Photo Essay: Behind the Scenes at the Sunday Service

A couple of years ago, we did a photoessay showing you what happens behind the scenes before the Easter Vigil.  Here's a companion piece:  what happens before a 10.30 Sunday service?  This was Pentecost, which differs from a regular Sunday Eucharist just slightly--there are streamers, the clergy are vested in copes, and there are two thurifers.  But aside from that, it's not hugely different from a weekly Mass, so this is very much what goes on each week.

Everyone has a call to be there in advance, with the time depending on what position they are filling.  Sometimes an acolyte doesn't make it in time,  so you may see a Verger lurking at the Forum to look for a substitute.

One thing that's striking is how much joy there is in service.  For Pentecost, the clergy gather in the inner sacristy to select a cope to wear from the large closet and they clearly enjoy that.

 About 10 minutes before the service, everyone crowds into the inner sacristy for their check in.  Head Verger Lisa says, "Good Morning everyone!"  and the good Episcopalians chant back, "Good morning Lisa!" She makes sure everyone knows where they are serving (for example, which clergy are serving Gluten Free?  Who is doing the Healing Station?  When do the Streamers process?) If there are any differences or new policies, she explains them.

If the Procession begins in the chapel, everyone comes through the undercroft and up the side steps to assemble there. By this point, the organ voluntary begins.

 You may joke that incense is Holy Smoke, but it really is. Right before the procession steps off, the presider loads the first batch into the thurible and blesses it.

With two thurifers on Pentecost, this is done twice.

As I said, there's a lot of joy in service, and also a certain amount of adrenaline.  Here are the smiles and excitement as the Silver Team prepares to step off.

And there they go, following the choir.  Note those candles are held at exactly the same height and the acolytes are exactly on step.

Here go the clergy, marshalled by the Head Verger on the side.

Dean Penny nearly always goes at the end of the queue.  Head Verger Lisa is also called the Dean's Verger.  She waits to fall in before her Dean....

And the procession steps into the Cathedral, singing the opening hymn.

Importantly, this does not show the substantial labors of our devoted sacristans, who meet at a Saturday working party each week to get everything ready for Sunday.  They keep the linens clean and mended, the silver glowing in anticipation, set up the Credence Table beforehand and clean everything afterward. Hem pulled?  Last minute button fell off a vestment?  Call your sacristans!   They deserve a photoessay all to themselves, so look for that in the future.

Susan Forsburg
SPC Photographer and Blogmaster 

Hi -res version on Flickr

Ministry Spotlight: Lay Eucharistic Ministers (LEM)

MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT is an addition to our Announcements, Blog, and Facebook page. Please feel free to contact me about a ministry you are involved in. Remember ministries are not only through the Cathedral. You may be sharing your spiritual gifts with ministries outside the Cathedral, (such as Hands Up Food Pantry or Uptown Faith). To Spotlight your ministry please email Vicki Hoppenrath at hoppenrathv@stpaulcathedral.org

Today's spotlight is on Joanna Airhart, LEM


Describe your Ministry.
 A Eucharistic Minister is a layperson that takes Communion to a member of St. Paul’s Cathedral who, through illness or recuperation, is unable to come to church. The Eucharistic Ministers go in pairs. There is a class and an apprentice (shadow) period when you attend visits with trained EM’s. A calendar notifies you and a partner of the day your Eucharistic Ministry. The week before your visit you receive an email informing you of the person you are to visit. You then contact that person and set up the time for Sunday after the 8:00 or 10:30 service.

What have you learned about yourself through your ministry? 
I have learned that even though I am not ordained that I can bring Jesus to a person that hungers for the Eucharist. I do many things at St. Paul’s but this ministry brings me the closest to Christ.

Have you seen Jesus through your ministry? 
I do see and feel Jesus at the end of the service when I carry the consecrated Bread and Wine from the altar, down the steps, out through the congregation to the Baptismal font and out through the doors. As I walk up the aisle I don’t see the congregation, I look at the Rose Window and think about this honor I was given. I feel the sacred responsibility of carrying the Eucharist to a person who cannot come to church. I always tell the person I visit that he/she was prayed for at the end of the service and that they are a very special addition to our congregation.

What is the biggest secret about your ministry?
The biggest secret about this ministry is you walk away feeling you have received even more than the person you have just visited.

What is the time commitment? 
 The time commitment is short. In advance of the visit, you phone your person. Before your Sunday service you check in with the head verger. After the Post-Communion prayer, the priest prays for you and the person you will visit. You take the Communion Kit and walk out of the church. You and your partner drive to the person’s house. You have a very short service. After the reading of the Gospel you retell the sermon (I always take notes during the sermon). The Bread and Wine are shared. Your visit is now over. You or your partner delivers the Communion Kit back to the sacristy. This Ministry only takes an hour after a Sunday service.

Why would you recommend your ministry to another person?
 I recommend the Eucharistic Ministry to another person who is firm in their faith who is ready to visibly share Christ’s love.