Worship Ministries

Through our worship ministries, we create liturgical experiences that glorify God and inspire us. Our worship ministries work together to present memorable and engaging liturgies.

Linen Ministry

Volunteers wash and iron the altar linens used at the Interfaith Centers. These linens include purificators, corporals, and small hand towels, which are cleaned on a weekly basis, and altar coverings, which are cleaned as needed. We pick up the dirty linens on Sunday or a day or two later, and return clean and ironed linens by the following Saturday afternoon before the weekend Masses.

Wilde Lake Interfaith Center – Contact: Eileen Kiefer, eileenmaykiefer@gmail.com
Oakland Mills Interfaith Center – Contact: Rosemary Wissing, r2wissing@comcast.net

Liturgy Committee

Our mission is to support and promote the spiritual development of the worshipping community. Our members work closely with other worship ministries that are involved in various aspects of the liturgical experience. We recruit liturgical ministers and offer training and orientation for new ministers and promote our video-streaming service and help find technicians. Our committee oversees planning for Christmas Eve/Day Masses and the Palm Sunday and Triduum services in close cooperation with the parish priests, who are also committee members. Decorating of the worship spaces enhances the worship experience. We are instrumental in recruiting people to decorate and undecorate for major feasts and seasons and for special events. Mission Statement

Contact: Wally McCollum, mccollumw@comcast.net, 443-745-9129

Liturgical Ministers

Our altar servers, Eucharistic ministers, lectors, sacristans and ushers all contribute to the worship experience of our liturgies. We train volunteers for these various assignments. Parishioners serve on a rotating schedule each week as liturgical ministers at our English weekend Masses.

Some of the Eucharistic ministers visit the homebound, individuals in senior living facilities, and patients at Spring Grove Hospital. If a family member or friend is unable to come to Mass on a temporary or long-term basis, a Eucharistic minister will be happy to bring Communion to them. To make a request call the parish office at 410-964-1425. A Eucharistic minister will follow up and make contact to set up a convenient time to visit.

Our ministers have served during the pandemic at our streamed and outdoor Masses and other liturgies.

Contact: Wally McCollum, mccollumw@comcast.net, 443-745-9129
Contact for Altar Servers: Philip Poletti, philippoletti@hotmail.com

Liturgical Tech Support Team

Our team livestreams various liturgies. We prepare and project song lyrics and various videos that are supplied by the staff and parish groups. Our goal is to help spread the Gospel of Jesus through the use of technology. In addition to Masses, we supported other liturgies that went online during the pandemic, including the Stations of the Cross, the Rosary and Eucharistic Adoration after selected weekday Masses, the Parish Family Mission, baptisms, funerals, and PenteCAST, the Music Ministry’s virtual Pentecost program.

We also support other ministries by videotaping their events and posting them to the parish website to increase their reach. We invite young people – especially those preparing for Confirmation who need service hours – to consider working with this team.

Contact: Al Sorrell, alsorrell@yahoo.com

Music Ministry

Our adult and children music ministers work to provide meaningful and spirit-filled liturgies and events for our parishioners. Close coordination with the celebrants and staff ensures that music is carefully chosen to add to the understanding and celebration of the Word. Our music ministers consist of singers, instrumentalists, and volunteers who help with sound and other support functions.

Our music ministers serve at Mass, in our Christmas and Palm Sunday concerts, at senior living facilities, and at other events. During the pandemic, this ministry found ways to add music to virtual gatherings with live performances, video and audio recordings, and a virtual choir. This ministry adopted a five-year plan in 2019 that will bring more energetic and beautiful music to celebrate the good in each other and comfort those in time of need. Read more »

Contact: Nick McCagg, nick.mccagg@sjerc.org

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Liturgy Committee Mission Statement

Mission – The mission of the Liturgy Committee is to support and promote the spiritual development of the worshipping community by:

• fostering spiritual growth through the celebration of life-giving liturgies
• celebrating the diversity and unity of the parish community.

Responsibilities – The Committee is concerned with the liturgical, sacramental, and devotional life of the parish. The Committee is responsible to the pastor to:

• develop, assess, and evaluate the vision of liturgy and the sacramental life of the parish
• plan the liturgical and sacramental life of the parish; implement liturgical planning by the committee and its ad hoc subcommittees
• assess and evaluate all programs sponsored by the Liturgy Committee
• work collaboratively with other parish committees with regard to the liturgical life of the parish; contribute to the assessment and evaluation of all programs in which the Liturgy Committee collaborates (i.e., parish-wide events); provide liturgical oversight and assist in the coordination of the liturgical aspects of special parish events such as Ministry Day and the Tent Revival
• ensure the recruitment, training, formation, coordination, communication with, and scheduling of lay liturgical ministers
• encourage the participation of parish youth and young adults in liturgical celebrations and ministries
• consider the various multicultural populations within the community and seek to enrich the parish’s liturgies through their contributions
• work in collaboration with the Diversity Committee and Spanish-speaking community to provide leadership in designing liturgical celebrations
• develop and implement parish-level liturgical policy and implement diocesan and national liturgical policies.

Membership – The Committee seeks membership that represents the diversity of the parish.

Committee Procedures – Committee procedures are detailed in Appendix A.

Liturgical Life – The Liturgy Committee provides leadership and guidance in the liturgical life of the parish. The Committee is committed to liturgies that are prayerful, life-giving, dynamic and grounded in the best liturgical principles of our time. In our search for excellence, we use the very best of our traditional prayer and musical forms, as well as new and experimental forms afforded by technological breakthroughs. The Liturgical Life of the parish encompasses:

• celebration of Sunday, weekday, and holy day liturgies
• Children’s Liturgies and Children’s Liturgies of the Word
• funeral Masses
• RCIA
• blessings (World Marriage Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Appalachian Service Project, Thanksgiving blessing of food, blessing and commissioning of pastoral council members and religious education catechists, etc.)
• Liturgy of the Hours
• celebration of sacraments

The Committee has a special responsibility to coordinate themes for each season of the church year, keeping in mind that there are pre-existing liturgical themes in each season and in each liturgy.

Environment – The committee seeks to create a liturgical environment that is welcoming and yet invites contemplation, challenge, and creates a sense of the holy. The liturgical environment reveals the themes or symbols of worship and season, appealing to the senses and emphasizing the wholeness or oneness of the community by including the whole worship space, not just the sanctuary as the area to be considered. The Committee strives to express the cultural diversity of the People of God through the use of decoration.

Music – The Liturgy Committee, in its planning of liturgical events/seasons, works with the Director of Music and other representatives from the music department to create coordinated liturgies in which the music enhances and amplifies the readings and special themes of the liturgical year.

Parish Catechesis – Our teaching efforts extend to the entire parish, and are not limited to the Committee and liturgical ministers. The Committee seeks new and creative ways to teach the parish about current liturgical issues, and to inform parishioners about significant liturgical changes.

Devotional Life – The Committee also encourages the devotional life of the parish, e.g., Eucharistic adoration, the celebration of the Marian solemnities (Mother of God, Assumption, Immaculate Conception), recitation of the rosary, Lenten Stations of the Cross, Tenebrae.