By Martha Steger
Before going on his sabbatical, Michael+ made Bob Pinkham and me aware of the need to expand lay-ministry services to Manakin members unable to get to church for the Eucharist. At present our lay-ministry group of five (Bob, Harry Broaddus, Brooke Doggett, Sarah Mahoney and me) administers the Eucharist as a vital part of the services we provide on the first Sunday of each month at Brookdale and Southerland Place assisted-living centers.
Anyone interested in becoming part of an expanded group to take the Eucharist to Manakin members unable to get to church can speak to either Harry or me at the 8:00 a.m. service or Bob or Brooke at the 10:00 a.m. service, or to Sarah, who is usually at Manakin during both services. This is a very important ministry, and the training would only take an hour of anyone’s time. I am hoping to set up a convenient training session before the end of September and will be back in touch with those who express interest.
I confess that I did not realize what a spiritual experience administering the Eucharist could be for a server until I became involved in this outreach program. I have come to see it as part of salvation – one day at a time. As the Rev. Robert D. Flanagan, priest in the Diocese of New York, author and educator, has written, “…for Episcopalians it is the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist that bring us into salvation and return us to relationship with God, respectively.”