United Methodist Altars: A Guide for the Congregation (Revised Edition) - Softcover

Hickman, Hoyt L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0687005620 ISBN 13: 9780687005628

Verlag: Abingdon Press, 1996

Inhaltsangabe

This basic, fully illustrated manual for congregational leaders explains how to prepare the sanctuary and its furnishings for the celebration of worship and sacraments throughout the Christian year. This practical, informative guide is an indispensable companion for worship committees, altar guilds, or individuals whose responsible for these vital tasks in their church. United Methodist Altars includes: care, cleaning, and storage instructions for all vestments and appointments; a calendar of the Christian year, with appropriate colors for each season; responsibilities and suggested organizational structure for the altar guild; an explanation of the history and meaning of worship furnishings; preparation instructions for the various United Methodist services; and, a glossary.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Hoyt L. Hickman has been a visiting professor of worship both at Drew University and at Vanderbilt University. From 1972-1994, while at the General Board of Discipleship, he directed the worship resources development team and wrote many of the worship texts that appear in the United Methodist Hymnal and Book of Worship. He is the General Editor of "The Faith We Sing." He has also been a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy and Societas Liturgica for more than 20 years.

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United Methodist Altars

A Guide for the Congregation

By Hoyt L. Hickman

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2014 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-687-00562-8

Contents

PREFACE, 
THE ALTAR GUILD, 
SPACE AND FURNISHINGS, 
SYMBOLS, 
VESTING FOR WORSHIP, 
Vesting the Place of Worship, 
Linens, 
Paraments, 
Lenten Veils, 
Banners, 
Vesting the People, 
WORSHIP APPOINTMENTS, 
The Cross, 
Candles, 
Other Altarware, 
Altarware Maintenance, 
Flowers, 
THE CHRISTIAN YEAR, 
The Calendar, 
The Basic Colors, 
Visual Suggestions for the Days and Seasons, 
PREPARING FOR SERVICES, 
General Responsibilities, 
Before and After Every Service, 
Holy Communion, 
Holy Baptism, 
Weddings, 
Funerals and Memorial Services, 
FOR FURTHER READING, 
GLOSSARY AND INDEX, 

CHAPTER 1

[The Altar Guild]

You may not call your committee or group an Altar Guild. In your church you may be the worship commission or the chancel committee. Or you personally may be the Communion steward, or you may change the candles and the altar cloths, take care of the flowers, make banners, or keep things the way they should be in the sanctuary. You may be the pastor or the custodian doing some of these things. But if you or your group have been entrusted with any part of the care of the sanctuary and its furnishings or the things that pertain to the worship services, you have a special responsibility and a privilege of the highest order. It is for you that this book is written.

How many people or how much organization you need depends on the size and character of your congregation and the sanctuary where you worship. Whether or not you have an organized Altar Guild, you should be aware of certain basic principles that apply.

1. The purpose of your service is to provide the best possible environment for your congregation's worship of God. No detail of that environment is too insignificant to matter when preparing for the worship of the people of God. The fact that you have been given your responsibilities is a testimony to the trust the pastor and congregation place in your dependability and devotion.

2. Because the pastor is in charge of congregational worship, you will work closely under his or her direction. It is most important that you meet regularly with your pastor to study worship, share ideas and feelings, and keep communication open between you.

3. It is essential that you know your assigned duties, which may vary from one local church to another. Clarify these with your pastor and then list them on a sheet or in a leaflet. When they have been approved by the pastor, Worship Commission, Council on Ministries, or Administrative Council, they can be used when training new persons.

4. You need a good working relationship with the custodian. You will neither direct nor replace the custodian but each of you should have an understanding and respect for each other's work.

5. You or your group are related to the Worship Work Area. If your church has organized the Worship Work Area into a commission, the Altar Guild should be represented on it (by your chairperson if you have one) and should relate to the Council on Ministries or Administrative Council through it. Materials or supplies needed can be provided from the church budget through the Worship Work Area.

6. If you have an organized Altar Guild, it should include the Communion stewards, the person or persons in charge of flower arrangement, and probably a musical leader who can help you relate to the singers and instrumentalists who also serve God in the chancel.

7. Divide the responsibilities where possible, but do not make an Altar Guild so large it is unwieldy. Persons can take turns serving a month or a quarter at a time. If a particular responsibility such as Communion or flower arranging is too much for one individual, it can be entrusted to a committee with a chairperson. On the other hand, it is better to have fewer people performing their duties well than to have an organization so large that it cannot effectively train or use those who serve on it.

8. Give reverent care to the things that have been set apart and consecrated to sacred uses, as a way of practicing reverence for all God's creation. Yours is a very special service to God, an act of worship in itself, through which God can change your life and the lives of other people.

9. On the other hand, do not treat these things as ends in themselves so that you come to worship your beautiful church and its furnishings rather than God and value them above the people who can make use of them.

10. Men as well as women can serve in any of these capacities. Look for youth as well as adults who have abilities and who, under proper guidance, can be trained to serve. Use your imagination as you search for persons with backgrounds, talents, or skills to contribute special services.

11. Find ways to recognize and express appreciation to those who serve, especially those whose service is behind the scenes and often unknown to the congregation. At the very least, each year recognize and install persons as part of your congregational worship.

CHAPTER 2

[Space and Furnishings]

The environment—the space—in which your congregation worships is extremely important for what happens as you worship. It has more effect on the worshiper, for better or for worse, than we usually realize. Unless worship is held outdoors, it is held in some kind of room. There is no one universally accepted name for the room in which Christian congregations worship. This room is often called the sanctuary, although traditionally the term sanctuary has been used to refer only to the immediate area around the altar table. Many people prefer to refer to the whole room as the sanctuary because God is present in, and sanctifies, the whole worshiping congregation and because the whole room has been carefully designed to help the worshiper be more aware of the sanctity of God and of God's creation.

Sometime soon, take a careful look around the room where your local congregation worships. Notice all the things that have been done in design and decoration to make that room conducive to worship. Notice any assumptions that seem to have been made as to what should happen when people worship. Notice, too, anything about the room that seems to detract from worship.

In most churches, particularly medium-sized and larger ones, there is between the outer door of the building and the inner door of the place of worship a hallway, or vestibule, or lobby, which is traditionally called the narthex. It helps us make the transition between the place of worship and the everyday world. It is a space where the bonds of Christian community are formed and renewed, as ushers, greeters, or the pastor welcome persons and as people greet and talk with one another. On cold days it provides a place to catch one's breath after coming in out of the cold, it provides space for removing and hanging up wraps, and it protects worshipers from a draft of cold air every time the doors are opened. Everything in the room should help make it a warm and friendly shape that serves these purposes. Even in churches without a narthex you can often tell when you step directly into the worship room that there is a space immediately inside the door which serves these purposes and is not quite like the rest of the room.

While rooms designed for worship differ widely in many ways, they are usually designed...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Abingdon Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1996
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0687005620
• ISBN 13: 9780687005628
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 94
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland