04-21-2024
2:30 pm - 6:00 pm

[This event is now over. See pictures of the installation ceremony here.]

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Installation Ceremony & Reception – RSVP here

Volunteer Opportunities – Sign Up here

Bring a Dessert – Sign Up here

On April 21 at 2:30 pm, UUCB will celebrate Rev. Marcus’ installation as our settled minister with a ceremony and party.  Everyone in the congregation is invited to attend this important event, which honors our mutual commitment to sharing the ministry of UUCB, our joy in having made that commitment, and our dreams for our congregation’s future.  Please read on for important information about the installation ceremony and how you can participate in marking this important congregational milestone – bring dessert to share, participate in a textile art project, contribute your hopes and dreams to be planted in our garden, or just attend and celebrate with your congregational community!

Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uuberkeley/live/
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@uucb/streams

What Is an Installation?  

Each faith tradition has special ways of celebrating milestones for its clergy and congregations. Whenever there’s an opportunity to acknowledge a key moment in a minister’s professional journey and the life of a congregation, Unitarian Universalists (UUs) celebrate with lots of pomp! An installation, a ritualized ceremony to celebrate the choice of a congregation and the choice of a minister to mutually enter into a long-term covenantal relationship, is such an occasion. 

This agreement between the congregation and minister arises from the call, which is a vote by a congregation at the end of a mutually intensive yearlong search process to ask a minister to become their settled (long-term) minister and the minister’s affirmation (yes) that they accept the call and responsibility to be that congregation’s spiritual leader. The Service of Installation is a ritual akin to a wedding between congregation and minister that “honors and celebrates the promises you are making to one another as you knit yourselves into shared ministry.” 

So this special service (installation) and party (reception) that will occur on Sunday, April 21 at 2:30 pm is an opportunity for us —Rev. Marcus and the UU Church of Berkeley—to embrace our commitment to shared ministry and the journey that ensues from this partnership! This is why we are inviting everyone to celebrate with us as you are able: from 0 to infinity; in-person or by zoom; friends, family, and community members. Childcare, if needed, will be available.

How Did Rev. Marcus Become Our Minister?

For those who are new-ish to our community, below are selected facts to provide a brief history of UUCB’s relationship with Rev. Marcus. 

• Reverend Marcus Liefert was called unanimously (voted on by the members of the congregation) as UUCB’s settled minister on May 7, 2023 and officially became our minister in August 2023. 
• At the time of the call, UUCB was at the end of a three-year interim ministry and Rev. Marcus was also nearing the term of a developmental ministry. 
• Rev. Marcus, a life-long UU, was an intern minister at UUCB from August 2011 to June 2013. Our church and First Unitarian Church of Oakland jointly ordained Rev. Marcus in May 2014.
• You can learn more about Rev. Marcus and his ministry at www.revmarcusliefert.com
• The best way to learn about UUCB is by talking to someone in our community, attending an event, or participating on a committee or project! But you can also visit these pages to get a sense of who we are, what we believe, and our origins. 

What Happens at the Installation Ceremony?  

The Installation Ceremony is a worship service that will have familiar liturgical elements, but it will also be more elaborate and include special rituals that aren’t included in a regular Sunday service. Below are a few of the rituals that will occur in this service:

• Procession – That’s right! You’ll see Rev. Marcus and a flock of ministers entering at the back of the sanctuary and making their way up to the chancel at the beginning of the ceremony while we all sing a traditional hymn. And they’ll recess out the same way at the end!
• Act of Installation – The verbal promises of the minister and congregation entering a covenant of shared ministry, led by the congregation’s co-presidents. 
• Gift -The congregation presents a special object to the minister, which can be a chalice, stole, sacred text. etc. 
• Laying on of Hands – An ancient rite in which participants make an embodied invocation of the interconnectivity of the community, symbolically conferring upon the installed minister the sacred trust and responsibility of the office. 
• Charges – Words of encouragement and blessing will be offered to both Rev. Marcus and the congregation to lift up the high purpose of the commitments we have made, and strengthen us for the challenges we will face together.

Wait, I Thought I Heard Something About a Party?

Yes, you did!  After the installation ceremony, please join us for a reception in the Social Hall.  Savory and sweet finger foods will be served. For dessert, you are invited to sign-up for a sweet treat to share.

How Can I Participate in the Installation?  

We are seeking your energy and talent to help make the installation a joyful and meaningful event.

• Attend the Installation  – this is a milestone occasion in the life of the congregation, and your presence is important.  Childcare will be provided, and children are also welcome to attend the installation ceremony.
• Helping Hands Needed – there are a variety of ways to volunteer prior to and on the day of the installation (April 21): staffing the installation table, pick up/drop off tables or food, food prep, plating, serving, set-up, clean-up, greeter/liaison, photographer. Here is the link to the sign-up.
• Dessert Potluck – bring a dessert to share for the reception. It should be pre-cut and easy to eat, as we are aiming for finger foods: cookies, mini cupcakes, brownies, lemon bars. Here is the link to the sign-up.
• Community Projects – stop by our table on designated Sundays to participate in one, two, or all three of the ongoing projects, inspired by the installation, that we are co-creating as a community over the next few months. 
  • Garden of Hopes & Dreams – write your hopes & dreams for our shared ministry on biodegradable paper that will be later planted in our garden.
  • Stitching Our Future – bring cloth, buttons or trim from an item that has meaning for you. We will use pieces of our past to create a congregational textile art project that will decorate our shared future.
  • Time Capsule – record a short message to create a memory of this exciting moment in UUCB’s history by responding to the following questions: 1. What excites you about UUCB?; 2. What excites you about the ministry of Rev. Marcus?; 3. UUCB + Rev. Marcus means (consider your hopes and dreams to complete this sentence). Here is the link to the time capsule website.

Installation Ceremony & Reception – RSVP here

Volunteer Opportunities – Sign Up here

Bring a Dessert – Sign Up here