Washington, D.C.] In Episcopal worship services, acolytes are the lay volunteers who assist with the Gospel procession, tend to duties on the altar and help set the table for the Eucharist. They are responsible for routine tasks that rarely draw attention away from the clergy leading the services, yet those worship services often wouldn’t go as smoothly if not for the acolytes.
Washington National Cathedral acknowledges the acolytes’ importance and has celebrated their roles since 1979 by hosting the annual Acolyte Festival. Some 700 acolytes from 68 Episcopal churches in 15 U.S.-based dioceses and an Anglican congregation in Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil, attended this year’s festival on Oct. 10. The acolytes’ estimated ages ranged from as young as 4 years old to as old as 80.
The cathedral celebrates acolytes because “they’re supporting what’s happening for people to come and to receive the sacrament, and to enter into that closer relationship with God in Christ,” the Rev. Rosemarie Logan Duncan, canon precentor of Washington National Cathedral and a former acolyte, told Episcopal News Service. To read more, click here
