Losing Momentum?

I guess I should start this post with a brief explanation. I am currently the liaison for our acolyte corps at church. I took on this duty last August or September and have, for the most part, loved it. You see, our acolytes had dwindled to a couple faithful, older kids. But they didn't know what they were doing. The leader had become burned out and was just happy to have warm bodies to put into an alb. The kids would come, vest at the last second, carry whatever appointment or article they were supposed to and disappear!! Yes, they would wander the building during the service going into the kitchen to eat and drink. They would usually show back up at "just the right moment" to do their duty, but not always! I shan't belabor this point, but just put it out there so one can see the predicament we were in.

When I took over the job of liaison (which means I do the scheduling, training, etc.) I made it clear that all acolytes would need to attend training sessions, would need to find their own replacements if and when they needed to be absent, would continue to participate as an acolyte during the summer months...on and on. I had training sessions, lock-ins (a.k.a. sleepovers in the church) and the ranks grew from about six to 23! I am thrilled to add that for the first time, we, as a group, will attend the Annual Acolyte Festival at the National Cathedral in October. We've worked our buns off raising money for this trip. We have met our goal with nothing to spare. We are still in need of some more vestments.

All of this brings me to my dilemma. I scheduled a meeting for all acolytes and their parents to attend this morning right after the second service. We were to finalize our plans for our trip, sign "thank you" cards to some folks who have been most generous with their time and their money, and for ALL acolytes to try on their albs. You see, children do tend to grow in a year's time. I need to order more robes and in order to only order one time, I needed all the kids to try on their robe. Well, the oldest kids were not there because the youth group decided to have a "fun day" away from church. Then I had one mother come but not bring her child!!! Okay, so how would I measure your child for his robe?

I'm beginning to feel like the momentum and excitement for this group is beginning to wane. I hope not. I love this group and we have a lot of kids involved. I also have a faithful crew of five adults who are willing to be the leaders each Sunday morning. They take turns making sure each child is vested correctly, does their job properly and puts their robe neatly away.

Maybe I'm just projecting too much into this. I remember when I moved to this town...I was in the eighth grade...and girls weren't even allowed to acolyte!!! I had begged and pleaded with the then-rector. He finally said, "if you can get every 9th thru 12th grade girl to agree to acolyte, you may do it." So, of course I did. And I LOVED acolyting. We even had to acolyte at an 8 a.m. service!!! Imagine, teenagers getting up so early on a Sunday morning as to acolyte at an 8 a.m. service! Those days are long gone. Now we start letting our children acolyte when they enter the second grade. We do NOT participate in the 8 a.m. service. But, we DO acolyte during the summer months again!

Well, I feel a smidge better now that I have gotten this off my chest. I hope I'm just sensitive to this issue and that we don't have a problem. I think, no, I know that most of these kids just LOVE to acolyte. I hope our momentum and fun continue.