You've probably seen the Save the Date slides and announcements for the upcoming Installation Service, October 2nd at 4:00pm. But what is an Installation? Basically, and Installation is a special service where a congregation formalizes its relationship with a called settled minister. (That's me!)
There are many different ways that a congregation connects with paid ministry. Both Interim and Con-tract Ministry positions are for specific periods of time with a clearly defined scope of ministry, and are negotiated between a Minister and the Board of Trustees.
A Settled Minister is different. It is the congregation that calls the minister, voted on during an annual meeting, based on recommendations put forward by the Search Committee. It's not for a specified period of time, it's for "settling down" for both the minister and the congregation: sometimes these ministries can go for decades, sometimes they are shorter when different needs arise either for the congregation or the minister.
In our case, the Search Committee chose me as your Candidate for Ministry in the spring of 2021, you as a congregation voted to call me (my understanding is that it was a unanimous vote, which definitely felt good!), and then I began working with you all in shared ministry on August 1, 2021. Usually, the Installation happens during the first year, but like many other things, the pandemic made us decide to delay this celebration until we felt more secure in our reopening.
The Installation is about celebrating our Shared Ministry together. Sometimes, with the long line of guest ministers processing in, we get the wrong impression about Installations, and think it's all about celebrating professional clergy.
Professional clergy definitely make a difference in the Unitarian Universalist living tradition by taking the time to think deeply about things that matter, and taking time to develop relationships and community connections that will bring us forward. But Installation isn't supposed to be one-sided like that, be-cause ministry is shared between me and you. I can't do any of this without you, something I'm re-minded of daily.
That's why the planning committee and I chose the theme "The Sound of All of Us" (inspired by the song "One Voice"). No matter how powerful my voice is, I am only one voice. It is only by raising our voices together that we will transform this world, this community and our selves.
We've been doing Shared Ministry together for over a year now, and I am so grateful that you are the congregation that called me. I hope you can join me in celebration on October 2nd, where the Sound of All of Us can be raised together.
With Joy!
Rev. Tiffany