Shortage of Male Altar Servers? Give Them Something to Do!

The shortage of boys willing to be altar servers is not something unique to this country.

Today’s Telegraph notes that “There is an alarming number of empty seats in the choir stalls of Britain's cathedrals because, for the first time for centuries, too few boys want to become choristers.

Choir schools are finding it increasingly difficult to fill their places despite generous help with fees, partly because boys prefer football and computer games to the commitment of daily evensong and Sunday services.”

Thus it was a pleasure attending Mass at the Nativity of Our Lord parish in St Paul yesterday, providentially running into the Our Word two-some, Judith and Mitchell, and also afterwards, Dan from Lumen Fidei. (The Catholic blogs must be taking over the Church. Who should have been there also was Adoro Te Devote for if she would have looked to the ceiling of Nativity’s beautiful church, there above the altar would have been her name!).

The pleasure wasn’t only in chatting with them, but also in seeing that Nativity was that day honoring 36 of its high school graduates who had served the church since the seventh grade as altar servers, lectors, greeters, sacristans and even Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. The graduates were given premier seating up front and five male servers were on duty assisting Father Liekhus (finishing up his first year after ordination and still my nominee for the “Priest with the Most Perfect Posture” award). What a testimony to a great parish! Not just Father, but the servers!

The demographics of the servers slightly favored the girls, 20 to 16, but compared with most parishes, the boys were very well represented. Even more impressive in the statistics is that Nativity’s school only goes to the 9^th grade, so most of these 36 stalwarts were no doubt attending Cretin, St Thomas, St Agnes or St Bernard’s in St Paul. Retaining loyalty enough to contribute voluntarily to their parish at such a young age is a great tribute to them, their parents, the parishioners of Nativity and Father Christensen, the pastor.

Coming off the Triduum marathon, I was exposed to servers in several other parishes that weekend: Basilica, Cathedral, and St Augustine’s (Tridentine) in South St Paul. You can guess what the demographics of St Augustine’s looked like. And actually, there weren’t any youth serving at the two premier parishes of the Archdiocese. There didn’t appear to be any priest shortage on those altars that day (lots of seminarians at the Cathedral, though).

And this brings me to my theory [it is mine] as to why more boys aren’t found as altar servers these days. The predominant theory is that they don’t like working with girls. In the United States in the year 2006? I find that really hard to believe. The “English chorister” theory, above, seems to be that football (soccer, here) and computer games rival altar serving for popularity. I think that to be less likely.

Granted that when one attends Mass, one is supposed to be praying and participating in the recreation of the Last Supper and the Holy Sacrifice on Calvary. But sometimes, when one has had three years of “altar boy” experience under one’s belt, even if it was 50 years ago, one tends to critique the behavior of the servers on duty and determine if they are “up to standard.” And generally, other than for the propensity for wearing “clown shoes” under the alb or whatever they call it these days, they do well.

The real problem is that in most parishes where I attend Mass (and I do tend to be a “church shopper”), there really isn’t that much for the servers to do. And as is evidenced by my experience at the Basilica and the Cathedral, when the really great opportunities come up when you get to really practice your thurible swinging or lead a procession of dozens with a heavy cross or ring the bell for five minutes straight on Holy Saturday to signify that the time of mourning is over and that Jesus Christ has risen, nobody wants you there.

And even on regular Sundays, let alone weekdays where it used to happen that you might even get to serve by yourself (these days the priest offers daily Mass without servers in many parishes), there isn’t a lot to do. They mostly seem to sit in a lot of parishes. No bells. No shifting the missal from the Epistle side to the Gospel side, and then back, no holding back Father’s chasuble at the Consecration so he has his arms free, and maybe most importantly, not being the sole representatives of the congregation by being the only one to make the responses (in Latin yet) to the Priest’s prayers. Compared to that, what the Church is asking of servers today is pretty boring stuff if you ask me.

Boys don’t like being ornaments. They want to do interesting and important stuff. You want more boys to be altar servers? Give them some of that to do. That’s what I say!