. . "1111193293"^^ . . . . "The development of the ministry of altar servers has a long history. In the early Church, many ministries were held by men and women. By the early Middle Ages, some of these ministries were formalized under the term \"minor orders\" and (along with the diaconate) used as steps to priestly ordination. One of the minor orders was the office of acolyte. Altar servers are a substitute for an instituted acolyte. In several Christian Churches, women have traditionally been excluded from approaching the altar during the liturgy. Thus The Service Book of the Orthodox Church (English translation by Isabel Florence Hapgood) states that \"no woman may enter the Sanctuary at any time\". In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church the former rule was: \"women may not enter [the sanctuary] at all\". This did not exclude women, especially in convents of nuns, entering the altar area at other times, as for cleaning. In Eastern Churches women are further restricted by not being allowed inside the altar area and in some traditions even within the church building during their monthly periods."@en . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "The development of the ministry of altar servers has a long history. In the early Church, many ministries were held by men and women. By the early Middle Ages, some of these ministries were formalized under the term \"minor orders\" and (along with the diaconate) used as steps to priestly ordination. One of the minor orders was the office of acolyte. Altar servers are a substitute for an instituted acolyte. This did not exclude women, especially in convents of nuns, entering the altar area at other times, as for cleaning."@en . "13658"^^ . . . . "20889258"^^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Female altar servers"@en . . . . . . . . . .