Mary Best is our November “Gracious Giver” — a quiet yet essential presence behind the scenes. Each week, she devotedly cares for the altar linens used during communion, ensuring everything is clean and ready for worship. That includes the challenge of removing wine stains after each service! Her story below highlights the deep dedication she brings to her volunteer work, helping make every church experience more meaningful for all.
My husband, David, and I joined Hope Church in 2001. In 2002, Dave became the chairman of the Worship Committee, and with that, handles the scheduling of volunteers needed to help with the services each weekend. Those tasks include handling the altar guild duties for the three services each weekend. Each of those services includes communion, and I am the person who makes sure that the corporals and purificators (large and small white linen cloths) are cleaned, pressed, and ready for the altar guild volunteer to use when setting up communion for each service. Although I am not officially a member of a committee, this has been my way of volunteering since 2003. I consider it a service to God rather than a task that needs to be done.
At the end of the 11:00 AM service each Sunday, I gather the linens and take them home to prepare them for the next week. There is a traditional way to do this. The use of boiling water is a time-honored, ritualistic way of ensuring that these sacred elements are dissolved and disposed of respectfully before the linen is put through a regular wash; so, I am often standing at the stove in front of a pot of boiling water. When I finish rinsing the linens, the water is poured onto the earth, such as in the garden, to prevent any remaining particles of the Eucharist from going down a drain. I then rinse the linens in water with bleach added to remove any residual stains. The cloths are then rinsed with plain water, dried, ironed, and returned to the church for the following week’s services.
If there is a funeral or wedding planned at the church, communion linens are needed for that service. The preparation is very similar to getting things ready for the regular weekly services.
I also take care of the paraments (alter cloths) for the altar. The colors change according to the church season. I make sure that the paraments are pressed and that the correct colors are on the altar according to the church calendar. In addition to making the purificators and some of the corporals that are used each week, I have made some of the paraments.
The candle tables in the back of the church need to be taken care of each week. Used candles need to be replaced, some of the glass candle cups need to be washed, and the sand and lighting sticks need attention. Three times a year, the 120 glass cups all need washed. I try to do this before the Christmas and Easter seasons, as well as for All Saints’ Sunday. I did this for many years and was very thankful when Connie Schaffer volunteered to take over caring for these tables a couple of years ago. Since her illness and death, I have taken on this responsibility again. I would say that it takes about a half hour to get the candle tables ready for the weekend services, unless there are multiple glass cups that need washed, which takes some extra time. If anyone would like to volunteer to take over the care of the candle tables, please let me know (dbester4@zoominternet.net). Help with that would be greatly appreciated.
Volunteering to handle things that are needed every week can be a challenge. I try to have things ready ahead of time in case we can’t be at church for some reason. Dave and I are thankful for the altar guild volunteers who are always ready to lend a hand.
Mary Best