Eucharistic Ministers Training Morning

As we all know, the Eucharist is at the centre of all that our church is and does.  It is the ‘real presence’ of the risen Lord and it is a joy for us to be able to share in this gift at Communion every time we come to Mass.

Communion is given to us by our priest and deacon – they are the ‘Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion’.  They often need assistance with distributing Communion and this is provided by lay ‘Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion’ (EMHC).  

Last Saturday, 22nd March 2025, we held a formation morning for our parish’s EMHC.  This included existing ministers and new volunteers who have joined the team following our recent drive for help.  

During the morning we had time for spiritual reflection led by Deacon Paul.  We watched an excellent video about the Eucharist from the Symbolon programme which is used for RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults).  It  reminded us of the miracle of the Eucharist and how amazing it is to have the real presence of Christ in the tabernacles of every church around the world.  

Charmaine Ramos, our EMHC Ministry Lead, presented training on preparation and key aspects of being an EMHC.  The rota is in the process of moving onto ChurchSuite and there was some training on this too.  The morning ended with a practical workshop in church enabling us all to practice distributing Communion with unconsecrated hosts and water rather than wine.  

A big thank you to Deacon Paul, Martin Wood (Ministry Lead for Liturgy & Worship) and Charmaine for preparing such an interesting and informative morning.  I am sure I speak for everyone who attended in saying that we now feel well-prepared and look forward to undertaking this very important and sacred ministry at Mass soon.