By Dan Lillie
Hello WUUC!
I am honored that you are considering co-ordaining me to Unitarian Universalist ministry. The act of ordination happens just once for a minister. It is the moment when a congregation (or sometimes more than one!) affirms a minister’s call to a lifetime of service to the living tradition of Unitarian Universalism. The last congregation I served, the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, has voted to ordain me on Oct. 4, and it would mean so much to me if you, the WUUC community, would be willing to co-ordain me along with First Unitarian.
To learn a bit more about Ordination, I offer an adapted excerpt from the UUA’s Ordination and Installation Handbook, edited and updated by Rev. Erika Hewitt:
Ordination is one of the most important traditions of our faith. A congregation’s decision to ordain someone represents the congregation’s faith in, and support for, the ordinand’s ministry… In the Unitarian Universalist tradition, the ritual of ordination also allows the minister to use the title of Reverend. As a formal recognition of entry into service as a Unitarian Universalist minister, ordination offers an invitation to individual and communal transformation, as well as an opportunity to serve our faith in the world.
She continues:
Ordination is the culmination of years of discernment, study, and formation in preparation to serve. After completing seminary, an internship, and the fellowship process, the ordinand is finally welcomed into the ranks of the Unitarian Universalist ministry, “commissioned to make the practice of our faith their life’s work and accept … that lifelong charge” (quoting Rev. Adam Robersmith). Unitarian Universalist ordination services… affirm and celebrate… [a] person’s ministry.
I want to thank you for taking this request into consideration. An Ordination is a joyous occasion. I was moved by the warm acceptance I felt from you during Candidating Week, and I hope that we can continue what we started then with a celebration of the good ministry we will do together in the years to come. You have already called me as your minister; now, will you consider ordaining me?
Warmly,
Dan