Just for fun, the next time you vest the altar for the Eucharist, think about the different pieces of fabric being used. Suppose each item represented some of the personalities and ministries in a typical parish. Here's how this modest exercise might proceed:

First, you start with the bare ALTAR, or HOLY TABLE. It represents the foundation and focus of all that we do as Christians. Our ministry always returns to this center point to be strengthened and nourished so that we can go back into the world to be ministers wherever life takes us.

A piece of cloth impregnated with wax called the CERE CLOTH is placed on top of the altar to protect the other linens from condensation, which sometimes forms on stone surfaces. Every parish, if it is going to survive, has its share of cere cloth ministers and ministries. They rarely call attention to themselves, but they are the Protectors, the Steady Eddies, the Marvelous Marthas who serve with great consistency and little fanfare. They are not the high profile folks in a parish, and the ministries they do are usually not very glamorous, but, oh, how we need them.

The FAIR WHITE LINEN CLOTH, sometimes called the ALTAR CLOTH, comes next. It covers the top of the altar and falls to the floor at either end. The fair linen folks and their ministries in a parish are more subtle than the frontal and super frontal people, but they, too, have expansive ideas. They have the "big picture," as it were, and are always eager to push on to new horizons. They're the ones--to borrow from Mr. Shaw--who dream of things that never were, and ask, "Why not?" They are absolutely necessary in a healthy congregation, and the fabric of ministry would be incomplete without them.

Now, we come to the CORPORAL, a white linen napkin usually about twenty inches square and often finely embroidered. The corporal people in a parish are the spit and polish folks. Their ministries are generally concerned with the nuts and bolts of the operation. They are the enablers. Without them and their ministries, things would soon grind to a halt. As any altar guild member knows, there is only one "proper" way to fold a corporal, and corporal folks are like that. They always work hard to get things right, and once put right, they generally stay that way. Any parish and the fabric of its ministry would quickly fall into disarray without them.

Next, on top of the chalice, comes the PURIFICATOR, that small, square linen napkin which is used, as its name implies, to wipe the lip of the chalice. Purificator folks are essential. They are the ones who always go around cleaning up the messes which others leave behind. At the end of a meeting, they linger to stack chairs and close windows, and when kitchens are dirty and gardens are unruly, they mysteriously appear to clear up. They are the "angels unaware" without whose ministries the fabric of ministry in any parish would soon unravel.

The PALL, that stiff linen square which covers the chalice and purificator, comes next. Now, the pall people in a parish are the uptight, sometimes rigid folks who always make sure that every "t" is crossed and every "i" is dotted. Frankly, they can be a pain in the neck, but their particular ministry has saved many a parish and many a priest from getting into trouble. A pall person is that vestry member who, after a 30 minute discussion of a 10 minute topic, will invariably say, "Well, yes, I understand that, but have you looked at it this way?" They can be stress-producers, but are important to the fabric of ministry.

Finally, we get to the BURSE, that stiffened pocketbook which contains additional purificators and a corporal. In a way, it holds all the linens beneath it in place. That's what burse people do. They hold things together. They gather odd collections of people and forge them into relationships. The burse people are the community builders in congregations, and without them the fabric of ministry would lack cohesiveness and continuity.

Here ends the metaphor. Its purpose is not to categorize people. The fact is many of the characteristics are found in all of us. The point is that it takes different people with different ideas doing different kinds of ministry to weave an effective fabric of ministry in a parish. A congregation which understands that will be careful not to exclude anyone and will be eager to welcome any stranger at its door. †