Community of the Holy Spirit Church
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Community of the Holy Spirit Church |
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A Western Rite Orthodox Parish |
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The children took the place of the adults for the yearly children's mass
They were greeters in the lobby before service, and ushers during service.
They performed all of the altar duties, and one even served as the deacon. They read the two lesson's for the day and did a great job with the pronunciations. The deacon even read the gospel from the center isle as the adults do. The children brought the gifts forward after they had taken up the collection.
At the offertory the music ministry sang the song Ready for Battle, about putting on the armor of God and being ready for battle. The children presented the Bishop and one of their own with their perspective armor. The child had a sword, the bishop had his bible. The child had a helmet, the bishop had his mitre, and so on. The children even put footprints on the floor so the bishop could walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
After putting on their armor, they stood next to each other. Feet shod, preparation of peace, sword of the Spirit, shield of faith, breastplate of righteousness, and helmet of salvation.
When the bishop presented his message for the week, the children participated by sitting in front of him and reading the scriptures on the screen. He explained to them how they can accomplish all of these things in their daily lives and do battle for the Lord. He taught them how the scriptures pertained to them as children also.
At the breaking of the bread the assigned children stood at the altar and prepared themselves to be cup bearers at communion time. They then took their places, with adults and presented the cup of salvation to the congregation. It was a very moving time to accept the cup from innocent children offering us the blood of Christ. The blood that brings us back to being innocent and one of God's children.
When the prayers after communion were finished, the bishop blessed and prayed over two of the children who will be leaving Sunday school and joining the adults for service. Two of the girls ran in at announcement time, as mother Judy does when she is rushing around, and gave all of the upcoming news. We then received the final blessing, and sang our closing song. The children did a great job, and it was an enjoyable service for all who participated.
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