The youth is stereotypically portrayed as antisocial delinquents who do nothing to benefit society or their peers. However, this has been constantly challenged by the actions of said group, no matter how big or small. Curious about what my demographic did to help their community, I looked into what a few of my peers did outside of school- altar serving.
In the parish of the Roman Catholic church St. John Fisher (in Merton), a numerous amount of the youth spend their time as altar servers, helping out in the parish, such as assisting the clergy in celebrating the Mass, helping organise the leftover booklets in church and praying for other people in the parish, for example. Children in the parish can start altar server training after having received the Christian sacrament of Holy Communion (usually this takes place at around Year 3, so when they are around 8/9 years old). To continue serving up to the teenage years is a considerable amount of time and dedication, especially with the extra commitments or major tests that come up during every servers' years. Despite the extra commitment, the servers at St John Fisher are very approachable, optimistic and get along amicably, no matter what age.
In comparison to what the older generations have done before, there is not as much of a change- current altar servers still do the same jobs their predecessors have done, which was what was mentioned beforehand. Perhaps I may be wrong, but there really is no difference as to how much work either generations have done. So, has our generation really gotten worse, when really, there seems to to be very little change?
Altar serving also opens up many opportunities for friendships, regardless of age. I myself, being an altar server, have befriended many people throughout my experiences and have managed well to the environment of the altar serving community at St John Fisher church, and I am sure many people may agree. The generation subsequent to mine have managed to grow in self-confidence as they have made friendships with the older part of the youth, where they probably would not have done so outside altar serving.
Altar serving also affects teenagers too. Having to interact more with people of different ages means having to be less anti-social and much more welcoming to other people. In turn, this encourages sociability, communication skills and willingness to interact with more people. as they can also be considered as more experienced altar servers, they help the newer recruits with what to do. "It tests your ability to do your job well." Tamara, 14, said. "I think it gives you more experience in leading things too, as well as knowing how to deal with people. By helping you can actually do something for other people."
Altar serving is only one small commitment that people take up which helps a church and its clergy execute the needed tasks efficiently and carefully. It is a commitment of practicality as well maybe one of personal development. Nevertheless, altar serving has many teenagers helping their community and in turn, helps encourage them to reach out more to people around them
