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The Guild
of St. John the Divine
Every once in a while, in the life of the Altar Guild,
we get to do something really great. And this year was
one of those times when we celebrated with our Rector
the 30th anniversary of his ordination. Bishops, Priests,
Deacons, Oh MY! All called for much pomp and lots of
smoke; an acolyte’s dream come true!
But to each of us in the Guild, every service is special.
It’s our opportunity to help lead the worship
of the congregation, set the tone of the service, participate
in the worship and prayers, and assist the clergy.
This year we sent seminarian, Evette Austin, on her
way… way up to Grace Episcopal Church in Canton,
New York, where she has just been ordained a Priest
and installed as their ninth Rector. We also said goodbye
to George Stevens as he entered his senior year at GTS
and transitioned into different field placement.
We say hello to two new seminarians, Gregory Tallant
and David Fleenor. I can tell you, they are fast learners
and have already made themselves indispensable to our
work and life.
The Guild of St. John the Divine is made up of a tireless
crew of volunteers who serve as lectors, torch-bearers,
crucifers, thurifers, sub-deacons and servers. We work
in conjunction with the Sacristan’s Guild and
our Chief Sacristan, Marsanne Eyre, to ensure everything
runs smoothly and seamlessly, not only from start to
finish, but all the myriad of little details in between,
like making sure proper vestments and laid out, correct
vessels are used, candles are at the ready and that
there will be no lack of smoke at the appropriate times.
Our budget line falls under Altar Supplies and Administrative
Supplies and we generally don’t cause too much
havoc during the year. This year, we’ve had to
send one of our thuribles to the thurible hospital and
it is convalescing well and hope to have it back among
us soon.
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