Here’s a trend I hadn’t heard about before: altar servers who are long past the age of puberty.

By decades, in fact.

They look nothing like the picture on the left.

This, from a paper in New Jersey:

As a young girl, Ginny Topolski looked on from the pews of the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as her younger brother and other altar boys assisted the priests during Mass.

“When I was a child, girls were not allowed to do that,” Topolski, 54, an administrative assistant from Wood-Ridge, said recently. “So there was never a choice.”

What she couldn’t do as a child, Topolski is now doing as an adult. Topolksi is one of 13 adults at the Paterson Avenue church who are stepping into roles that have been traditionally filled by children.

Since December, when they were installed in an official ceremony, members of the group have been taking turns dressing the altar, carrying the cross and candles during the procession at the beginning of Mass, and washing the hands of the priests during services.

Wallington started using adult altar servers after recognizing that the children were sometimes too busy to attend all the Masses, especially on Saturday afternoons, said the Rev. Canon Felix R. Marciniak, the parish pastor.

“The kids are so taxed today, not only by studies and school, but also extracurricular activities, including sports and other things, that sometimes it’s difficult for them to fit serving into their schedules,” Marciniak said.

While they may be in their first year of service in Wallington, adult altar servers are not new, said James Goodness, the director of communication for the Archdiocese of Newark.

“It’s a definite practice in a lot of parishes,” said Goodness, a former altar boy from Brooklyn. “Especially on weekdays and (during) funerals when there are not a lot of children around, you’ll have a member of the adult community who assists the priest.”

There are many reasons why adults choose to don the vestment and become altar servers.

“It’s another opportunity for people to serve the parish,” Goodness said. “It’s all an expression of stewardship, how can you bring your devotion, talent, and time to work in the church.”

Altar servers used to be males who were preparing for the priesthood, said Sister Marie Victoria Bartkowski, who helped the Wallington group prepare for their new roles. Young boys started stepping in when the adults became unavailable, Bartkowski said.

It was only recently, after the Second Vatican Council, that girls were encouraged to become altar servers. Girls started serving in Wallington about seven years ago, she said.

The Wallington adult servers are predominantly female and include an administrative assistant, a mail carrier, a warehouse worker, a retired teacher and an account representative, said Mary Jane Kowalczyk, one of the servers. The group also includes three former altar boys, one of whom is preparing to become a deacon.

Ronald Stroosnyder, 59, said this is another way to learn more about his faith. Stroosnyder was baptized as a Roman Catholic in Passaic, but grew up Protestant. About 33 years ago, he returned to the church after marrying.

“There are so many things in my religion — because I wasn’t schooled in it — that I am still learning,” Stroosnyder said. “There is always something new that comes your way that you might not be fully aware of.”

Janet Gurdak, 56, a junior account representative for a medical company in Upper Saddle River, who held one of the candles during Saturday’s procession, described the experience as simply “awesome.”

“It’s a powerful feeling,” Gurdak said. “It’s a closeness to God. It’s not like you’re sitting back and watching — you’re actually a part of the service. I feel like being brought into God’s service that way … If you couldn’t become a priest and if you didn’t become a religious sister, this is to me, the next best thing.”

Photo: from St. James Cathedral, Seattle