If you are reading this blog, consider this your formal invitation to my Installation Service on Sunday, March 1st at 4 pm at Washington Plaza Baptist Church. We'd love to have you and meet you then if we have not already done so.
We are getting excited about it around here-- folks are making plans to have extra food, we've been cleaning out the balcony in expectation of the extra guests, and thinking about the ways we can be most welcoming to those who visit us. Not to mention, the work has been begun on how to print the worship guide.
But the larger question that many have asked is: "What is an installation?" and "Why are we doing it now? Haven't you already started?"
Installation . . . it is just one of those words that not many people understand or have heard of before. (Actually someone asked me on Sunday "When was my coronation?" To which I replied, "I'm not becoming your queen, but your pastor, even though my name just happens to be Elizabeth." Very funny mix-up-- we all laughed for a while.)
The dictionary defines it this way:
The act of installing or giving possession of an office, rank, or order, with the usual rites or ceremonies; as, the installation of an ordained minister in a parish.
Or in simpler terms, an installation is a formal new beginning. It is an occasion where we as the congregation and I as your pastor make promises to each other. It is an occasion to stop and consider again how our journeys have brought us together for this partnership in the years ahead. It is an occasion where all invested parties can gather and celebrate the journey that led WPBC to call its 4th pastor in its history.
In our case, invested parties in the life of our congregation are friends and family of mine, churches where either my husband or I have spent time with, area denominational leaders, local pastors and community members. So, when you think about it, it is quite the exciting occasion! It will be a gathering of people who are all as excited about our future together as those of us who worship here each week.
And, even though, my first Sunday was in January, the installation service has been schedule for a later date so that as many people could be gathered and invited to the service as possible. This way it is an event for the entire community, especially for those are part of other local churches but who want to come and wish us well.
It will be a big day in less than two weeks now. I can't wait for all the fun of togetherness that it will be!
