Eucharistic Ministers

If you are interested in becoming an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (EM) for St. Kevin Church, please contact Fr. Marc Swartvagher  and schedule an appointment to speak with him.

The process of determining the suitability for candidates for service at the Altar involves:

• Observation
  • Candidates for service at the altar should be known to the parish staff and community. Candidates should express by their words and actions that they are reasonably living their baptismal call to service. Appropriateness for service is also witnessed by proof of their sacramental life;
  • As such, all candidates must provide sacramental proof (certificates) of baptism, confirmation, and marriage, (where applicable) to their parish office;  
  • Review of these certificates should be made during an interview with a member of the parish staff;
  • All candidates must be interviewed on the parish level to determine suitability for service, to determine which ministry they wish to participate, and to assist with any concerns the candidate may have regarding their participation.
• Discernment

  • All those wishing to serve should be encouraged during an individual meeting with a member of the parish staff that prayer should be part of their process of deciding to serve their parish and diocese.

  • In the same way, potential candidates should be made aware that prayer is an integral part of continuing to discern their service and the type of service they will offer.

• Collection of information 
  • Before a candidate is sent for training, all documents relating to the sacraments they have received should be in the possession of the parish sending them for training.
  • It is not sufficient to say that a certain diocese “does not provide certificates” or that they are “difficult to provide.” All dioceses throughout the world provide certificates for sacramental purposes. The Chancery is willing to assist those people in need of assistance with finding certificates of Baptism, Confirmation, and Marriage.
• Review
  • It is most significant to ensure that the candidates name is correct as all training information is by the candidate’s full name.
  • Likewise it is important to determine the language candidates prefer to use for training. 
  • In addition, it is important to determine which ministry they wish to serve. Due to the structure of the day, candidates cannot be trained to serve in more than one ministry on the same day.
• Training
  • The training for liturgical ministers is from 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM. Participants should be aware that they must attend the entire day, and that no individual training programs can be accommodated.
  • Training for ministers as to particular parish procedures and customs should ideally take place before one serves in the parish. On-going training should take place on the parish level.