Acolytes are a select group of children in grades 5th-8th who desire to serve their church by assisting the ministers in worship. At Auburn UMC, our acolyte program provides Christian education as well as an opportunity for service to the church, stimulation for possible church-related occupations later on, and the opportunity for pastor and youth to relate to each other. It is an ideal vehicle for the faith development of our youth and a good opportunity to positively affect the lives of these children during their most impressionable years. Finally, the acolyte program gives dignity and meaning to the service of worship and inspires our young people to dedicate their lives to the service of Christ and the Church. Students entering 5th and 6th grade are eligible to serve.
Acolyte Scheduling:
Each Acolyte/Parent will receive a schedule showing which Sundays and Worship Services they are expected to serve. The schedule is for a three (3) month period. The first schedule you receive will be for September-November 2019. At Auburn UMC Acolytes serve on a rotating schedule. Depending on how many acolytes are in the program each acolyte will serve 3-4 times per schedule. For new Acolytes in the fall there will be a brief practice time on Thursday afternoons, usually at 5:00pm, before a child acolytes at a Sunday service.
Acolyte training will take place virtually this year, and begins July 27, 2020.
We will be using a combination of Zoom, for live training sessions, and Training Videos, accessible at any time HERE. Please be sure that you have access to a webcam for acolyte training.
Part of each session will be taught by pastoral and program staff including Cory Smith, Charles Cummings, Kelli Hitchman-Craig, Sarah Goolsby, and Gary Klarenbeek.
Participants will learn valuable information about acolyting from one of the church staff. Each acolyte will receive his/her own Acolyte Training Binder. The binder will be used each day during the training and will be his/her to keep.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS ACOLYTE TRAINING VIDEO RESOURCES
Acolyte Coordinators:
- Jill Perry | 334-207-9908 | jill.perry@aumc.net
- Brooke Bailey
- Patti Robinson