Order of Service

Order of Service

Installation of the Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner as the 7th settled minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring November 11, 2000 Music for Gathering   Greentop Ramblers   The Maid of Mt. Cisco   The Musical Priest   Father Kelly’s Reel Prelude   Prism Quintet   Simple Gifts, Aaron Copland   Canzona per Sonare, Giovanni Gabrieli Call to Worship   the Revs. Barbara Wells   and Jaco B. ten Hove Processional Hymn   Rank by Rank #358 Lighting of the Chalice   Natalie Fenimore Greetings   the Joseph Priestly District, District Representative Monica Young   the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Rev. Linda Peebles Anthem   Choir and Prism Quintet   Great was the company of the preachers, George F. Handel Reading   the Rev. Rebecca Cohen Sermon   the Rev. Dr. Helen Lutton Cohen Choral Response   Choir and Prism Quintet   May Peace Dwell Within Our Hearts, Betsy Jo Angebranndt Offertory   Choir   Sing and Dance, Tom Benjamin Prayer and Meditation   in words: the Rev. Dr. Eugene Widrick   in music: Dodi Li
		Dodi Li Traditional, arrange by Elizabeth A. Lerner
Introduction to the Act of Installation   Mr. Laurence McAneny Act of Installation   Mr. Edward Johnson   and the Congregation of the Unitarian   Universalist Church of Silver Spring
		Edward Johnson: In a wholly different sense this is a springtime affair. Each particular ministry has its appointed season, and when that time has passed a church can feel pretty barren. And a good Interim Minister—and in Kerry Mueller we had a superb interim—plows the ground and makes it ready again. Plants a few seeds. Spreads a certain amount of fertilizer. It seems to me Liz has also been planting seeds from the moment we met her. Already hope and enthusiasm are popping out all around the Silver Spring church. Ministry is reborn—begun anew like a leaf unfurling in the April air. We gather this day to install the Reverend Elizabeth Lerner as the minister of this church. Installation is a congregational act, and we are privileged to exercise the authority vested in us as a Unitarian-Universalist congregation. Will the congregation please rise and join me in asking: Congregation: Mindful of the great traditions of our heritage and the promise of this congregation, we have called you to be our Minister. We recognize that this act symbolizes a sacred commitment for our ministry together. We would have you work among us, preaching the truth in freedom. We would have you educate and counsel, lead our efforts in the spirit of love and compassion, and minister to us in times of joy and sorrow, strength and need. We would have you demonstrate, by word and example, the way of courage which calls us to account before justice. We would have you lead us in a mutual quest for lives of wholeness, mindfulness, service and caring. Are you willing to take up these challenges and accept this call? Rev. Lerner: I am. Trusting not in my strength alone, but in the sustaining power that quickens all creation and the nurture provided by your support and guidance, I accept your call. I answer it with my whole heart and mind, in the unity of the spirit and in the bond of peace. Edward Johnson: Our purposes can only be fulfilled through shared effort and wholehearted cooperation, and so as a congregation we too have pledges to make to the Reverend Lerner. As we would ask you to be charitable toward our failures, so we will remember that you are human and can falter, needing from us patience, compassion or help. We also recognize our responsibility in your material welfare and spiritual development. We will minister to one another even as we would have you minister to us. And we know people and places outside this community are dear to you, and will require time and energy and love in your life. I call upon our congregation to state its commitments: Congregation: We are now ready and willing to take upon ourselves these obligations. Therefore, we, the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring, do now install you, Elizabeth Anne Lerner, as Minister of this Church. Rev. Lerner: With great joy and a deep sense of responsibility, I accept your trust and take up this ministry to which you have called me. Together may we cherish and cultivate our lives, our spirits, re-committing ourselves to this church and to all of humankind. All: (all present please rise) Spirit of Life, be with us now, and make of us one body, joined in love, guided by wisdom, strengthened by courage and renewed by trust. Amen.
Hymn   We Would Be One #318 Charge to the Minister   the Rev. Gerry Krick Charge to the Congregation   the Rev. Vanessa Southern Blessing   the Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner Recessional Hymn   The Leaf Unfurling
		The leaf unfurling in the April air the newborn child, the loving parents’ care; these constant common miracles we share: Alleluia! Alleluia! All life is one, a single branching tree, all pain a part of human misery, all happiness a gift to you and me: Alleluia! Alleluia! The selfsame bells for joy and sorrow ring. No one can know what the next hour will bring. We cry, we laugh, we mourn, and still we sing: Alleluia! Alleluia!
Extinguishing the Chalice   the Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner Postlude   Prism Quintet   Ode To Joy, Ludwig van Beethoven

Participants   the Revs. Barbara Wells and Jaco B. ten Hove   Co-ministers of the Paint Branch UU church   Ms. Natalie Fenimore   Director of Religious Education, UUCSS   Ms. Monica Young   District Liaison, Joseph Priestly District, UUA   the Rev. Linda Peebles   Minister, Mount Vernon Unitarian Church, Alexandria, VA   the Rev. Rebecca Cohen   Minister, Accotink UU Church   the Rev. Dr. Helen Lutton Cohen   Minister, First Parish Church, Lexington, MA   the Rev. Dr. Eugene Widrick   Minister, The First Religious Society, Carlisle, MA   Mr. Laurence McAneny   Member, Search Committee Chairman, UUCSS   Mr. Edward Johnson   Member, President, Board of Trustees, UUCSS   the Rev. Dr. Gerry Krick   Minister Emeritus, First Unitarian Society, Newton, MA   the Rev. Vanessa Southern   Interim Minister, UU Church in Cherry Hill, Cherry Hill, NJ The Choir of the UU Church of Silver Spring   Phyllis Stanley, accompanist Greentop Ramblers   Jim Luhr   Tom Meylan   Jim Paoletti   Jo Paoletti   Beth Riggs   Drew Riggs   Doneby Smith   Susan Marie Stedman The Prism Quintet   Steve Haase, Trumpet   Mat Bickel, Trumpet   Erik Kofoed, Horn   Aaron Moats, Trombone   Sam Buccigrossi, Tuba Music for the reception provided by the Greentop Ramblers Many, many thanks to all the members and friends of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver spring for making this installation possible.
		Dodi Li Jewish worship, both in the home and at synagogue, involves much singing of prayers. This verse of Hebrew is from a traditional Jewish song sung as part of the keeping of Shabbat, the Sabbath. It derives originally from the Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, a biblical book that was originally a love poem in the style of much early Near Eastern literature. Modern Judaism interprets the Song of Songs as a metaphor for the passionate relationship of the soul with God. In English, the words mean: “My beloved is mine and I am his. He feasts in a field of lilies.”

<< Back to Installation