The Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary or GSS is an association of

altar servers An altar server is a laity, lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up t ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

, with some overseas organisation in several other countries.

Objectives and Membership

The Guild states its objectives as follows: # To raise the spiritual tone of

; # To promote a conscientious performance of the duties of

; and # To encourage more frequent attendance at the

Holy Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ot ...

, in addition to times of duty.GSS n.d. Membership is open to any man or woman who is an altar server in the

and 'accepts Catholic Faith and Practice'. (In the context of the Guild,

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

is understood to mean 'of the universal church' and not '

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

'.)

Organisation

The Guild is organised into local chapters, each overseen by a secretary, who is a member of the Guild, and a chaplain, who is a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and thus a 'priest associate' of the Guild. Chapters meet regularly: a typical gathering takes the form of a specially-tailored version of

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

called the 'Guild Office': this consists largely of

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

and

Canticles A canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christian song of praise with lyrics usually taken from biblical or holy texts. Canticles are used in Christian liturgy. Catholic Church ...

sung

antiphon An antiphon (Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominently ...

ally, culminating in the Magnificat (Song of Mary) and a brief reading from the

Holy Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. The Guild Office will often be followed by a short address and perhaps

Benediction A benediction (Latin: ''bene'', well + ''dicere'', to speak) is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the expositio ...

. When undertaking Guild activities, members dress in

choir dress Choir dress is the traditional vesture of the clerics, seminarians and religious of Christian churches worn for public prayer and the administration of the sacraments except when celebrating or concelebrating the Eucharist. It differs fro ...

: typically a black

cassock The cassock or soutane is a Christian clerical clothing coat used by the clergy and male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in certain Protestant denomi ...

with a white

surplice A surplice (; Late Latin ''superpelliceum'', from ''super'', "over" and ''pellicia'', "fur garment") is a liturgical vestment of Western Christianity. The surplice is in the form of a tunic of white linen or cotton fabric, reaching to the kne ...

, but sometimes a white or coloured cassock-alb according to local usage. Members also wear a special 'Guild Medal' engraved with the text (in Latin) 'I will go unto the altar of God', ''Introibo ad Altare Dei'', which is the opening line of a well-known prayer said by those preparing to assist at the

Ordination of women

As with many of the Catholic Societies of the

, the Guild is officially opposed to the

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

. On 18 March 2006 the Guild's General Council affirmed an earlier Warden's Statement not to recognise as valid the orders of women ordained to the priesthood and stated that any meeting using the sacramental offices of a woman priest could not be considered to be a meeting of the Guild; however, the Council stopped short of expelling individual members of the Guild who availed themselves of the offices of women priests outside the immediate context of the Guild, instead asking that they 'should respect the stance of the Guild on such matters.'GSS 2006.

Notes

References

* GSS (no date).
''About the Guild''
Accessed June 15, 2008. * GSS (2006)

Accessed June 15, 2008.

Objectives and Membership

Organisation

Ordination of women

See also

Notes

References

Further reading