At St. David’s, we value the involvement of numerous men and women, young and old, in our weekly worship. We believe that:
- ministry does not merely fall into the hands of the paid staff, WE ARE ALL MINISTERS;
- worship is not something that people come to church once a week to passively receive, but rather worship is something in which each and every one of us actively participate. each and every one of us has something to offer;
- the faith formation of all people is a priority, and therefore, it is not just the ordained leaders who are ‘qualified’ to lead worship;
- the diversity of our community is a gift of God to be celebrated and recognized.
Lay Assistants
The Lay Assistant shares with the priest and the deaconess in leading our Sunday worship. The Lay Assistant is not merely involved in leading worship, but is also involved in other aspects of the church’s leadership and ministry, and the Lay Assistant takes seriously an ongoing commitment to nurturing his or her faith life and growing and maturing as a follower of Christ.
Readers
As one Jewish writer said, “Our God is a God who loves stories!”. The stories found in our Bible are strange and unusual, they are about far-away places and far-away times, and sometimes they are about people we don’t understand at all, doing things we don’t understand at all. The stories in the Bible are also sacred stories, which means (among many things) that we believe that they are also about us, that they have the power to speak to us here and now, in this place, in this time. The Reader is arguably one of the most important leaders in our worship because in the act of reading, we open ourselves to the possibility that the Holy Spirit will speak to us in ways that are challenging and comforting, in ways that help us to see the world in new ways, or that remind us of truths that we have known all along but may have forgotten.
Greeters & Sidespersons
Throughout our worship, we proclaim that God is our host, God is the one who gathers us into prayer and praise and fellowship. Our greeters and sidespersons get to enact something of God’s generous hospitality: they welcome each individual who comes through our doors -- whether friend or stranger, they are mindful throughout the service of offering people assistance or guidance as needed, and they invite people at the appropriate time to come forward to receive the bread and wine, either at the main altar or in our side chapel.
Prayers of the People – Intercessors
Our Intercessors lead us in the Prayers for the People, the time in our worship when we offer before God the places of thanksgiving and gratitude, the places of worry and anxiety – both on an individual and communal level, and we name those specific people who have been brought to our attention, those in particular need of prayer. Throughout these prayers, we remember with hope God’s extraordinary promises of faithfulness, peace, and love.
Communion Assistants
Our communion ministers are key in making our communal table fellowship work. Every week before we receive the bread and wine, we claim “this is the table at which God is host.” God is the host, but our communion ministers get to be the flesh and blood hosts and hostesses on God’s behalf. Communion Ministers get to offer the hospitality, the generosity, the graciousness of God to our brothers and sisters gathered at this table to receive God’s gifts.
Servers
The role of Server is to look after some of the small, but vitally important, details of our worship. Attending to the details of worship with thoughtfulness and care can bring great depth of meaning and beauty to our communal prayer life. The work of the Server can lift up for people the opportunity to connect with the symbols of our faith—the small, subtle signs and actions which we offer—and express the emotions and experiences of our faith journeys in ways other than through words.
Crucifers / Torch Bearers
The Crucifer and Torch Bearers, like the Servers, help us attend to the details of worship. They help lift in the centre of our communal worship life, the symbols which over our history have had the greatest power and longevity.
The Crucifer carries the cross. Jesus, throughout his life, offered to us many everyday objects, and used them in ways that carried profound spiritual meaning: loaves, fish, wine, water, boats, seeds, vines, etc. But the cross, an instrument devised by the Roman government to torture and kill criminals in the most embarrassing and painful way, has become throughout our diverse Christian church, the primary symbol of God’s hope, life, and love offered to us in Jesus.
The light, the fire, the candles, is also one of our central symbols, though less specifically Christian. Throughout the sacred stories of both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, and even across very diverse religious traditions, the act of lighting a flame is a sign of hope, warmth, companionship, and possibility in the face of all that seeks to overwhelm and terrify us.
Coffee Hour
Just as our worship formally binds us in God’s fellowship through food and drink, so our Coffee Hour after the service informally binds us in God’s fellowship through food and drink. We enjoy taking turns in preparing, organizing, and hosting this time following our service when we get to nourish long-time friendships, or get to know one another anew, over warm beverages and delicious offerings of food.
