If you are interested in finding out more about any of these Ministry Teams please contact [email protected] and the appropriate Ministry Team leader will be in touch with you.

Christian Formation / Spanish Bible Study

Spanish Bible Study takes place on every other Thursday evening at 6:00 pm. The Christian Formation Team and and the Bible Study Ministry Team have been working together on programs focused on healing themes for the congregation, the wider community of worshipers and the city.

Altar Guild

The Altar Guild is a group of men and women who are called to serve God by preparing and tending the places where his people worship him. We are the priest’s partner in making the worship life of the congregation run smoothly, Our responsibilities include purchasing vestments and linens; managing flower money and orders as well as arranging the flowers; cleaning all linens; polishing silver and brass; replenishing the supplies of bread, wine and candles; participating in special rites like the stripping of the alar on Maundy Thursday. Altar Guild is a vocation whose workers are called to it and their response has to be “here I am”. The congregation is called to assist the Altar Guild in the “greening” of the Cathedral for the Christmas services.

Communications

In the 21st century, the ever-changing techniques for communications do not necessarily make a communicator’s job easier. Advances in digital technology have had a tremendous impact on how we communicate. Words on paper are still with us even though we increasingly “go green” by using the Internet. Here are the major ways we communicate:

  • E-News – sent every Friday with short messages of special interest to the congregation. Special or urgent messages go online as needed.
  • Sunday Service Bulletins also provide information on people and events.
  • Cathedral Website –a general introduction to the Cathedral for Internet visitors looking for information on history and mission, activities, events and practical matters like times of services and parking.
  • Announcements – made on Sundays from the pulpit, mainly by clergy and occasionally by laity.
  • Pew Cards – provide pertinent information about the Cathedral to visitors.
  • Bulletin Boards – used to inform about events and programs both at the Cathedral and in the larger community.
  • Facebook – postings provide varied information on Cathedral life and people.
  • External Publicity – includes the weekly ECCT online news (maintained by the Episcopal Church in Connecticut) and the Hartford Courant.
  • Editing, proofreading and writing support – offered to clergy, staff and lay leaders.

Persons with communications skills who would like to be involved with Cathedral efforts are invited to contact us.

Hospitality

In addition to hosting the weekly Sunday Fellowship Hour, the team hosts many special events such as Homecoming, Harvest Festival, evening receptions, concert receptions, Christmas Eve reception, Easter Vigil reception, and the Pancake Brunch. In partnership with Church Street Eats,the team hosts the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Luncheon and the Urban Picnic. One can volunteer to join the Hospitality Team or to help at one of our many Cathedral events.

Stewards

The Stewards are the counters who are trained and responsible for collecting, recording and preparing the deposit of the treasure that the congregation offers each week. We work as two-person teams in coordination with the Cathedral Accountant. The counting task is regularly done on Sundays.

Pastoral Care

The Pastoral Care Team focuses on providing attention, prayer and support to our homebound members and to our members and to their relatives and friends who are hospitalized. Our mission is to provide a pastoral presence to all our Cathedral congregation in a multifaceted manner. Our Lay Eucharistic Ministers (see Worship) continue to make visits to our homebound members on a regular basis. Are you called to this gentle ministry of prayer and caring?

Stewardship

Discerning what we give back to God out of all that he has blessed us with is essential in going further in our journey of faith. God loves us where we are, but does not want us to stay put on the path! The practice of tithing ten percent of our income to our faith community is a concrete and meaningful way that we put God first in our lives. The annual giving campaign in the fall is a time set aside to reflect on how the practice of intentional giving deepens our walk with Christ. The Stewardship Committee is active from late summer through mid-January.

Worship

The worship life of Christ Church Cathedral is the responsibility of the clergy, according to the Canons of the Episcopal Church. Our Dean, however, welcomes and invites the input of our Worship Team members. As a result, a revised Ushers Manual and a revised Acolyte Manual were recently produced and new procedures put into place.

  • Acolytes - assist in worship by performing such functions as crucifer (carrying the processional cross), lighting and extinguishing of the candles, thurifer, torch bearers, and as server to the Celebrant. Acolytes may be adults or children beginning at age eight. To see our Cathedral’s Acolyte Manual, please clickhere
  • Chalice Bearers - This ministry supports our worship life by serving as ministers of communion.
  • Greeters – greet congregants and visitors as they enter the church, invite newcomers to sign the guest book and fill out a welcome card, answer questions and be a warm, welcoming presence.
  • Lectors – read the first and second lessons assigned for the day. They also participate in the reading of the lessons at Lessons and Carols, the Passion Narrative and other special services.
  • Vergers - a verger is a member of the laity who works in consultation with the Dean to assist with the organization and execution of liturgical services. To learn more about a verger’s ministry at the Cathedral, please contact [email protected] 

To learn more about vergers in thee Episcopal Church, please click here http://www.vergers.org 

  • Ushers – assist people as they enter the church. Their duties include handing out the service bulletin, collecting and presenting the alms at the Offertory, assisting congregants during the administration of Holy Communion and, after the service, straightening the pews.
  • Greeters - Greet parishioners and visitors as they enter the church, invite newcomers to sign the guest book and fill out a welcome card, answer questions and be a warm, welcoming presence.
  • Lectors -Read the first and second Lesson assigned for the day.  They also participate in the reading of the Lessons at Lessons and Carols, the Passion Narrative and other special services.
  • Lay Eucharistic visitors – This ministry is focused on administering communion to our homebound members.

Mission Support

  • Uyeki Justice Forum
  • This Forum supports and provides opportunity for open and safe discussions of issues of injustice – racial, economic and social – encountered in our daily lives and beyond. The Forum is named after the late Rev. Canon Lloyd Uyeki, a beloved priest of Christ Church Cathedral, who as a teenager, along with his family, was sent to an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during WW II. The Forum came into being as a response to the Sheff vs.O’Neill 1989 landmark decision regarding racial segregation and quality of education in the Hartford public schools. For a long time the Uyeki Forum was a forum on “unlearning racism”. Recently it has been expanded to include issues of injustice. Some people have been drawn to the Cathedral because of its long commitment to these issues. Are you?