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page 4 of 33
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From Call to Settlement |
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by Lloyd M. Hall, Jr.
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Ordination and Installation
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The steps detailed in the ensuing pages apply to candidates for
ordination, candidates being ordained and installed at the same
moment, and previously ordained men and women being installed
in a new setting. The procedures and services are virtually
identical.
A service of installation would not be accompanied by the laying
on of hands. A Council would not review the academic and other
preparatory history of a minister previously ordained in the
Congregational tradition with a Vicinage Council, but would want
to explore those matters for ministers-elect coming from other
traditions. With respect to installation we are assuming, of course,
that the matters of Divine Call and personal response, preliminary
ecclesiastical steps, and academic preparation are matters of
history for the ordained clergy person. These, and any other minor
distinctions, are pointed out as the process unfolds.
Since installation has profound implications in our polity - and
potentially in law - there is no historic basis for the installation of
Lay Ministers. Joining the Church in celebration of the settlement or call of a Lay
Minister would be a fruitful activity for the Churches of the vicinage but should
not be characterized as an installation. Conversely, an ordained minister in a
"tent-making" relationship with a Church would be a proper candidate for
installation.
All recent authorities are in agreement, too, that there can be no installation
without a Council of the Vicinage or Association. The Church may alone
celebrate the settlement in any way that it wishes, but it is a dis-order of the
Congregational Way to characterize a unilateral ordinance as an installation. The
requirements of fellowship in installation are as profound as in ordination.
Inasmuch as a Council acts for all of the Churches
7
when proceeding to an
ordination, it is not necessary for the Council convened for an installation to
review the preparatory (ecclesiastical or academic) records of the candidate. A
certificate of ordination or copies of the minutes of the Council are sufficient.
When the candidate for installation comes from a different tradition, the
presentation of records is the same as if she had never been ordained, though, all
else being equal, 8
the Church and Council will accept the previous ordination
and will not re-ordain.
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7
"...the Council in secret session decide whether they are ready - on its request - to set the
candidate over the church, and to assume the responsibility on behalf of the churches whom
they immediately represent, and of the denomination for
whom all act, of introducing him into the Congregational ministry." Henry
Martyn Dexter; A Hand-Book of Congregationalism; Congregational Publishing Society,
Boston; 1880; p 100)
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Dexter's caution at this point is worth remembering.
"...
the expedient too many times
resorted to, of endorsing men supposed to be `coming toward us,' in the large charity of the
expectation that they will prove to be in the end loyal to
our faith and useful in our ministry, has not been such in its results as to
encourage a blind confidence in its beneficence." (Dexter; Three Hundred Years; p
580f ) |
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National Association of Congregational Christian
Churches
PO Box 288, Oak Creek, WI 53154 |
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Pages: Cover,
Content,
1, 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
16,
17,
18,
19,
20,
21,
22,
23,
24,
25,
26,
27,
28, 29,
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31,
32
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| Page 4 of 33 |
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