CommunionAssistantInstructions
You Are Important!
You are a very important part of the worship experience at Good Shepherd. Several hundred people commune each weekend we celebrate the Eucharist. Your help distributing the body and blood of our Lordhelps proclaim God’s love to all who come to the altar.Thank you for serving!
Before the Service
Please arrive at the Robing Room 10 minutes before the service. If serving at the 8:00 or 11:00 a.m. services, please put on a robe and tie a cincture (white cord) around your waist. If serving at 5:00 or 9:30, robes are not used so please wear clothing that is appropriate for worship.
Get a bulletin from the plastic rack on the wall by the door of the Robing Room and look over the service so that you know when you will be helping. Note if there will be a processional, which is often the case for a festival service such as Easter or Pentecost. If that is the case (check with a pastor to be certain), take your bulletin and join the pastor(s), choir members or other worship leaders at the door to the nave (worship center). Otherwise enter the nave and be seated on the organ side. (You may sit in one of the front pews by yourself or with family members, if you prefer.)
Assisting With Communion
It is suggested that, before the service starts, you consult with the pastor(s) and other Assistants to determine who will distribute bread and who will distribute wine, and whether the distribution will be done at the communion rails where people are kneeling or in a continuous manner where people are all standing.
After the bread and wine have been consecrated and The Lord’s Prayer is prayed, the pastor will ask people to be seated. You, however, will join the pastor(s) and other Assistants at the credence (communion) table.
If you are distributing bread, take a paten (plate) of bread from the credence table and then proceed immediately to the middle of the communion rails (if people will be kneeling) or to the center aisle (if people will be standing).Use your right hand to break off a small piece of bread for eachperson, place it in his or her hand, and say: “The body of Christ, given for you.. For children or others who do not commune, put your left hand on their head and offer a blessing, such as: “God keep you in his grace.”
If you are distributing wine, take a filled pouring chalice and a white purificator (napkin) from the credence table, then proceed immediately to your station. If people will be kneeling at the communion rails, you will follow one of the people distributing bread. If people will be standing, your station will be on the main floor near one or the other side aisles.
People receiving communion will come to you with empty plastic cups.You will find that the pouring spout of your chalice is small, which allows you to control the flow of wine.Pour wine into their cups until they are half full. As you pour, hold the purificator below the lip of the chaliceto catch any drips of wine. While pouring, say: “The blood of Christ, shed for you.”
Some worshipers may have pre-poured cups of grape juice. If so, just say, “The blood of Christ shed for you,” without pouring any wine.
If your chalice runs out of wine when distribution is being done with people kneeling at the rails, go to the acolyte standing in front of the altar and have him or her fill your chalice.
If your chaliceruns out of wine when distribution is being done with people standing, remain at your station and motion for the acolyte to come to you to fill your chalice.
Be alert to the fact that, from time to time, you and another Assistant or pastor may need to take bread or wine to someone seated in a pew who was not able to walk forward due to an infirmity. Commune the person in his or her pew just as you would up front.
After You Have Served Worshippers
After all worshipers have received communion, return your chalice or paten to the credence table. Please do not lay soiled purificators on the linen since they may stain the linen with wine. Instead, lay purificators across the top of the chalice as your first found them.
Now form a line, near but out of the way of the credence table so that others will not be hindered as they return their communionware, and then prepare to receive communion yourself. You will commune by intinction, which means that you dip your piece of bread into the wine in achalice, and then eat it. No plastic cup is need. You may return to your seat immediately after communing.
After the service concludes, return to the Robing Room and put away your robe away if you were wearing one, and give praise to God for this opportunity to share his grace in the body and blood of Jesus Christ!
If you have any questions, suggestions, or need further clarification about this ministry, please contact Pastor Pat at 891-1700, ext. 11 or .
Thank you for serving!
COMMUNION ASSISTANT
QUICK CHECK LIST
BEFORE THE SERVICE
- Arrive 10 minutes before the service
- Robe in the Robing Room (8 & 11)
- Get a bulletin by the robing room door
- Take a seat on the organ side of the chancel or in a front pew (or join the other worship leaders at the entrance to the nave if there will be a procession)
- Determine who will distribute bread and who will distribute wine
AT THE COMMUNION
- Distributebread or wine
AFTER THE DISTRIBUTION
- Return your paten or chalice to the credence table
- Join other Assistants in a line near the credence table and receive communion by intinction
AFTER WORSHIP
- Return robe to the Robing Room closet (8:00 & 11:00)
Serving
as a Communion Assistant
at
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Revised: July 2011