The Parish of St. Paul, Oldham
Minister's Notes: Holy Communion
Before the Service
- We may or may not have a choir, but they no longer process in as per the Order of Service.
- Ensure that the altar lectern is on the altar.
- 9:30 am Opening the church by you or others - whoever gets there first.
- Switch on the sound system.
- Microphones are on the desk. Please attach one to you, centrally to your chest if possible. Assistant is for people with quieter voices than Minister
- Set the altar up (Auriel usually happy to help / guide).
- Chasubles are in the wardrobe in the vestry (but there is no green stole at present)
- The Collect and Readings should be on the table in the vestry. Feel free to take the Collect in, but do make sure the readings are on the Lectern.
- The president usually sits on the right hand presidential chair as you face the congregation,
- If you are playing the music, try to start it so that it finishes at 10:00 am.
- I generally discretely slip in during the music before the service, and prepare myself for the service while the music is playing.
During the Service
- Hymns Please announce the hymns with hymn numbers, and ask people to stand. They will be played on the TV and through the speaker.
- Stage Directions I generally encourage people to follow the stage directions themselves (e.g. sit / standing) rather than have them wait for me to announce them.
- Sung Liturgy The congregation will sing the Gloria / Kyries / Exsultet and Agnus Dei, but this is the only liturgy that is sung, everything else is said.
- The Psalm We generally sit for the Psalm.
- The Gospel is usually proclaimed from the lectern.
- Sermon: You are welcome to preach from where you like. I generally stand at the front. Others use the lectern. The pulpit is not normally used. There is a portable lectern available.
- The Intercessions I generally introduce them with one of:
- "Let us pray for the church and for the world, and let us give thanks for God's goodness"
- "In peace let us pray"
- "By the power of the Spirit, and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father" or
- "We sit or kneel to pray"
- The Peace We usually have a static "sign" of peace, which could be waving to each other, or a BSL sign of peace, or anything appropriate for the day.
- Collection There is only a retiring collection at the moment: not during the offertory hymn.
- Holy Communion
- We don't have servers at the moment.
- This is administered from the Altar Rail.
- There should be one Eucharistic Assistant.
- Some children over the age of 7 usually receive Communion.
- The Notices Auriel will be happy to do the Notices.
- Please leave after "Go in peace" while the "going out music" is played. At St. Paul's, people generally remain seated to listen to the music.
After the Service
- I generally catch the early leavers at the exit, or just outside, then go in for tea and coffee afterwards, and mingle. . .
- Ensure that the audio system power is turned off - but not the chargers for the microphones.
