Become Actively Involved
Join A Worship & Liturgical Ministry
​Ministry means “Living your Strengths/Talents” for the glory of God and the good of others. Ministry is the heart and soul of any parish. Ministry provides God's vitality, compassion, relationship and healing to be experienced within God's people. The continuation of Jesus’ ministry depends on our active discipleship. Sts. Mary and Matthew invites you to become active ministers of God’s Love, Mercy, Healing and Reconciliation.
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Altar Servers
Youth in grades 3 and up who have made their First Communion as well as adults assist the priest serving at the altar during Mass.
Interested?
St. Mary’s
​Sharon Brown,
Liturgy Coordinator
(585) 229-5007
Communion Ministers
Communion Ministers
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Assists in distributing the Holy Eucharist at weekend Mass
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(For information on bringing the Holy Eucharist to Catholic residents at local nursing homes or our homebound parish members, please refer to Pastoral Ministry)
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Training and on-going support are provided for these ministries.
Interested?
St. Mary’s
​Sharon Brown,
Liturgy Coordinator
(585) 229-5007
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Reads and proclaims the Word of God in the readings at Mass and other liturgical services
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Training and on-going support are provided for this ministry.
Lector
Interested?
St. Mary’s
​Sharon Brown,
Liturgy Coordinator
(585) 229-5007
Sacristan
Helps ready the church for Mass by setting up the credence table and preparing the altar
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Training and on-going support are provided for this ministry.
Interested?
St. Mary’s
​Sharon Brown,
Liturgy Coordinator
(585) 229-5007
Ushers & Greeters
Ushers are teens and adults that assist in welcoming the congregation by helping to seat them as needed
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Greeters help foster a sense of welcome by greeting parishioners and visitors as they enter church
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Training and on-going support are provided for this ministry.
Interested?
Music Ministry
Our music ministries are responsible for leading the assembly in song during Mass and to bring the congregation into a spirit of worship.
*St. Mary’s Choir meets every Sunday at 7:45 to sing at the 8:30 am Mass year round. Rehearsals are from September through June on Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. New members can join at any time. Contact Steve Donohue for more information.
*St. Matthew Choir sings at the Sunday 10:30 Mass from September to mid-June with rehearsals once a week and warmups 30 minutes prior to mass. (Additional rehearsals are scheduled as needed for Christmas and Easter.)
New Members can join at any time. Contact Peter Arcadi for more information.
*During Holy Week these two choirs combine in music at all of the Triduum celebrations: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil.
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Interested?
For more information on all our music ministries, contact:
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Steve Donohue, Music Director - St. Mary's
sdonohue1632@gmail.com (585) 519-9435
Peter Arcadi, Music Director - St. Matthew
parcadi@yahoo.com
(585) 519-7369
Specialty Choirs and Cantors
St. Matthew Folk Group is a contemporary Praise and Worship group that leads the congregation in music one Saturday and one Sunday each month. Rehearsals are at 7:00 PM on the Wednesday evening proceeding those days. For more information, contact Paul Maginn at pmaginn131@ gmail.com.
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Resurrection Choir provides music for all the Funeral Services/Masses at St. Matthew Church. It is composed of members from all of our choirs and other parishioners who wish to participate.
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Cantor Ministry at Sts. Mary and Matthew Faith Community is comprised of women and men, including high school and college students, who wish to lead sung prayer at Masses on a rotating basis. Training is available through the parish by contacting the director of music or through diocesan-sponsored workshops.
St. Matthew Orchestral Ensemble is a newly forming group of instrumentalists (strings, oboe, flute, piano, brass, etc.) that will bring additional musical beauty to certain anthems, hymns and choir pieces. The ensemble will provide accompaniment approximately once a month from September to June. Anyone interested should contact Peter Arcadi.
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Liturgical Environment
During the liturgical year the Church unfolds the whole mystery of Christ. Preparing a suitable Liturgical Environment becomes the joint work of the Holy Spirit and the local community.
The mission of the Liturgical Environment volunteers is the designing and implementing of liturgical themes for the church building for the liturgical "seasons" of the year: Advent, Ordinary Time, Christmas, Lent, the Triduum, Easter and Pentecost.
People are also called to minister to the needs of parishioners by caring for the physical needs of the church environment. Cleaners provide a clean and pleasing environment in which to worship and pray.
Preparing the Liturgical Environment seeks to help enhance the faith experience, as well as liturgical celebration and worship. Use your time and talent in bringing the seasons to life with simple but beautiful decorating and caring for each church.
Opportunities at St. Mary’s & St. Matthew
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Liturgical Decorating (Either St. Mary's or St. Matthew)
Volunteers plan and implement decorating the worship space throughout the year to place the colors that represent and signify the meaning of the liturgical "seasons". Efforts include changing the altar cloths, banners, flowers and other liturgical decor.
Altar Linen Laundering (Either St. Mary's or St. Matthew)
Parishioners assist in laundering the altar linens for the Eucharistic celebrations.
Dustbusters (St. Mary’s Church only) Dustbusters clean St. Mary’s Church every other week. There are about four teams of volunteers who work on a rotating schedule.
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Interested?
For more information for St. Mary’s contact:
Joan Madigan or Sharon Brown
hstmaryo@dor.org
(585) 229-5007
For more information for St. Matthew contact:
Melissa Szczesniak
(585) 346-3815
Mass - Live Stream Assistant
Live Streamers (usually also serving as Usher on Sunday) run the live stream equipment from the choir loft at St. Mary's church.
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Masses are streamed from St. Mary's Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings.
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Training and ongoing support are provided for this ministry.
Interested?