Category: stuff I never did before.

We use acolytes at our church. 4th thru 8th grade students can robe up and help lead worship. They do four things:

1. light the candles at the start of the service
2. lead the Call to Worship
3. receive the offering
4. extinguish the candles at the end
5. ????????

Should there be a fifth thing on that list? How about a different first thing? How does your church employ acolytes? Do you do any kind of community building with them as a group? We’re Presbyterians, so we don’t have the liturgical flair of, say, Episcopalians (see below). But I’ve seen acolytes in most mainline protestant denominations.

What are some best practices for acolytes?