

Get Starter Source Materials from: Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament

PO Box 1701, Plattsburgh, NY, 12901

Ph: 518-561-8193

Email:

Website:

Materials for Adoration Chapel:

Chairs, kneelers, prayer aids, reading materials, sign in book

Petition book, telephone (outbound calls only, for emergency use only),

access to rest room

Schedule “Signup Sunday”:

Signup cards and pencils to put in pews for masses

1000 signup cards, 400 pencils ( golf pencils work well (Staples))

Presentations at each Mass

7 pm meeting Sunday evening for summary & recap

Bulletin Notice: print fathers article three weeks before his arrival

Phone committee to follow up call those who sign up at masses & coordinate

hours & days.

Letters sent to various ministries requesting adorers/guardians

Need a person to keep attendance records, make sure Jesus is not left alone when exposed in Monstrance.

Replacement for dropouts, sick, travelers, etc (“floaters”)

Each Sunday the petition book is placed on the altar for Mass & included

In mass petitions.

Once/week daily coordinator checks sign-in book to assure each hour of week is covered, notifies attendance chairperson who notifies floater chairperson to find

Temporary adorers to cover temporarily empty spot.

For the first 2-3 weeks, each Daily Chairpersons calls their adorer s to remind

them of their commitment and get heads up on any upcoming absences, or

anyone who decides they can’t do it.

  1. thank them for wanting to spend an hour with Jesus each week
  2. Confirm the day and hour requested and ask whether they would be willing to take an hour that is opened.
  3. Be encouraging and supportive. Share with them the many blessings that come from their holy hour; they will look forward to coming each week.
  4. If there is a need, ask if they would like to be an hourly captain and/or if the would be willing to take more than one holy hour a week
  5. Record their address/phone/email so a mailing list can be compiled

The Daily Chairpersons call each adorer/guardian on their list and tell them:

  1. Starting Date
  2. Location of the Chapel
  3. Parking Arrangements
  4. Location of the restroom
  5. Security Arrangements
  6. Location and use of telephone
  7. Names of Adorer before and after them
  8. How to obtain a substitute
  9. Name and Phone number of each Daily Chairperson

Materials needed to start Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration:

  1. Pamphlets, prayer cards, posters
  2. Inspirational materials
  3. Reasons for Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration
  4. Bulletin Announcements
  5. Perpetual Adoration Invitation with Q&A section
  6. Answers to Commonly Asked Questions
  7. Coordinator Instructions
  8. Daily chairperson Chart
  9. Daily Schedule Layout
  10. Practical tips to find ‘floaters’
  11. Testimony of Favors Granted
  12. Place Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Posters in neighboring parishes ( only with pastors permission)
  13. Newslett4er from Missionaries of Blessed Sacrament.

Letter from Pastor to each adorer/guardian

Acknowledgement letter from the Lay Directorate to each adorer/guardian thanking them and reinforcing their time & commitment to that time.

Perpetual Adoration Substitute List- those willing to fill in if a committed adorer/guardian can’t make their allotted time.

A few people committed to cleaning the chapel once/week or as necessary

Lay Directorate meets once/month for action items, status

Listing of St Angela groups & contact persons

Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament (has lots of helpful information)

PO Box 1701

Plattsburgh, NY, 12901

Ph: 518-561-8193

Apostolate for Perpetual Adoration

PO Box 46502

Mt. Clemens, Michigan 48046-5602

Ph 313-949-9156

St Angela Ministries & Contact List

About 45 ministries@ 6 adorer/guardians each = 270

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

How to proceed:

Pastor permission

Educate and gain parish support

a.Speaker at all masses on ‘kickoff’ weekend

b. Signup forms in pews-ask for specific day and hour

Signups entered into data base to get overview on what days/hours

Need to be filled

c. Meeting with priest promoter after 5pm mass Sunday-assessment and where do we go from here?

d. Invitation to signups to come to Monday evening meeting

Invitation included on signup form and emphasized during priest promoter homily during mass

e. Get contact laison people from the signups who attend the Monday

meeting to volunteer to call the remaining signups to verify intent and time.

f. Letters from pastor sent to various ministries inviting their participation.

(Prepare for pastor, request his thoughts/changes, pastor signature,

Adoration committee distributes)

g. Priests continue to speak at all Masses about adoration and encourage

signups.

Signup forms and pencils continue to be left in pews

  1. It took St Dorothy’s about six weeks after the priest promoter’s weekend to get the required number of signups
  2. Then a letter from the Pastor sent to each adorer/guardian signup thanking them, etc. and including a schedule, a page of guidelines, and a holy card reminder.

h. Form a data base committee, about 2-3 computer literate people who keep track of attendance ( look at the sign-in book) every week, coordinate backups, keep records up to date.

i. Once everything is in order, all the time slots are filled, the organization in place, a formal procession from the church to the chapel carrying Our Lord in the monstrance, and formal adoration begins.

j. Once a week the coordinator checks the sign-in book to make sure every hour has been covered.

k. Find a volunteer who will vacuum and dust the chapel during closed time

l. Find a volunteer who will monitor the supply of prayer cards, inspirational material, etc, in the chapel and keep supplies current.

m. For the first 2-3 weeks of adoration startup, the daily chairpersons phone their respective adorer/guardians to remind them of their commitment.

n. The petitions book in the adoration chapel is placed on the altar during Sunday masses and the petitions are included in the general intercessions during mass.

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