On May 3 of this year First Unitarian Church and I will celebrate a decision we will have made almost exactly a year earlier: the decision to work together as minister and congregation. On May 4, 2014 you called me as the twelfth minister to serve this church, and I joyfully accepted. On May 3, 2015 we'll celebrate the beginning of our ministry together with a service of installation.

Installation services celebrate the beginning of a new ministry. Our Puritan forebears believed that a minister only existed in relationship to a particular church whom he had been called to serve. Every new call was an opportunity for a renewed ordination. These days in the Unitarian Universalist tradition ministers are ordained only once. We mark the start of a new ministry with a service of installation, a recognition of the special and powerful ministry that is possible between a called religious leader and a covenanted congregation.

One opportunity an installation presents is the chance to celebrate a new ministry with a larger community of Unitarian Universalists. On May 3, ministers and laypeople from all over New England, plus a few from farther afield, will gather to help us in our service of installation. Their presence is a reminder that our congregation is not alone. We make our commitment as church and minister in the context of a larger faith of free congregations, covenanted together in the Unitarian Universalist Association. We'll also be joined by lay and ordained leaders from the greater Worcester community. We will be surrounded by the whole interdependent web of faith and community, of which we are but one part.

Apart from all its theological meaning, an installation is an opportunity to share the best of our church tradition with our friends and neighbors in Worcester and in Unitarian Universalism. We'll share our beautiful building, our tremendous musical talent, and our warm hospitality with our friends and neighbors. There will be many opportunities to help; look for sign-ups in coming weeks to help prepare food, decorate the church, set up and clean up. Whether for the service or for the reception after, we'll put our best selves forward for our guests.

I would love to see all our members and friends be part of the May 3 installation service celebrating our new ministry together. The ritual celebrates all of us, after all, and the ministry that is possible in what we do together. The church is the gathered people, living in covenant with each other and with the Most High. I am honored to be called as your minister to lead and serve this gathered community.

In faith,

Rev. Sarah Stewart