{"id":8440,"date":"2021-08-21T09:30:02","date_gmt":"2021-08-21T13:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/?p=8440"},"modified":"2021-08-19T14:35:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T18:35:37","slug":"faith-formation-news-43","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/2021\/08\/21\/faith-formation-news-43\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith Formation News"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
5 <\/span>reasons your child should be an altar server <\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
Written by Angie Kauffman from Real Life<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
Home<\/span>https:\/\/www.reallifeathome.com\/?=altar+server<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
  1. You’re More Likely to Get to Mass or Church <\/span><\/strong>Services on Time.<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>Okay, so maybe this isn\u2019t the holiest reason for having <\/span>your child be an altar server. But, let\u2019s be real <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>it\u2019s a <\/span>reason. It can mean easier parking, less stress, and <\/span>some time to have quiet prayer before Mass starts. So, <\/span>while it might not seem like a particularly holy reason on <\/span>the surface, not needing to silently admonish people in <\/span>the parking lot and having more time for prayer <\/span>beforehand seems pretty holy to me.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Altar Servers are Actively Involved During the <\/span><\/strong>Mass.<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>Yes, of course, children should be actively involved in <\/span>the pews singing, saying all of the prayers and doing all <\/span>of the appropriate standing, sitting, and kneeling. <\/span>However, <\/span>having the opportunity to serve during a <\/span>church service or Mass means a different type of <\/span>involvement<\/span>. When I was growing up, it was a level of <\/span>involvement that I loved. I still did all of the same types <\/span>of things I would have been doing in the pew, but I was <\/span>able to do even more. <\/span>Being involved in that way <\/span>made me feel a special closeness to what was <\/span>happening. <\/span>Serving during a church service or Mass <\/span>can be a gift to a child, not an obligation.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Being an Altar Server Means Hands<\/span>–<\/span><\/strong>on Learning.<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>By serving during church services or the Mass, <\/span>children <\/span>have <\/span>so <\/span>many <\/span>hands<\/span>–<\/span>on learning <\/span>opportunities. <\/span>It\u2019s a wonderful way for them to learn the <\/span>names of objects used during Mass, vestment pieces, <\/span>and other church<\/span>–<\/span>related terms. <\/span>Will it make your child holier that they know terms like <\/span>ambo or thurible? Maybe not. <\/span>But, it might make <\/span>them have a better understanding and appreciation <\/span>for what is going on during the service or Mass, and <\/span>that\u2019s a pretty wonderful benefit.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Being an Altar Server May Encourage Future <\/span><\/strong>Religious Vocations.<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>Sure, your child may not go on to a religious <\/span>vocation in the future. Being an altar server may <\/span>give them a chance to explore the idea though. <\/span>In a <\/span>2013 study of seminarians by the United States <\/span>Conference of Catholic Bishops, they found that 67% of <\/span>the respondents said they had been altar servers in the <\/span>past. <\/span>Even if a religious vocation isn\u2019t in your child\u2019s future, <\/span>being an altar server in their youth may encourage them <\/span>to seek out roles in the Mass in their future by doing <\/span>things like being a reader or an Extraordinary Minister of <\/span>Holy Communion.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Being an Altar Server is a Chance to Meet Others <\/span><\/strong>from the Parish.<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>Serving at church is a wonderful opportunity to get to <\/span>know other parishioners. Some of my closest friends at <\/span>church when I was a teenager were the other teens that I <\/span>regularly served with. Being involved with things like <\/span>youth group and altar serving with them solidified our <\/span>friendships.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    5 reasons your child should be an altar server Written by Angie Kauffman from Real Life Homehttps:\/\/www.reallifeathome.com\/?=altar+server You’re More Likely to Get to Mass or Church Services on Time. Okay, so maybe this isn\u2019t the holiest reason for having your child be an altar server. But, let\u2019s be real \u2014 it\u2019s a reason. It can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith-formation","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8440"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8441,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8440\/revisions\/8441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}