Want to evangelize the young at your parish? Try this.

It’s these guys: the altar servers.

Sunday, we installed 27 new servers—in the picture above, they’re lined up in the rectory, waiting for the processional—and that brings our number of servers to a grand total of 130.

You read that right.

130.

We are blessed beyond belief. Kids join in the 4th grade, and many stay all the way through high school, some even into college. We routinely have at least six kids at every Mass, including torchbearers, and there’s even a special “Prelates Guild” of the older kids, set up to assist our pastor with mitre and crozier (or, as the servers say, “hat and stick.”)  The amazing thing is that these kids absolutely love it; David James, who runs the whole operation, never has to ask for volunteers for Midnight Mass, the Easter Vigil or even our regular Good Friday praying of the Stations of the Cross. We routinely get 10-12 kids or more on a Friday night during Lent to carry candles, walk in procession and assist with the Benediction that follows. (And yes, it includes both boys and girls; the gender composition is almost evenly 50/50.) The older kids teach and mentor the younger ones—and in this way, week after week, Mass after Mass, kids become closer to the faith. The torch is passed—torchbearer to torchbearer.

Last winter, David wrote about how he does it for this blog:

I think that finding ways for kids to be active participants in the church—and in liturgy, specifically— is incredibly important.  Kids who are active in church at a young age turn into adults who are active members of their parishes.  The choir members, EMHCs, ushers, lectors and parish council members of tomorrow have to come from somewhere.  To say nothing of the fact that tomorrow’s priests, brothers and nuns don’t spring from the well as fully-formed adults.  No matter how you choose to look at it, the leaders of tomorrow’s Catholic Church at every level are today’s children.  If the only message we send them is to sit still, be quiet and don’t disrupt the mass, we are all going to face a real crisis in tomorrow’s Church.

Ask any teacher and they will tell you that students who are actively engaged with their material are the best learners (think back on your own education and I bet your favorite teachers were the ones that made you do something other than sit there and take notes!).  So in order to create tomorrow’s Catholics, we need to get children to be actively engaged in the church. We need to start in one place, the quintessential part of the Catholic experience: the Mass.

Okay, so if getting kids involved in Mass is so important: how do we do it?  The answer is almost as obvious as the question: have a sales pitch.  The fact of the matter is that most kids don’t know that they should or can be involved with their church; many parents don’t know enough to teach them that they should.  Those parents that do often don’t know how to get them involved without arguing with them.  More importantly, they do not know who they can trust with their kids.  Every September, I make appointments with all of the parochial school teachers and Religious Ed teachers in 4th grade and up.  (For those curious: I start my program beginning in the 4th grade and open up to all grades for new recruits every year).   I make registration forms and book the church for training classes and then I go and sell my program.  I go to each class and introduce myself, tell them who I am and why I’m there.  I explain what an altar server is and what we do (a lot of them don’t know). I tell them about all of the cool stuff that we are going to get to do.  I tell a lot of jokes.  I smile, a lot.  Most importantly, I tell them why this is something they should really consider doing.  I share with them why I started and why being involved in church is important.

That’s just for starters.  Read the rest in “How to Build an Awesome Altar Server Program in 10 Easy Steps.” 

One of the benefits of this thriving program—maybe the greatest benefit, actually—is that by reaching the young, we reach the parents. Parents who might otherwise be reluctant to darken the door of a church find themselves sitting in the first pew, beaming with pride and taking tons of pictures at Mass as their little one processes solemnly down the center aisle carrying the crucifix for the first time.  Moms and Dads bring the kids to church and then stay for Mass. You find the parents huddled outside the sacristy every Sunday waiting to take the kids home, like parents picking up youngsters from soccer practice; but instead of talking about the game or the traffic or the weather, they’re talking about liturgy and music and the homily.  And their sense of joy is palpable. Their kids are doing something good. In a city like New York, this is no small achievement. 

Last Sunday, I recorded some of the processional for the altar server installation Mass, celebrated by the group’s moderator, our parish administrator Fr. Frank Passenant. Since this happened on the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran, it gave Fr. Passenant a great opportunity to preach a bit about these “living stones” who are so vital to parish liturgical life.

The video quality isn’t the greatest, but you do get a sense that these boys and girls are made to feel part of something special.

God love ’em.