Christian Action Team Report 2013-2014 C.A.T. Report 2013-2014 | Page 55

Christian Action Team Report 55

Volume 3, Issue 1
Winter 2014

The Body of Christ in Presence and Prayer
by Mr. James Skerl ‘74, theology teacher and moderator

Many hands make light work. It

is especially true for the Arimathea
Ministry, where two teams of 10
student leaders spend a semester
staffing more than 100 funerals. Team
Presence, having completed the first
semester, has handed over the
responsibilities for the second
semester to Team Prayer. Being a
student leader requires an extraordinary
commitment to selflessness and
humble service, engaging student
pallbearers in accompanying people
who have few or no others to carry
them to their final resting places.
The student leaders of the
Arimathea Ministry meet each
Thursday morning, before school,
with their adult moderators. It is at
these meetings where students and
adults review and plan for the week.
Student leaders are responsible
for
calling
members
of
the
Arimathea
Ministry
to
identify pallbearers who will serve

Arimathea Ministry
Moderators

on short notice. Student leaders
come to know the spirituality of
inconvenience first hand. The need
to call their peers rarely comes
at a convenient time. Rather,
student leaders have to make
tangible sacrifices to meet the needs of
the ministry.
Adult Companions Lead
In order to be effective, the
Arimathea Ministry has to be a
communion of members working
together for the good of all. Adult
companions, along with the
Alumni Volunteers and moderators,
support the work of the student leaders,
without whom the ministry would not
be a ministry but merely a fraternal
organization.
When schools inquire about
starting a pallbearer ministry of
their own, the part of the
equation
they
find
most
confounding is that of the adult
companions. Schools are amazed
that so many adults are willing to take

on the role (and responsibility) of
serving the pallbearer ministry
as
liaisons
between
the
student pallbearers, the funeral
directors, and the families of the
deceased.
Currently more than
30 adults (parents, alumni, and
friends) serve the Arimathea
Ministry in this vital capacity. Along
with their driving certification, adult
companions pray with students
at school and with families at the
funeral
home,
church
and
cemetery, even serving as pallbearers
when necessary.
Mr. Dan Baron has been
charged
with
recruiting
and
training
the
adult
companions. Mr. Baron says, “The adult
companions are indispensable to our
ministry. Their generosity provides
a model for our boys to follow. We
simply could not carry out this
valuable ministry without the support
of these generous benefact ܜˈ8