It is some time since your Editor ceased to use his 'quill' pen and since then he has progressed, via his typewriter and Roneo duplicator, to the ball-point pen! He hasn’t, as yet, succumbed to the Internet or e-mail and, at his time of life, is unlikely to do so in the foreseeable future. However, he is delighted to learn that the Guild is moving with the times and now has its own web-site. With all this technology going on around us we should be able to keep in touch with each other in one way or the other. For the present, I would like to remain “conventional' and ask that articles and donations be sent by “post' to The Editor:  Mr C. E. A. Merritt, 8 Venetia Road, South Ealing, London W5 4JD.

I’m still receiving occasional requests for Guild Goods and other information and whilst I am always willing to send these on to the Guild Officers concerned, it only causes delays. So please just use the address above for the Newsletter. All other Guild matters, including orders for Guild goods, are dealt with by:

The Hon. Secretary
Archconfraternity of St Stephen
c/o St Joseph's,
High Road,
Wembley,
Middx.
HA9 6AG.

NOTE: Our address at Wembley is for correspondence only.

There is no one there from the Guild to deal with telephone messages or personal callers.

The 2000 Annual General Meeting

The Central Council’s Annual Report drew attention to a number of initiatives inaugurated by the Council during the year: a complete review of the make up and working of the Central Council; the establishment of a Guild web-site; an investigation into the possibility of the Guild producing a training video.   More information about several of these is given elsewhere in this Newsletter.

The elections resulted in Mr Anthony Ogunseitan being re-elected as Honorary President for a third year. Mr Anthony Hawes was elected Honorary Vice-President although he will continue in his role as Honorary Secretary until a successor has been appointed.

The following members were elected to the Council:

Mr Ronald Barton  (Walthamstow)
Mr Mark Brophy  (Kingsway)
Mr Roger Burton  (Tooting Bec)
Mr Nicholas Chinnon  (Grays)
Mr Michael Chute  (Brook Green)
Mr Michael O’Leary  (Kingsway)

Since the A.G.M. the following members have been co-opted onto the Council:

Mr Kevin Bryant (Underwood Rd)
Mr Michael Moriarty (Ely Place)
Mr Mathew D’Souza (Stamford Hill)
Mr Nicholas Tilbury (Westminster)

The report expressed disappointment that there had been very little support for the Lenten Afternoon of recollection.

The Archconfraternity’s Gold Medal, for fifty years service as a member of the Guild, had been awarded to the following servers:

Mr John Burridge (Havant)
Mr Alfred Hicks (Barking)
Mr Richard Johnston (Tottenham)
Mr Austin Lewis (Dorchester)
Mr Martin Purcell (Stourport)
Mr Tony Stallard (Bodmin)

It was also reported that contact had been re-established with “COETUS INTERNATIONALIS MINISTRANTIUM”, the European organisation for altar servers and that the President had attended its conference in Strasbourg.
The Guild’s finances continue to be in a healthy state even though, due to some exceptional expenses, our income had been about £100  less than our expenditure for the year.

2001 Annual Guild Dinner

This year’s Guild Annual Dinner, on Wednesday 9th May, will again be at the Parish Centre of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brook Green, Hammersmith, London W6. We are offering an excellent menu (of home made soup with rolls or soda bread & butter, followed by very generous cold buffet. This will be followed by Fresh Fruit Salad or Gateaux, and then Cheese and Biscuits and, finally, Tea or Coffee).

Reception is from 6.45pm with the Dinner commencing at approx. 7.30pm. Tickets are just £12.50 each. Brook Green is easy to get to, being off Hammersmith Road midway between Olympia and Hammersmith Broadway. It is well served by public transport with several bus routes on Hammersmith Road and it is less than 10 minutes’ walk from Hammersmith Station (District, Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines). Applications (with the appropriate remittance) and all enquiries to the organiser:
Mark Brophy, 
“GUILD DINNER”
Archconfraternity of St Stephen,
St Joseph’s,
339 High Road,
Wembley,
Middlesex,
England 
HA9 6AG.

In recent years the Annual Dinner has become more and more popular so you are advised to apply early for tickets to avoid disappointment, as the number of places will be limited by the capacity of the Parish Centre.

Future of the Central Council

As mentioned in the Annual Report, a committee has been looking into the future working and make-up of the Central Council and its report has now been accepted by the Central Council. A revised set of “Rules of Procedure for the Central Council” are being drawn up and these will be submitted for adoption by a General Meeting of the Archconfraternity.

This meeting, will be held at St Ethelreda’s Church, Ely Place, on the evening of Monday, 14th May 2001. The meeting will be preceded by Mass and it will include a talk and video on the history of  St Ethelreda’s Church. A formal notice of this meeting will be circulated to our London list and anyone else requiring details of the Meeting should write to the Secretary requesting same.

Guild Goods

Unfortunately, an exceptional level of demand and problems with the supplier caused us to sell out of Guild Medals in the run up to Christmas. The problem was exacerbated by the serious illness of our Goods Manager, Reg Newton, and an exceptional number of late orders. We apologise for any problems arising from the late arrival of medals. We are pleased to report that Reg is now in a far better state of health.

The Council is pleased to announce that the price of all Guild Goods will remain unaltered at present.

Guild Visit to Rome & Assisi

Plans for the visit to Rome and Assisi in July, 2001 are now well in hand. About ninety servers have, so far, asked to join the visit. Bookings can still be accepted and the cost of £475.00 per person for five nights in Rome and two in Assisi is exceptional value. Those interested should write to The Rome Committee, 8 Hoodcote Gardens, Winchmore Hill, London, N21 2NE, but do not delay: we may have to finalise numbers in the near future.

The Guild Address

Please note that after about seventy years the Church at Wembley has been given a street number. Future correspondence should be addressed to the Archconfraternity at St Joseph’s, 339 High Road, Wembley Middx, HA9 6AG.

The Archconfraternity and the Internet

Our new website is now up and running and is to be found at : http://www.guildofststephen.org/. Though we are still far from interactive it is already  proving to be of great interest. Those who have already visited it will have noticed that it has been updated with information about the Rome Trip, Training for Altar Servers, the Newsletter and Who's Who on the Central Council (this will soon be updated to show the current Council membership, in the light of changes following the elections at the AGM last  December).

Among other items of interest our site currently contains the full text of the two previous editions of the Guild Newsletter – which will soon be joined by the contents of the current edition.

You may feel that this latter is hardly progress, given that the material will already have been circulated in written form, but there should be considerable benefit in the information being available to anyone ‘surfing the net’ throughout the entire world. Previously we distributed about 1,100 individual copies at great expense in both money and time by getting them printed, enveloped and mailed to all the individuals on our mailing list. But we had no real knowledge of whether some of the recipients are alive or dead, still at the old address or moved on, or whether they regard the Newsletter as their own personal copy, or pass it on to other servers.

We hope that this new venture will bring knowledge of the Archconfraternity and its activities to a much wider audience, some of whom would undoubtedly benefit from joining us.

The web site is continuously being developed and is far from being complete. Pages being planned are: History of the Guild, Frequently Asked Questions, Guild Goods, Links to other relevant sites and Diocesan Events around the country.
If there is anything relevant that you would like to see included within the web site, please send your suggestions to our Wembley address . . . . . until the on-line facility is available.

Our sincere thanks go to Stephen Chapman of  St. Laurence’s Cambridge who is developing the site for us and whose professional assistance has been invaluable.

Mathew D'Souza – Web Secretary
Stamford Hill

Training for Altar Servers

Last summer the Central Council of the Archconfraternity agreed to explore the possibility of making  a Training Video to be available to Branches as a model of good practice in respect of serving at Mass. A Sub-committee was set up to undertake a feasibility study.

Initially, the Sub-committee decided to approach a number of individuals and organisations with expertise or experience in the making of church-related videos, in order to gain some idea of the most practical way forward, to obtain an estimate of the cost of production and to gauge the problems of making a video with a limited sales appeal.

Following a lack of response to these initial inquiries, some unavoidable changes in the membership of the Sub-committee, and having been strongly advised to set down clearly the scale and content of the video before seeking advice from experts in the field, the Subcommittee has, since the beginning of this year, changed tack. It is now engaged in drawing up precise details of what it envisages the content of the video will be. When this has been done the search for expert advice and guidance will be renewed.
Roger Burton
Chairman

The Annual Mass for Servers at Westminster Cathedral - Saturday 10th February, 2001

This year’s Servers Mass was again very successful. Owing to some diary confusion, we were disappointed that Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O’Connor was unable to be our Principal Celebrant, but we were extremely grateful to Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue (Bishop in West London) who very kindly came to our rescue. Afterwards he commented “I really enjoyed the Mass – it was well attended and there was a good spirit”. That really summed up the success of the day which was attended by about 700 servers. It was very satisfying to have organised such a successful event.

Servers and Ministers - by Fr Edward Matthews
(Reprinted from Priest & People by permission – Ed)

How I loved dressing up! Bright red cassock and immaculate cotta trimmed with a lace of such delicacy I now blush to recall. And the sumptuous ceremonies, lit by a thousand candles gleaming through the rolling clouds of incense. How I loved serving those Masses, Benedictions and the never-ending round of popular devotions. Perhaps the attraction lay seeming to be so different from the ordinary run of mortals, or in the stark contrast with the drabness of a bombed and battered London in the late 1940s. Whatever the reason, at the age of seven years altar serving was magical and was the centre of my life.

It was not all show. There was the daily duty of 7 am Mass at the local Carmelite convent, as well as the other daily Masses which the priests expected servers to attend. There was the rough and the smooth, yet somehow we did not mind: it was all part of serving.

Serving, service, ministry is still with us, despite the enormous changes in the liturgy of the past 30- years. Indeed, the whole idea has been revived and broadened as the Church has reflected anew upon the roles its members assume through baptism and the other sacraments. Altar servers are not the only servers; all the baptised are servers because we are all gifted by the Spirit to be at the service of one another in the life of the community, following Jesus' example. Understanding altar servers as part of the wider life of ministry within the Church is the first and essential step to a balanced awareness of their particular role. And that balance is sometimes lacking: there are those who reject out of hand all altar ministry apart from priests and deacons, and at the same time there are those who degrade altar serving by regarding it as something liturgically superior and separate, an end in itself. One suspects that the former fault is born out of experience of the latter. The ideal is neither (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 951).

Understanding the Church as a many-gifted community called to worship God through, with and in Jesus Christ, is not exactly what the typical young server has constantly at the front of their minds. But it is what should be in the minds of those charged with responsibility for their training and guidance. Youngsters have all manner of personal reasons for wanting to serve at the liturgy, from a desire to be released from the boredom of the pew, through pressure from parents, to an incipient desire to serve God in some way. Whatever the initial motive, the training and direction provided by those in charge should help them come to an experience of participation in the liturgy which is unique, genuine, and in harmony with the Church’s own understanding of the liturgy.

So what is the true function of the altar server? First of all, he or she is a worshipper, a member of the people called by God to offer prayer and praise through, with, and in Christ Jesus. Within that community, the server’s particular gift is to assist other ministers of the liturgy in their work of worship - readers, ministers of Communion, deacons, priests. All ministers, servers included, are part of a rich mosaic of ministry in which each has a special part to play. It is important therefore that the server understands the exercise of their ministry as a time of prayer; prayer through actions as well as words.

Hence the prime enemy of good liturgy is rubricism, that thoughtless and obsessive observance of rules and regulations for their own sake. Years ago, J.D.Crichton said of a newly-revised rite that ‘it killed rubricism stone dead’. Sad to say, rubricism has a remarkable ability to resurrect itself; it is still alive and kicking. This is more often than not coupled with a dictator-like mentality still to be found among some among older servers. It is they who should first sit down and ask themselves, ‘What am I doing: how should I do it?’ One would like to think that when the time comes for a young woman or man to quit serving, they will do so with a deep and affectionate understanding of what the Church is doing when it celebrates the liturgy and maybe move on to experience other forms of liturgical ministry.

The nuts and bolts of serving grow out of a true appreciation of the liturgy. Much, though not all, of the serving in the past was ceremonial for its own sake. Aimless processions meandered their way around the church and flowery gestures distracted worshippers from the reality of the action. Serving is functional: the server carries out specific actions to ensure the smooth-running and prayerfulness of the liturgy, to enable other ministers and the community as a whole to fulfil their duties. That is why servers should have an understanding of what is going on and what it means.

The first steps in the training of altar servers could well be in the form of a brief ‘map-reading’ exercise, helping them to navigate through the Mass, to understand at least in a basic way what the Mass is all about, how its differing parts relate to one another, and how the server fits into the whole. Knowing how they are to hold their hands, make a dignified genuflection or be initiated into the intricacies of a thurible's chains have their place in server training, but they are not the starting point. Ultimately we want servers who will have such an understanding of the liturgical action that they will be able to cope with a variety of forms of celebration of the Mass and with almost any unexpected occurrence, even spotting problems before they occur. In these times of a more flexible liturgy, servers need to be adaptable to differing styles of liturgy and of presiding.

Serving-by-numbers whereby the youngsters are rigidlv trained in an inflexible parade-ground system is simply not good liturgy. They are able to minister at the liturgy but not understand why they do so.

There is an important place for ceremonial in the liturgy. Public worship is made up of things that can be heard, smelt, tasted, touched, seen; through these material things the members of the community encounter each other and the Christ who is present in the ritual action. and offers their worship to the Father. Liturgy is, in a sense, an aspect of Incarnation. Whatever facilitates that divine encounter and underpins the atmosphere of prayer is good; appropriate ceremonial can do just that.

Equally it must be in keeping with the meaning of the liturgical celebration, so much so that it actually enhances it and leads participants to a better understanding of what is going on. This is not always easily achieved. There are those who seem to love to perform ceremonial for its own sake with processions wending their way around a church for no particular reason, with fussy and unnecessary gestures, with bobs and bows when something straightforward and direct would not only be more dignified but prevent others in the community from losing patience. It is important, too, to bear in mind that a form of serving acceptable for one liturgy may be inappropriate for another. Thus a simple Liturgy of the Word can be upset by over-elaborate ceremony more in keeping with a papal installation. It bears repeating that those responsible for planning liturgies (priests, MCs, lay-persons) should ask themselves: what is this celebration about and what is the most appropriate way to celebrate it?
Over the years, one of the proven supports of good liturgical training and upholder of high standards has been the Guild of Saint Stephen. Its handbook, its devotional practices and various supportive activities have played their part in moulding high-quality ministers of the liturgy.

Traditionally, altar serving was seen as the first step on the road to ordination to the priestly ministry. In practice, that has not always been borne out by the facts; there have been parishes in Britain renowned for their servers but precious few offering themselves for the priesthood. With the introduction of girls into this ministry, there were critics (and still are) who complained that vocations to the priesthood would be affected. Perhaps it would be closer to the truth to say that this argument was a last-ditch attempt to preserve an all-male territory. If; on the other hand, this important ministry is open to both female and male, and its exercise is understood properly as an integral part of the Church's worship, then the resulting enhancement of that worship will be its own support not only for the presbyteral ministry but for other ministries too.

Archdiocese of Southwark

A reminder about our ANNUAL SERVERS’ DAY at The Friars, Aylesford, Kent, on Monday 7th May. Mass at Noon followed by the Southwark Servers’ Football Competition. A wonderful day out for all the family. All servers and their families will be most welcome – you do not need to be a Southwark Server.
Further information and details from Graham Lake (graham.lake@btinternet.com).

Archdiocese of Westminister

Sacred Heart and St John the Evangelist, Bushey, Herts.

This Christmas, Certificates were presented to the following servers: John Russell and Tom Burke who have both been enrolled for 7 years. John and Tom have, for years, looked after the 8.30am Mass on Sundays. They are excellent mentors to the younger servers and are a credit to themselves and their families.

Chris Nicholas, John Garlick and my own son, Matthew were presented with Certificates for 5 years service, having been enrolled in 1995. John has a younger brother, Alexander and Matthew will soon have his younger brother Conor serving with him after Conor makes his First Holy Communion in June. Chris has been a server for a number of years, having previously missed out on enrolment due to illness. He is one of our senior servers, who not only serves at Mass but also finds the time to be a musician at one of the other week-end Masses. Well done to you all.

In Bushey we currently have 33 servers. Eight of those have received the Silver Medal. one has received the Silver Medal of Merit, and another has received the Papal award ‘Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice’. In June, 2000, we were delighted to have Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor to celebrate Mass with us – his first Parish visit after his official installation.
I am very blessed with the help given to me, particularly by Stuart Adams, but also by the Kelly brothers (all four!) and Chris D’Souza. Also Dean Loughlin and Mark Buttigieg who have looked after the Sunday evening Mass for years.
We are very blessed with the support that we receive from our PP, Fr Guy Sawyer.
Chris Devlin
MC

St Peter and Paul, Northfields
St Stephen’s Day saw the biggest enrolment ceremony in our Branch’s history, when no less than fourteen of our servers received their medals from our Parish Priest, Fr Tom Quinn. After many weeks of preparation the following were enrolled:
Lloyd Alexander, James Batey, Aisling Callaghan, Sebastian Cypozcz, Declan Edwards, Russell Elie, Alex Gillespie, Paul kilgariff, Timur Mar, Leo Nicoletti, Kieran O'Brien, Micheal O’Donnell, Christopher Syposz and Robert Willoughby.

There was a very good turnout of our servers at the Mass and we joined with the servers’ families for a social gathering in the Parish Hall. A smaller, but no less enthusiastic group are shortly to embark on their journey towards receiving the Guild Medal
C Merritt
MC

St Etheldreda's Ely Place

The latest server to be enrolled in the Guild of St Stephen at St Etheldreda’s Church, Ely Place, London, EC1 is Alistair Faires. Alistair, who is eight, brings our total compliment of regular servers to seven. All, now, are members of the Guild.
MC at St Etheldreda’s, Michael Moriarty, was recently appointed to the Central Council of the Archconfraternity as publicity officer.

(Congratulations to Alistair for being the first person to have his photograph published in the Guild Newsletter. It is something of an experiment to see how it will be reproduced when printed. It also reflects the introduction of the Archconfraternity’s Web Site where pictures can be reproduced in colour without difficulty. – Ed)

Diocese of Dundee, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

I was away for six months last year – helping out in the Holy Land. I was stationed at Nazareth for about 5 months. It was a busy time, and especially so when the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II made pilgrimage to the Holy Places. Pity now that war has broken out since and Israel needs prayer more than anything in these days.

Our altar servers seem to work very hard. In some parishes you will find 30 to 40 servers. Owing to distance and large mission areas its not so easy to catch up with them all. But we have some very dedicated servers in the Diocese and the St Stephen’s Guild does play its part in liturgy and serving faithfully at the altar. Nearly a hundred servers came to one of our oldest Missions, Maria Ratschitz – dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows – on 16th September. The Bishop, Clergy, Religious and People joined in an all night Vigil. Good to see so many young and old servers wearing the Medal and serving in a prayerful way.

Deanery-wise we try to have a Day of Recollection for the Servers during the year.

I found the beautiful words of Pope John Paul II to Servers assembled in Rome for the Jubilee Year:
“In your beautiful white albs you are a joy to our eyes and our hearts. Without you how could the Church conduct its worship with dignity. By your innocence, your joyfulness and willingness to love and serve, you help the people to become more united. Your contact with the altar sustains and develops in your souls Faith, Devotion and all the virtues pleasing to God.”
A wonderful summary of all one could say about being faithful servers in St Stephen’s Guild.

Prayerful wishes from all here, and many blessings for the Guild. Please pray for our missionary task.
Rev Bro. Christopher Kiernan OFM

Our Lady of the Sea, St Anne’s-on-Sea

On Friday 16th February, our Serving team went on a retreat to Castlerigg Manor, Keswick for a time of team building and reflection. It involved many ice-breaking games along with walks, treasure trails, environmental tasks and so on, all of which helped the servers to work together and build bonds with each other. The team at present consists of 25, but I hope to take on 10 newcomers in the not too distant future. Please pray that all works out.

I would like to give recognition to two of our seniors who are very dedicated to serving. To Mr J Walker who retired from being Master of Ceremonies for a number of years, I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ for his hard work, understanding and guidance. Also to Mr D Newsome who was awarded his Silver Medal for 10 years’ service while on the retreat.

In July, I was appointed as the MC and I would like to say a big thank you to: Mr J Walker (the Retired MC who remains actively involved), Mr S Daniel (the most Senior Server), Mr D Newsome and, most of all, to Fr Carey our Parish Priest, for all their support and guidance which has enabled me to do my duty for the greater glory of God.
P Briers
MC