Liturgical Ministries

Community volunteers enhance the liturgical rhythms of the Church year by using their artistic, creative talents for the preparing the Chapel environment for worship during the liturgical seasons. Individuals take time to study the unique seasonal elements, meet and discuss the spatial possibilities, and then execute plans, especially in anticipation of major celebrations, such as Advent/Christmas and Lent/Holy Week/Easter/Pentecost, as well as Ordinary Time. We seek people who appreciate an environment that fosters communal prayer, are creative with visual details or fabrics, as well as those who have a special love for live plants and flowers!

For more information or to get involved, contact Norm Gouin.

At the Paulist Center, we have a long tradition of using loaves of unleavened bread baked by individuals and families from the Center. The tradition of using unleavened bread dates back to the early Church, where Western Christians favored the accounts of Jesus’ death as found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which all recalled Jesus’ death as an event that occurred on Passover, meaning that his final meal the night before required the use of unleavened bread.

Individuals or families bake and score the bread made from a special recipe so we may have fresh loaves for every weekend celebration.

The recipe used by our Bread Bakers simply combines whole wheat flour, unbleached white flour and cold sparkling water. New volunteers hone their technique at annual bread baking workshops.

For more information or to get involved, contact JB Sloan.

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are lay women and men with a special devotion to the Eucharist and assist with the distribution of the Eucharist at Mass. In order to participate in this ministry, individuals should have received the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Catholic Church.

The Paulist Center provides training before designating new ministers to serve in this prayerful ministry. In addition, we conduct periodic enrichment sessions to deepen one’s understanding of the theology and spirituality of Eucharist. We also review logistics for a prayerful and orderly ministering of Communion to the gathered members of the assembly.

Once trained at the Paulist Center, Extraordinary Ministers should arrive 10-15 minutes before weekend Masses to sign-up in the El Salvador alcove. On feast days and special liturgies, such as Christmas and Holy Week, the Pastoral Minister of Liturgy will schedule ministers in advance, along with providing special instructions for those celebrations.

If you are discerning a call to this ministry, please see the Guidelines of the Archdiocese of Boston.

For more information or to get involved, contact Norm Gouin

Greeters

Hospitality at liturgy includes the friendly and helpful people who greet you as you enter the Paulist Center Chapel. Greeters are especially attentive to visitors and newcomers, help distribute bulletins and other materials, answer questions about the Center, and inform guest about our sanctuary artwork or location of restrooms and childcare. This is an ideal ministry for persons who are outgoing and enjoy welcoming others.

Ushers for Special Liturgies

Ushers assist with seating and the orderly flow of processions for special liturgies, such as Christmas, First Communion, Confirmation, and Holy Week.

For more information or to get involved, contact Norm Gouin.

Lectors proclaim the word of God in the gathered assembly with faith and meaning.

Lectors are the ministers who proclaimers of God’s Word at either Eucharistic or non-Eucharistic liturgies. Once trained, lectors join one of six rotating teams. The team that is assigned for a given weekend meets at 7pm Wednesdays, ten days before the assigned weekends (approximately once every 6 weeks) to break open the scriptures along with the assigned preachers, reflect on these readings, and in their collected wisdom, help compose the Universal Prayer (General Intercessions). Teams self-assign the lectors for each of the weekend liturgies.

Lector team captains and the Pastoral Minister for Liturgy conduct private auditions and training and provide workbooks and other resource materials.

Those who wish to be considered for this ministry should be a person of prayer, have a love of sacred Scripture, and have a clear speaking voice.

For more information or to get involved, contact Norm Gouin.

Sacristans are detail-oriented persons who work well behind the scenes.

Working before, during, and after a particular Mass, sacristans are ministers who attend to details for the preparation and orderly celebration of the liturgy. They prepare the proper amounts of bread, wine and vessels; they check linens, candles and other items to be sure all is ready; they coordinate the Collection and Presentation of the Gifts of bread and wine; and assist in other ways as requested and needed. Persons who are detail oriented and like working behind the scenes are ideal for this ministry. New sacristans receive training and pair with an experienced mentor until they feel confident to minister on their own.

For more information or to get involved, contact Rachel Rumely.

This group works to implement the Pastoral Plan of the Paulist Center; specifically the goals related to fostering the liturgical life and experience of the worshiping community. Membership on this committee includes the ordained presiders, the Pastoral Minister of Liturgy and Music, community members with expertise and specialized knowledge of liturgy and those who lead or represent some of the many liturgical ministries that are present. Membership is for a three-year term.

For more information or to get involved, contact Norm Gouin. 

Liturgical Dance illuminates the incarnational nature of our faith.

The liturgical dancer serves as leader of prayer, inviting a deepened awareness of the rhythm of the liturgy itself. Liturgical dance is not performance and is not separate from the liturgy; its intent is to “enhance, support, and illumine” the natural movement of the liturgical action (Art and Environment in Catholic Worship, p. 25).

Dance helps us to highlight movement in particular places within the liturgy, including processions and rituals that naturally call us to “journey” through a space. Through embodied expression, the minister of dance “speaks” for all, just as the presider, lector, or cantor “speaks” for the entire assembly. Paradoxically, dance breaks open the mystery of the Word in a way that mere words cannot.

The experience of dance, gesture, movement is also a powerful form of religious education. When children learn at a gut level that God celebrates their whole selves, it is an element that lays out the groundwork for a healthy spirituality. For adults, learning this reality at later stages in their lives can be transforming. Liturgical dance can express a positive theology of the body: the whole person, perfectly imperfect, is redeemed in Christ. Dance is a vehicle to help us remember that our faith is about incarnation leading to resurrection! The liturgical dancer is a teacher of this communal catechesis.

At the Paulist Center, dance is an integral part of particular liturgies throughout the year, including Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Triduum, Pentecost, and Masses involving our youth during Ordinary Time. Our ministry occasionally has opportunities to dance at ecumenical services and social justice events.

Participation is open to all who express an interest, as choreography creatively engages all levels of abilities. The Center offers educational workshops annually.

“Let us build the City of God! May our tears be turned into dancing!” – Dan Schutte

For more information or to get involved, contact Christine Tardiff.