11th Annual Altar Guild Workshop
Saturday, October 4, 2025
St. James the Less Episcopal Church in Scarsdale, New York
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
There is no charge for the workshop, and lunch will be provided.
Please note any dietary restrictions on the Registration Form.
In 2013, the New York Altar Guild established its annual workshop at the suggestion of the Reverend Canon James Elliott Lindsley, to bring altar guild members together from around the diocese for the purpose of education and fellowship. Through our workshops we hope to encourage the ministry of the altar guild and to pass down the knowledge of how to care for the items we use in our sacristies and chancels. The New York Altar Guild will convene the workshop in the Great Hall of the church. The morning speaker will be Barbara Nichols, Directress of the Ecclesiastical Vestment and Embroidery Guild of New Jersey, and the Province II Representative and Board Parliamentarian of the National Altar Guild Association. She will speak on “Sharing Our Ministry of the Altar Guild”. After a short break following the presentation, we will gather in the nave of the church for the mid-day Eucharist at which the Reverend Eliza Davies, Associate Rector of The Church of St. James the Less, will preach and celebrate. After the service, we will return to the Great Hall for lunch and fellowship, and time for questions and sharing of information.
Registration Forms must be received by Monday, September 22nd. We understand that unforeseen events, such as illness, may prevent a registrant from attending; if this occurs, please contact David Holkeboer to cancel your reservation as
we only have room for 70 participants.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact David Holkeboer.
David Holkeboer
NYAG Workshop Co-chair
(917) 748 0145
Past Workshops
Featured Workshop:
Calvary Church, Manhattan 2023
Presenter: The Rev. Molly Jane Layton
“Altar or Table: Our Words and How They Impact Our Service”
On Saturday, October 21, 2023, The Parish of Calvary – St. George’s Church in Manhattan hosted the 9th NYAG workshop. There were over 61 attendees from 23 parishes. At the morning program held in Calvary’s Anderson Hall, Steve Schimmele, the church verger, gave an illuminating overview of the 1975 merger and historical missions of three landmark churches in the same vicinity in Lower Manhattan: Calvary, Holy Communion and St. George’s. Four years after the merger, the Church of the Holy Communion was deconsecrated. Today, the sanctuaries of Calvary and St. George’s each serve the present-day parish.
Following the verger’s address, The Reverend Molly Jane Layton, Associate Rector of Calvary – St. George’s, spoke. Her topic was Altar or Table: Our Words and How They Impact Our Service. In her presentation she traced a long and intriguing history of various altar settings. At the end of her talk she linked the use of these altars from the past to the present with the Eucharist words in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. These words in the Prayer Book invite communicants to both “sacrifice and keep the feast.” At noon the Reverend Layton preached and presided at the Eucharist in Calvary’s sanctuary.
During lunch a question-and-answer session was conducted. The questions asked related to the care and repair of altar and vestments, and other liturgical needs and furnishings.
Previous Workshops:
2025
St James the Less, Scarsdale
Presenter: Barbara Nichols
“Sharing Our Ministry of the Altar Guild”
2024
Church of the Ascension, Mt. Vernon
Presenter: The Rev. Nancy Webb Stroud
“The Theology of the Ministry of the
Altar Guild”
2023
Calvary Church, Manhattan
Presenter: The Rev. Molly Jane Layton
“Altar or Table: Our Words and How They Impact Our Service”
2022
St. Joseph’s of Arimathea, White Plains Presenter: Marianna Klaiman
“A Sisterhood of Stitchers: The Community of St. John Baptist & the Church Workroom”
2019
Grace Episcopal Church, Manhattan Presenter: The Rev. J. Donald Waring
“Q & A”
2018
Christ Church, Bronxville
The Rev. Michael Bird, Rector
"Parish Historical Practices, including 'Sarum Use"
2017
The Church of the Heavenly Rest, Manhattan
Presenter: The Rev. Canon C. Allan Ford
"Explanations and Demonstrations of the Vestments"
2016
The Chapel of St. John the Divine, Tomkins Cove; The Rev. Canon C. Allan Ford
"Discussion of the Eucharist and Vestment Use"
2015
Christ Church, Rye
Presenter: The Rev. Canon James Elliott Lindsley; “Various Altar Guild Practices”
2014
Zion Church, Wappingers Falls; The Rev. Canon James Elliott Lindsley, "Helpful Altar Guild Topics and Questions"
2013
The House of the Redeemer
Presenter: The Rev. Canon James Elliott Lindsley; “Setting Up for the Celebration of the Eucharist”