{"id":108292,"date":"2024-01-30T12:55:39","date_gmt":"2024-01-30T20:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=108292"},"modified":"2024-02-01T09:59:05","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T17:59:05","slug":"ten-years-of-altar-server-formation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/ten-years-of-altar-server-formation\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Years of Altar Server Formation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span>en years ago today, after about a year of ramp-up, we definitively rebooted the altar server program at my old parish of Holy Rosary. This was the genesis of our training manual, and it was when I developed my own particular method of training, developing, and forming servers. I don’t know why the Lord called me to this ministry, but I am grateful that He did, as it has made my life richer and has deepened my faith.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I have now developed altar server programs in three parishes<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and trained servers in several others. I have trained Deacons and seminarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I collaborated with Bishop Elliott on his book for serving at the altar<\/a>. And my own book<\/a> has reached thousands of kids and adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taped above my desk is an old holy card with a meditation by St. John Henry Newman that constantly inspires me. It reads in part, “God has created me to do Him some definite service: He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission \u2013 I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t know how my ministry is affecting the servers I form, much less those who see them or come in contact with them. But I hope it is to the positive. I hope that it is deepening their sacramental faith and deepening their relationship with the Lord Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are just a handful of images of the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Holy Rosary Altar Servers for the Noon Mass of the Epiphany, 2015<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Candlemas 2018, view from the choir loft <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Father Francis Xavier Kikomeko with the Holy Rosary Altar Servers, Corpus Christi Rehearsal, 2018<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Altar servers for our patronal feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary parish (Tacoma, WA) in 2019. We have not worn the red cassocks since shortly after the Benedictines left in 1998. We brought them out especially for the feast.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Palm Sunday Procession, Saint Ann, Tacoma, 2022<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Confirmation Mass, Saint Patrick, Tacoma, 2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Corpus Christi Procession from Saint Patrick, Tacoma, 2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Servers at the ready. (From the photo session for <\/em>The Altar Server Manual<\/a>, 2018)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago today, after about a year of ramp-up, we definitively rebooted the altar server program at my old parish of Holy Rosary. This was the genesis of our training manual, and it was when I developed my own particular method of training, developing, and forming servers. I don’t know why the Lord called me to this ministry, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[95,90,3,118,102,4,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bishop-peter-j-elliott","category-holy-rosary-parish-tacoma","category-moments-in-time","category-saint-ann-parish-in-tacoma","category-saint-patrick-parish-in-tacoma","category-sacred-liturgy","category-vocation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2018-06-22-08.01.20-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1920%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-saE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":106452,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/orphans-no-longer\/","url_meta":{"origin":108292,"position":0},"title":"Orphans No Longer","author":"Thom","date":"01 July 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"July 1 2021, is the effective date of my parish of Holy Rosary merging into the parish of Saint Ann. It is a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, I am told that a decree officially suppressing Holy Rosary parish and merging it into Saint Ann will be published today,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021 Transitions in Tacoma"","block_context":{"text":"2021 Transitions in Tacoma","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2021-transitions-in-tacoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/image0.jpeg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/image0.jpeg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/image0.jpeg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106373,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-corpus-christi-invitation-to-holy-rosary-parishioners\/","url_meta":{"origin":108292,"position":1},"title":"A Corpus Christi Invitation to Holy Rosary Parishioners","author":"Thom","date":"21 May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"brothers and sisters in Christ, It is now more than ten months since our last parish Mass was celebrated in our parking lot by Archbishop Etienne. Several months ago, the Archbishop announced that the four parishes of Holy Rosary, Saint Ann, Saint Rita, and Visitation would be merging into a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021 Transitions in Tacoma"","block_context":{"text":"2021 Transitions in Tacoma","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2021-transitions-in-tacoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106584,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/new-chapters-being-written\/","url_meta":{"origin":108292,"position":2},"title":"New Chapters Being Written","author":"Thom","date":"15 October 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"a busy, exciting, and exhausting day. This morning, after a series of interviews this week, I accepted an offer from GitHub, where I have been contracting much of the year. I also contracted with them for a year or so before the Plague. There are still some formalities - a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021 Transitions in Tacoma"","block_context":{"text":"2021 Transitions in Tacoma","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2021-transitions-in-tacoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/2021-10-15-14.28.28-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/2021-10-15-14.28.28-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/2021-10-15-14.28.28-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/2021-10-15-14.28.28-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/2021-10-15-14.28.28-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105874,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/photos-of-the-feast\/","url_meta":{"origin":108292,"position":3},"title":"Photos of the Feast","author":"Thom","date":"07 October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the first year since 1891 that no Mass will be celebrated for this feast at what was once the parish of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Tacoma. I'm feeling melancholy today, so I thought I'd post some photos from past celebrations of what was our patronal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bishop Eusebio Elizondo MSpS"","block_context":{"text":"Bishop Eusebio Elizondo MSpS","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/bishop-eusebio-elizondo-msps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/window.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/window.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/window.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/window.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100156,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/altar-server-training-at-holy-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":108292,"position":4},"title":"Altar Server Training at Holy Cross","author":"Thom","date":"21 September 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Holy Cross, Tacoma for the first time, I trained Altar Servers at a parish other than my own. I'd offered many months back at a \"Quadrant meeting\" for the staffs of our local parishes. So far, one parish has taken me up on the offer, Holy Cross. So this morning,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dom Matthew Britt O.S.B."","block_context":{"text":"Dom Matthew Britt O.S.B.","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/dom-matthew-britt-o-s-b\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/HC-Directory-2015-6-of-117.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":107003,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/eucharistic-revival\/","url_meta":{"origin":108292,"position":5},"title":"Eucharistic Revival","author":"Thom","date":"18 June 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Jesus who was incarnated in Nazareth and born in Bethlehem is incarnated on every altar in the world in the Eucharist. The same sacrifice of the Cross that occurred two millennia ago in Jerusalem may likewise be seen on every altar in the world in the holy sacrifice of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Archbishop J. Peter Sartain"","block_context":{"text":"Archbishop J. 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