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Revised 01/10/01

• First Service Volunteer Duties
• Second Service Volunteer Duties

FIRST SERVICE VOLUNTEERS

First service volunteers set up the altar for both services!

Door Key
The church key for first service volunteers will be passed along each month. The person who has the key should put it in the altar guild mailbox in the office after she finishes her last week. The new person going on duty should pick it up the Sunday before she starts so that she can get into the church on Saturday to set up. The key is on a blue expansion bracelet.

Homemade Bread
A fresh supply (two loaves) will be brought in by our volunteer bakers and left on the counter or put in the refrigerator in the sacristy.

One whole loaf will be used for each service. Do not cut up the loaf. Simply place it on the top paten shortly before the service ( so it doesn't get stale) and place a linen cloth over the top. Set the two patens on the altar. The pastor will break the loaf in half during communion, and one-half will be placed on each paten.

Wafers
Occasionally we will use wafers for communion. Use a whole package of the wafers plus any remaining from the previous package (they should be in a white Tupperware container in cabinet). Put half of the wafers in the top paten and half in the bottom one.

Be sure to put one large wafer on the top paten for each service.

Wine
Use the following procedure for filling the wine trays.

1. Fill 5 to 6 wine trays on normal Sundays for the first service and 4 for the second service. If there is a baptism or special music please plan for more people. During the summer, fill only 3 trays per service. On special days such as Christmas, Easter, or Confirmation Sundays, fill 7 trays.
   
   
2. Put grape juice in all the cups in the middle section of each tray.
   
   
3. Fill each glass only half full to reduce spilling and sloshing.
   
   
4. On the altar put the base, one empty tray, one full tray, and the tray lid with cross on the lower right comer as you face the pews. Do not put a cloth on these trays.
   
   
5. Place the remaining trays on the right side of the credence table (usually) next to the organ.
   
   First Service--Starting from the bottom, put tray base, full, empty, full, empty, full, empty, full, empty, full trays and cover with cross lid.
   
   Second Service--Base, full, empty , full empty , full trays and cover with cross lid. (We need to set up this many trays because both pastors are distributing communion.)

The trays are stored in the bottom cupboards of the sacristy.

There are 2 white dispensers stored in the came cupboard as the wafers; they can be used to squirt the wine and grape juice into the glasses.

Do not throw the empty wine bottle and cap away. We may need to use it if all the wine is not used during the service.

Filling the chalice
A small amount of wine should be poured into the chalice for use use during the words of institution. The chalice should be placed center middle on the altar. A purificator cloth, folded in threes, should be place over the chalice. Please be sure to wear gloves when handling the chalice.

Candles
The continuous burning candle (eternal light) should always be burning! You can replace it every Saturday or Sunday morning when setting up for communion, or you can monitor it and change it when it looks used up. The candles seems to burn at different rates depending on the conditions in the church, so you may find that at times it doesn't need to be replaced on Saturday. Replacements for it are in the first lower cupboard as you enter the sacristy.

The candles on the altar are tube candles. They are hollow metal tubes with a brass fitting on top. A spring-loaded mechanism pushes the inside candle up through the tube as the candle bums. The candles should be checked weekly and the brass fitting cleaned weekly to ensure that the spring mechanism doesn't get gummed up. There is a small circular hole near the top of the brass fitting which is an indicator hole to let you know when the candles are getting short and need to be changed. These tube candles allow us to use all but about 1/2" of the candle before they need to be changed. Care must be taken when changing the candles as the tubes scratch very easily.

SECOND SERVICE VOLUNTEERS

Pre-Service Checks
Before second service begins, check that trays have been refilled by the first service volunteers.

Also check to see if the tube candles on the altar need to be replaced; they may have been long enough for the first service but now have burned down enough to be replaced.

Communion Clean-Up
Please use the following procedure for cleaning up after communion.

1. Never pour the consecrated wine down the drain. If there is wine or grape juice left in the used glasses, pour it into a large glass and when finished emptying all glasses, pour the leftover outside on the ground.
   
   
2. Pour the wine from the unused glasses back into the wine bottles. There are funnels in the cupboard above the sink. Do not save unused grape juice. Please discard as per used wine above.
   
   
3. Throwaway ALL plastic glasses.
   
   
4. If using glass glasses, wash with hot soapy water and store back in trays.
   
   
5. If homemade bread was used, put the unused portion out on the ground for the birds and ducks or you can take it home.
   
   
6. If wafers were used, put any unused wafers back in plastic container in cupboard above sink.
   
   
7. The chalice should be washed with warm soapy water and dried. Place chalice in blue cloth drawstring bag for storage.
   
   
8. Notify Guild chairperson when the wine, wafer, grape juice, plastic glass, or candle supply is getting low. There should be at least 2 weeks supply on hand at all times. Each Sunday we will need about 2 bottles of wine and 300 glasses.
   
   
9. Recycle the wine and juice bottles. You can rinse and put them back in the wine box for the chairperson to remove when all wine is used or you can take them home yourself to recycle. Be sure to save the caps as well as the bottles.

Paraments and Banners
Use the following procedure to maintain the paraments and banners.

1. Check calendar in sacristy to determine if the banners and paraments need to be changed. Each Sunday is marked with the color to be used.
   
   
2. The banners are stored in the fIrst closet in the north end of the fellowship hall (downstairs). It will take two people to change the banners. There are long poles in the sacristy to use for taking the banners down and putting them up. If you notice problems with the banners (i.e. tears, spots, etc), please notify the Altar Guild chairperson so she can arrange to have them repaired.
   
   
3. The brass banner rods have a set-screw to hold the finial (ball) on the rod. This screw will need to be taken you in order to get the fmial off, since most of the old banners will not slide over the finial. Please exercise care when taking the brass rods up and down since they are heavy. You will not have to take the fmial off for the new blue, green, and red banners.
   
   
4. It is the second service's duty to change the banners for the following week, even if it is the last Sunday of the month and that team is not on duty the next week.

Laundry
The communion cloths should be washed at least once during your monthly service. They can be washed with your regular laundry and ironed using spray starch. They should be folded in thirds lengthwise and laid in on of the linen drawers. If they are not soiled, they can be ironed in the sacristy and placed in a linen drawer without washing.

Do not put the communion cloths back in the linen drawer without ironing them.

The purificator cloths should be taken home each week to be washed and starched. It also needs to be folded into thirds. Return before the next Sunday.

The altar cloth (fair linen) should be washed and ironed as needed. Check it each Sunday for wine stains, candle drippings, etc.

Wine stains can be removed using club soda. Wax can be removed by placing a brown paper bag or paper towel above and below the spot and pressing with a hot iron.

Check the acolyte robes (hanging in the sacristy closet) and wash the ones that are dirty. These too can be washed with your regular laundry--no bleach. Tumble dry for a few minutes to remove wrinkles and then hang to dry.

Take dishcloths and dish towels home and wash them. Return them to the sacristy before the next Sunday.

Handling Brassware
There is a pair of cotton gloves in the first drawer; these should be used when handling any of the brassware on the altar. This will help eliminate fingerprints.

Replace the candles when there is only about 1/2" left in the tube. There is a little hole at the top of the tube candle which will be silver/gray instead of white when it's time to change the candles. Replacement candles are stored in the third drawer in the sacristy . Unlike regular candles, the replacement candles do no have any ribbing at the bottom.

Melt the wax from the candlesticks using the hair dryer in the sacristy cupboard and then wipe clean with a soft cloth. Do not scrape the wax off; this will scratch the candlesticks.

Baptisms
When there is a baptism, the empty font bowl (metal) and a small baptism towel will be on counter in sacristy. Fill the bowl half full with warm water, set in the font, and place the towel on the font. Empty the bowl after the service.

Special Duties
Everything should be especially clean for Easter so please remember to wash altar cloth and communion cloths before Easter Sunday.

All brassware should be polished for Easter.