What is the Sacristan Ministry?

Any public event or celebration requires a lot of "behind the scenes" activity, and if the celebration is to have meaning, there must be a lot of care and preparation. Our parish liturgy is a very important and public event that is the heart of our whole parish life. Our liturgy proclaims who we are as a parish, providing us with the foundation of growing and working together as a parish community. This liturgy of our parish requires a lot of "behind the scenes" organization.

At one time, the priest and deacons in our parish were responsible for this preparation. Today, part of the mass preparation has become the role of the sacristan. The sacristans are responsible for the preparation and care of materials used in our liturgy, as well as being the liaisons between other ministries and the parish priest. Our first responsibility is to see that all duties performed are according to the celebrant’s wishes. The external aspects of the liturgy – bread and wine, count of attendees for communion, backup Eucharist Ministers for Saturday and Sunday liturgies, handling minor emergencies – are just a part of the duties we perform.

Who are the Sacristans at St. Joseph’s?

We have seven active adult Sacristans who serve between three masses that take place Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings.  This year (2005), with the addition of the 6:00 pm Life Teen mass Sundays, we have been blessed and welcome four Junior Sacristans to our ministry.

How can we be of further service to you?
And how can you help us?

Please let us know if there is something we can help you with before the Saturday and Sunday liturgies. You can always drop us a note in the "Communications Box" in the on the Library table in the Gathering Space.   If we don’t have an immediate answer for you, we will do our best to solve the problem as soon as possible.

The Sacristan Ministry welcomes additional people who would like to be Sacristans.   Please click here for a list of duties and commitment requirements.

If you think this may be a calling that you might like to pursue, please do not hesitate to contact:

Sacristan Coordinator:
Patricia L. Guerard

Email:
plguerard@patmedia.net

Phone:
908-874-7921 (Home) (after 6:00 p.m.)
908-295-4826 (Cell)