Horizons magazine is published by Presbyterian Women (PW) the national women’s organization of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Issue link: http://horizons.epubxp.com/i/481579
March/April 2015 21 Installation Leader: For generations Presbyterian Women has been actively sharing God's love in concrete ways. Leaders prayerfully use their gifts and resources to be in faithful service to the Presbyterian Church and God's children throughout the world. PW has prayerfully and faithfully partici- pated in trying to create a more just world. Outgoing PW Leader: Christ is just like the human body—a body is a unit but has many parts, and all the parts of the body are one body, even though there are many. We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink (1 Cor. 12:12–13). As such, as Presbyterian Women, we commit: • to nurture our faith through prayer and Bible study, • to support the mission of the church worldwide, • to work for justice and peace, and • to build an inclusive, caring community of women that strengthens the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and witnesses to the promise of God's kingdom. Litany of Installation Leader: We stand in the company of saints—faithful women who have gone before us, sisters and mothers who have witnessed to the love of God in history. (To those being installed) Through Presbyterian Women, God has called you to faithful service in the church. To acknowledge your call to service through Presbyterian Women, please affirm the following questions: Congregation: Will you walk in the company of Deborah, judg- ing with mindful authority and strength? And, like Esther, will you use your position for the good of the community? Elected Leaders: With God's help, we will. Congregation: Will you walk alongside those women who are nameless, whose stories have been silenced or lost? Will you walk alongside them with the per- s everance of Rizpah, ceaselessly seeking justice a nd reconciliation? Elected Leaders: With God's help, we will. Congregation: Will you serve with the enthusiasm of the first evangelists—Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and the other women who witnessed Jesus' resur- rection? Elected Leaders: With God's help, we will. Prayer All: Holy and Gracious God, bless each of these women and fill them with the compassionate power of your spirit, that they might walk in the way of the prophets before them and live out their call in service to you. Amen. Declaration of Installation Leader: You are duly installed leaders of Presbyterian Women in and for this congregation/pres- bytery/synod. With you we celebrate the exten- sion of your ministry and mission in Christ's church through your leadership in PW. Hymn "The Summons," verses 4–5 (SF 2130) Sending* All: Creating God, Deep within our hearts we yearn for your presence, and hunger and thirst for your righteousness. Satisfy us by the power of your Spirit, yet keep us restless to seek your will as we follow where Christ may lead. Amen. Kerri Allen is a PhD student, studying theology and ethics at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She serves as a hospital chaplain in the Chicagoland area and is a member of the Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns. *Book of Common Worship (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1993), 681.