faith! - Eleanor Hodges
This cradle Episcopalian finds solace and joy in acts of quiet service.
Eleanor Hodges is among St. Martin’s quietly faithful, willingly stepping in whenever help is needed.
You could say she has been modeling that type of church participation since her early teen years when she became one of her home church’s first female acolytes at St. Paul’s in Bennettsville.
“I loved it,” she said. “I’d be waiting on Sunday morning for someone not to show up” so she could serve instead.
It would not have been unusual for Eleanor to be at church on any given Sunday. In fact, it would have – and still would be – unusual if she were not.
Attending church, as she explained of her childhood, “was non-negotiable.”
Eleanor and her three siblings simply knew what Sunday mornings involved.
“Daddy took us to Sunday school and then we went to church with the whole family,” she said. “It was what you did …. Unless you were sick.”
She recalled a Christmas week when she was sick in the days leading up to the Christmas Eve service. It was the first Christmas Eleanor was to carry the cross as an acolyte. She was determined she would not miss the moment … and she did not.“I made it, but it was close,” she said.
Eleanor, who turns 62 this year, still loves being at the altar, observing the service from that vantage point. As an adult, she took her interest in being an acolyte another step further and became a Eucharistic minister as well. That means you might see Eleanor at an 8 a.m. service serving as an acolyte, or at a 10:30 a.m. service helping serve the wine to those who come forward for Communion.
Adult acolytes do all that youth acolytes do, but typically only on fifth Sundays at the 8 a.m. service. They also play a big role in the 8 a.m. Easter service.
Eucharistic ministers help the priests serve the wine, and may step in to read a lesson or the Prayers of the People if needed.
“I just love it. Being up there, close to it, you can see everything they’re doing,” she said.
Eleanor also appreciates the tenderness that takes place between a Eucharistic minister and a parishioner when the wine is served.
“You are giving them the blood of Christ and you can see it in their face sometimes,” she said.
Another delight in the process for Eleanor is serving children who come to the altar for Communion.
“They’re funny. Sometimes they stick their fingers into the chalice a little too far, or make a face after they taste the wine, but they’re so eager to take part …. Holding their hands out for the bread. They want to do it.”
Over the 20-plus years Eleanor has been a member of St. Martin’s, she has played a significant role in many children’s lives as a Sunday school teacher, EYC leader and as an adult leader for the youth acolytes.
Because she and her husband John do not have children of their own, Eleanor particularly enjoys serving children of the parish. And as a retired special education teacher, Eleanor has always had a soft spot for young people.
“I just love kids,” she said, adding that she finds herself becoming a little wistful when a group of acolytes she has known since their childhood graduates and moves on to the next stage of their lives.
Spending that many Sunday mornings with a young person creates a bond – especially when the time together involves special services such as Easter and Christmas. At these services, a teen might have to be taught how to help distribute the incense, or how to navigate the Nativity that is always placed at the steps leading up to the altar area. Those experiences sometimes come with funny stories – such as when a fire alarm goes off during an Easter vigil, or the incense gets a little too strong.
But those are the rich memories of life serving with young people in church.
“You miss them,” she said. “But then you start gearing up for the next group.”
Eleanor also enjoys delivering flowers to parishioners as part of the Flower Delivery Ministry. Through this ministry, flowers from the altar are taken each Sunday to shut-ins or members who have birthdays or other special events in their lives.
“It’s a small thing, but it’s a joyful ministry where you brighten their day, or visit for a minute,” she said.
Eleanor loves all the seasons of the church year, but her favorite service may be the Maundy Thursday service.
“It’s just powerful,” she said of both the footwashing and the stripping of the altar that take place during the observance.
Eleanor had never taken part in a footwashing service until she attended St. Martin’s. She was steeped in the Biblical stories of the experience, but to gently pour water over a neighbor’s feet in person is completely different from reading about it.“It was awkward at first, but I haven’t missed one since,” she said. “It’s powerful.”
So is the committed life of church membership as exemplified by Eleanor. Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and the long days of Ordinary Time come and go, spiraling into each other, year after year.
Babies grow into Sunday school children, and then young acolytes, youth group teens and then adults with children of their own, starting the cycle anew.
“It’s just a part of me,” she said. “It is my home.”
For more information about being an adult acolyte, a Eucharistic minister or a member of the Flower Delivery team, reach out to Eleanor through the St. Martin’s app, or contact the Parish Office
