Celebrating the Spirit’s Movement in a Joint Installation Service

Dec 30, 2025

By The Rev. Cassandra Nagle

Throughout the synod, the past few weeks have been filled with much joy and excitement, as we have gathered to celebrate:

Since joining synod staff in mid-November, one of my first special projects was to partner with Pastor Schneider and Deacon Falk to plan this joint installation service. I found this to be quite an enjoyable liturgical challenge! The final liturgy strives to celebrate the Ministries of Word & Sacrament and Word & Service. It acknowledges the unique calls of a pastor and a deacon, as prescribed in the installation rites, and it honors the unified work of these rostered ministers, both in the Church and at Living Mosaic.

Pastor Ashley Dellagiacoma, dean of the Central Houston Conference, and Bishop Tracey Schultz both presided during the installation rite, with Pastor Dellagiacoma installing Pastor Schneider and Bishop Schultz installing Deacon Falk. For many portions of the installation rite, like the Presentation, Pastor Dellagiacoma and Bishop Schultz faced the assembly, while Pastor Schneider and Deacon Falk faced the presiders. In this positioning, there was a sense of balance, fullness, and hope for the joint ministry already at work at Living Mosaic.

Next comes the Address & Questions, and, unique to the installation of a deacon is this introduction: [Name of Deacon], our Lord, who came among us as a servant, calls us to faith and a life of loving service to our neighbor. You come among us as one called and set apart for the ministry of word and service, a gift from God to inspire us to love and service to Christ.

In order to mirror the format of this diaconal introduction, the following statement was composed using phrases from the rites of an installation of a bishop and ordination of a pastor: [Name of Pastor], our Lord, who is the Good Shepherd, calls us to faith and a life of tending the flock of Christ with love and gentleness. You come among us as one called and set apart for the ministry of word and sacrament, a gift from God to nourish us and sustain us with God’s grace.

After each rostered minister was addressed with their introduction and three Bible verses, they were asked a series of six questions. Four of these questions are unique to the call of a pastor or a deacon and were asked of the rostered ministers individually by the presider. The other two are the same: Will you be diligent in your study of the holy scriptures and faithful in your use of the means of grace? and Will you give faithful witness in the world, that God’s love may be known in all that you do? These questions were asked of Pastor Schneider and Deacon Falk together, and they answered, in unison, “We will, and we ask God to help us.”

The assembly then responded with this same phrase three times, as they agreed first to receive Pastor Schneider as their pastor and Deacon Falk as their deacon, and then to pray for them both in their ministry. Pastor Dellagiacoma prayed for Pastor Schneider, using the prayer which follows the charges during the ordination of a pastor, and Bishop Schultz prayed for Deacon Falk, using the prescribed prayer for the installation of a deacon.

A joint installation means two times the opportunities for the Laying on of Hands! First, clergy, council members, and call committee members gathered around Pastor Schneider and laid hands on her, as Pastor Dellagiacoma proclaimed God’s blessing over her. Then, all the participants laid hands on Deacon Falk, as Bishop Schultz proclaimed God’s blessing over him.

For the installation of a deacon, this is typically the time when the deacon would be introduced to the assembly and received with applause. In the installation of a pastor, however, there is one more component: a Procession to four places — the baptismal font, pulpit, altar, and exit doors — with call committee members reading four statements which acknowledge the work to which a pastor has been called. The baptismal font and altar are associated with the Sacraments, over which a pastor is called to preside. The pulpit and the exit doors, however, can be associated both with the call of a pastor and the call of a deacon. Therefore, for this joint installation, we modified the liturgy to involve both Pastor Schneider and Deacon Falk in the Procession and to honor both of their calls to ministry.

  • The first station of the Procession is the place of Baptism. At the baptismal font, Pastor Schneider was addressed with these words: You have been called among us to baptize, to teach, and to forgive sins. Next to the font was a pitcher and basin, which symbolizes a deacon’s call to service. Deacon Falk was addressed with these words from the rite of ordination for a deacon: You have been called among us to serve others like Jesus Christ, who humbled himself and took on the form of a servant.
  • The second station is the place of the Word. At the pulpit, Pastor Schneider and Deacon Falk were addressed with these words: You both have been called to proclaim the good news.
  • The third station is the place of the Meal. At the altar, Pastor Schneider was addressed with these words: You have been called to be among us to preside at the Lord’s supper. On the altar was a Kindred Kitchen chef coat, symbolizing Deacon Falk’s work in the community, and he was addressed with these words inspired by the ELCA’s Diakonia ministry: You have been called to be among us to cross every barrier that stands between the church and its ministry in the world.
  • The fourth station is the place of Sending. At the exit doors of the sanctuary, Pastor Schneider and Deacon Falk were addressed with these words: You both have been called to send us to serve the world God so loves.

After returning to the front of the worship space, Pastor Schneider and Deacon Falk were each introduced to the assembly and welcomed with applause. Then, Pastor Schneider greeted the assembly with the Peace and Deacon Falk invited the assembly to share God’s peace with each other.

It was my honor and joy to partner with Pastor Schneider and Deacon Falk in preparing the liturgy for their joint installation service. As I have been reflecting on that particular worship service, and on all the ordinations and installations of this past fall and winter, I have been particularly struck by the number of people, all with varied gifts, who are involved: preachers and presiders; council members and call committee members; rostered ministers and lay members; instrumentalists and singers; candidates for ministry and retired clergy; family members and friends; hospitality volunteers and parking lot attendants; sound and audio engineers; the list can go on and on!

When all of us, with our unique gifts, skills, and calls, are gathered for these celebrations, we are participating in a worship service not of one faith community or one synod alone but of the whole church! Whether you are attending the ordination of a deacon or a pastor, the installation of a deacon or a pastor, the installation of a bishop, or even the installation of a presiding bishop, you are participating in a service of the whole Church with a capital C. While we can certainly be representatives of our individual faith communities on these occasions, these worship services are also opportunities for us to participate, proclaim, pray, and praise our God as the one, holy, catholic, apostolic church. What a joyous gift that is!