Saint Andrew’s Looking for a Few Good LEMs

By RICK WHITTAKER, LEM Coördinator

Have you ever sat in the Sunday worship and wondered who those people are in the funny robes with the odd purple sashes around their necks? They are Lay Eucharistic Ministers or LEMs. The robes they wear are called “albs” and the purple sashes are indeed odd, but no odder than many articles of liturgical vestment (take for example, the hats bishops wear (they’re called mitres)—who thought those up?).

Where do they come from? (The LEMs, not the sashes. About the sashes, we’ve asked, and no one seems to remember.) Well, they’re people who decide they want to serve Christ by reading scripture and serving his people at the holy meal of his body and blood. Is it hard? No, not really. Is there training? Yes, a few hours worth. Is it demanding service? Well, except for Holy Week, it usually means one service per month. We’re a little low on the number of LEMs at the moment, so it sometimes means twice per month, right now.

“Oh,” you say, “I could never do that. I’d make mistakes and, perhaps, displease God.” Well, if God were displeased by our mistakes in worship, we’d all be in trouble, choir and clergy included. Fortunately for all of us, God asks for faithful worship, not perfect worship. “Well, I’d be too nervous in front of all those people,” you say. All of us are nervous, at first, but the Holy Spirit can be counted on to give us the confidence and strength to get through it. And faithful service and a little preparation are rewarded by an increase in confidence and strength. If you take a good look at the motley crew we have right now, you’ll be convinced that anyone can do it. (Actually we have a splendid crew, but there is nothing particularly special about them -- their gifts aren’t any better, worse, or more richly endowed than anyone else’s.)

If you might be interested in this very rewarding ministry (and getting to wear those funky sashes), please contact one of the clergy, Rick Whittaker (LEM coordinator), or any LEM.