St. Luke Anglican Catholic Church,   Augusta, Georgia

  

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Ministers and Vestments

In the Anglican Catholic Church, as throughout the whole Catholic and Orthodox world, there are three orders of ministers: bishops, priests, and deacons. Bishops are the chief pastors and have responsibility for large areas called dioceses. The pastor of a parish church is usually a priest. "Priest" is a form of the Greek word presbyter, or "elder." A deacon's ministry is that of a servant. Deacons frequently do charitable and educational work. 

Only bishops and priests can celebrate the Holy Eucharist or confer blessings; deacons are ordained to assist with the Church’s liturgical and charitable ministries. The Lord Jesus chose his Apostles and they were conse-
crated by the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Since that time, every bishop has been consecrated in an unbroken line of succession from the Apostles. Every priest and deacon has been ordained by a bishop.

       Bishop                     Priest           Deacon      Lay Reader          Acolytes

Clergy and the lay people helping them wear special clothing, or vestments. Most derive from clothes worn in ancient times. A bishop may may wear a high pointed hat called a mitre, representing the fiery tongues descen-
ding on the Apostles at Pentecost. He carries a crozier, or shepherd’s crook, symbolic of his duty to his flock. Vestments worn by the celebrant (a bishop or priest who celebrates the Holy Eucharist) are a white garment called an alb with a rope belt or cincture; a long strip of colored silk worn around the neck called a stole; and a kind of poncho called a chasuble. A deacon assisting at the Eucharist wears an alb and a stole worn over the left shoulder, and may wear a  coat called a dalmatic. The color of the vestments varies during the Church year.

A lay reader helping at the service traditionally wears a long coat called a cassock (typically black) and a white top vestment called a surplice or cotta. Acolytes, or assistants, also wear cassocks (red or black) and cottas.