The parish of St John the Baptist, San Juan welcomed ten new altar servers to the community on April 30. That Mass was very special to all the altar servers of the parish because it was especially for them.

From the start one could feel a difference; there was a greater than usual presence of altar servers that day. Many of the senior altar servers served at Mass while the others who were present sat in the first two pews reserved for them.

The parents and guardians were asked to sit just behind the altar servers since they had a very special part to play in the ceremony. After the homily, parish priest, Fr Christian Pineau  introduced the head altar server, Neil Dwarika. Neil then proceeded to call the new altar servers to the sanctuary one by one. Fr Christian laid hands on them and prayed over them.

After Fr Christian prayed over the new altar servers, they were asked to stand in a line in front of the altar and their parents and guardians placed the altar server gowns over their child.

After this task was completed, the parents and guardians returned to their seats and the new altar servers were told to step into the sanctuary and asked to commit themselves to service for a period of one year, to which they all agreed. The new altar servers were then introduced to the community.

The ceremony was not over yet! The new altar servers were presented with crosses which was placed over their necks by Fr Christian as a sign of their commitment.

The senior altar servers were then invited to join their counterparts on the altar where Fr Christian also prayed for them, and they were also asked to commit themselves for a period of one year. To this they also agreed. They were also given crosses as a public sign of this commitment. While this was going on the choir sang the song Service.

The names of the new altar servers are as follows; Ashley Aming, Marcellus Aming, Keva Antoine, Leigh-Ann Borel, Kevin Gangaram, Ramon Gonzales, Stefan Maraj, Dujon Morris, Haylei Spencer and Jeffrey Weekes.

When this ceremony ended the Mass continued with the Prayers of the Faithful, which was done by the altar servers. They also picked up collection and carried up the gifts and the offerings to the altar. As the meditation hymn all the altar servers sang Holiness – and sang it very well indeed.

At the end of Mass a special presentation was made to one of the senior altar servers, Jaleesa Small, on behalf of all the altar servers for her hard work and the interest that she has shown to all her teammates.

We, the members of the community of St John the Baptist, would like to welcome our 10 new altar servers. We hope they continue to serve God with the zeal that they have shown thus far.

We would also like to thank the senior altar servers for recommitting themselves to service to God and to the wider community. May God continue to bless them all.