You’re Invited! A Service of Installation of the Rev. Samaya Oakley and Calgary Unitarians!

Sunday, December 1, 2024 at 10:30 am MST

We have voted, we have signed the contract and now, it’s time to formalize the call between the Rev. Samaya Oakley and Calgary Unitarians. Our Service of Installation will lift up some hopes and dreams about the kind of ministry we can do together as we enter into a covenant of shared ministry with Rev Samaya. We hope you will join us for this special service in the life of our congregation and partake in the celebratory lunch after the service.

Please RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczHSnbGwmmKB4zzAkCOSFjmKJeyx42wtjXOoXn90LBHKLx5g/viewform

What is a service of installation and how does it differ from a service of ordination? Read on for more details:

In our Unitarian Universalist tradition, the responsibility for both ordinations and installations lie with the congregation. An ordination is when one becomes an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister. For an ordination, the congregation as a whole draws out from their midst an individual, acknowledges the calling in their life, and because we are a tradition of learned clergy, often recognizes the education, training, and fellowshipping that has been a part of their preparation. And then they set the individual apart, giving them special authority for ministry. 

Rev Samaya Oakley was ordained in a joint ceremony with the North Shore Unitarian Church, the ones who sponsored her throughout her journey to become a minister, and the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo where she was then serving as their developmental minister. 

An installation is the ceremony to formally recognize that a Unitarian Universalist church and a minister are entering into a covenantal relationship with one another. This is different from being a contract minister, where each year, a contract is reviewed and both parties consider whether the relationship should continue for another year. An interim minister is a type of contract minister, in that they are with a church for a specific period – in Rev. Shelley Thompson’s case, like many interims, two years.

Having an installed minister means that we’re looking longer term and can do some big visioning together. This is a time of hopes and dreams about the kind of ministry we can do together, and some of that will be articulated in the Service of Installation.

The Installation isn’t something the congregation does for the minister; rather, it honors and celebrates the promises you are making to one another as you knit yourselves into shared ministry. As a result, the Service of Installation is centered around a spoken ritual that lifts up your covenant of shared ministry. As with the Service of Ordination, it’s a worship service that offers an invitation to individual and communal transformation as well as an opportunity to live our faith in the world.