Altar server

An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian religious service. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell and so on.

Altar servers in the Catholic Church

Formerly, only men and boys could serve at the altar outside of female religious houses, but canon 230 of the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1983 allowed local ordinaries to permit girls and women to do so (see Female altar servers). In the United States, only the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska has not granted permission. Even where the bishop grants permission, the priest in charge of a church is not obliged to avail of it. Traditionalist Catholic groups such as the FSSP and the Institute of Christ the King and some individual priests do not.

The term "acolyte" is sometimes applied to altar servers, but in the proper sense means someone who has been received the ministry of that name, usually reserved for those who are to be promoted to the permanent or transitory diaconate. These must receive the ministry of acolyte, which historically was classified as a minor order, at least six months before being ordained as deacons.

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and worship are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship. Today they are used particularly in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, as well as in Neopaganism and Ceremonial Magic. Judaism used such a structure until the destruction of the Second Temple. Many historical faiths also made use of them, including Greek and Norse religion.

Antiquity

Hebrew Bible

Altars (Hebrew: מזבח‎, mizbe'ah, "a place of slaughter or sacrifice") in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth or unwrought stone. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places. The first altar recorded in the Hebrew Bible is that erected by Noah. Altars were erected by Abraham, by Isaac, by Jacob, and by Moses, (Adonai-nissi).

After the theophany on Mount Sinai, in the Tabernacle—and afterwards in the Temple—only two altars were used: the Altar of Burnt Offering, and the Altar of Incense.

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.25 billion members worldwide. One of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilisation.Headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, its doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic Church is also notable within the Western Christian tradition for its celebration of the seven sacraments.

The Catholic Church teaches that it is the one true church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles, and that the Pope is the successor to Saint Peter. The Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches and religious institutes such as the Jesuits, mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders, reflect a variety of theological emphases in the Church.