2023-03-26 - Subdeacons & Readers Meeting

Spiritual Topic - Deuteronomy 12

• “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go." (Deuteronomy 12:5)
  • We are surrounded by different ideologies, forms of worship, thoughts, etc.
  • The world is like an ocean full of waves, and the Church is like the seashore where we come to rest after fighting with all the waves of this world.
  • "and you shall rejoice in ^[d]all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you." (Deuteronomy 12:7) - Sacrifices happen in the house of God
• "and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all to which you put your hands" (Deuteronomy 12:18)
  • Offerings come with a reward and with rejoicing - there is no offering to God made in sorrow
• "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."
  • This is one of the duties of the deacon (Subdeacon, reader, even priest/bishop) - we are not allowed to add or remove from the word of God... so when we read the word of God, we must read it carefully in order to convey the right message to the congregation

Administrative Points

• General
  • Follow the leader who is serving outside; do not overshadow them with loud voice or with starting a response too early. Most of them are young and they are still learning and growing, and they cannot compete with an older or stronger voice.
  • The Adults Hymns Class is on Wednesday evenings at 8:15pm
• Microphone
  • Be aware if the microphone is on or off on the altar, and do not sing along with the deacons outside if your microphone is on. First turn it off and then sing along. It is distracting to the leaders outside and causes confusion on the Live Stream.
  • Do not be embarrassed to request the microphone from the deacons outside to say your response. Your response is important to be heard by the congregation
  • Use the wireless microphones for any responses not in the altar
  • Be aware of the microphone when the father the bishop is visiting and to make sure that he has a microphone for all of his responses not at the altar
• Responses
  • All responses should follow the language that Abouna was praying in
  • All responses should follow the text in Coptic Reader or in the Diocese Euchologion (خولاجي)
  • The Litany of the Fathers is now posted on the altar to be followed. Be aware with what Abouna is praying and what names he said/did not say and follow him. The document can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/slro7j34cs6d4lp/Archpriest.docx?dl=0 
  • The deacon responses are posted on the church website here: https://srcoc-hymns.weebly.com/deacon-responses.html. Please review them and especially the Liturgy of St Gregory as we come to the Holy 50 Days.
  • Litany of the Oblations on Sunday morning should be said by all of the deacons as a chorus from outside and inside
• Scheduling
  • Keep your eye on the schedule - if you see any empty spot in the schedule, please send Morcous a message to volunteer for the spot
  • Any changes to the schedule have to happen in the groups and not one on one
  • You can filter for your name on the schedule and see all of the days that you have any kind of service
• Reading
  • When reading, we are reading the Scripture and we should read in a manner befitting the Scripture (not like an altar schedule or something)
  • Practice readings in advance
• Censer
  • Use coals wisely - a weekday liturgy can usually be covered with two coals, and a Sunday liturgy with three coals
  • Learning how to properly hold the censer to present it to the father the priest - we will make a video on this topic
• Subdeacons
  • Altar Position #1 - Mind the Oblations in the Offertory; prepare them and then put them in place after the Offering of the Lamb
  • Altar Position #1 - Do the Book/iPad for Abouna - especially at the end of the Liturgy when the Father the Priest is handling the Body and Blood of Christ, he may have Pearls or Blood of Christ on his hands and cannot flip the page
  • Altar Position #1 - Feel free to distribute responses to other deacons in the sanctuary (#2, #3 and #4) during Matins especially on Friday and Saturday