ORDER OF INSTALLATION OF A PASTOR
PRESENTATION OF THE PASTOR-ELECT:
After the Gospel, Fr. Marcel Okwara and Bishop Muench move to the front of the altar and Bishop Muench says:
My dear friends, because I am aware of your pastoral needs and am confident of Fr. Marcel’s qualifications for the office of pastor, I now commend Fr. Marcel to you as your new pastor.
WELCOME BY THE PEOPLE
The Bishop then invites the people to express their approval and support of Fr. Marcel as their pastor.
HOMILY
PRESENTATIONS
(Please advise me if you expect any family members and members from your religious order to be present for your installation). No family members will be present. Redemptorists present: Brother Eugene Patin; Brother Clement Furno.
After the homily, Fr. Marcel stands before Bishop Muench in front of the altar. Bishop Muench presents Fr. Marcel to various groups.
PRESENTATION OF PARISH STAFF
(Bishop Muench asks the Parish Staff to stand)
Bishop Muench:
Fr. Marcel Okwara, my brother, Brother Eugene, Brother Clem Furno, Sarah Landry, Valerie Richard, Sandy Acardo, Tommy Evans, and Daniel Blanchard will assist you in the pastoral care of the people of this parish. Share this ministry in a spirit of mutual trust, common prayer, and genuine concern.
(Bishop Muench invites staff to come forward and greet Fr. Marcel)
PRESENTATION OF THE PARISH AND FINANCE COUNCILS
(Bishop Muench now invites the members of the Parish and Finance Councils to stand.)
Bishop Muench:
Fr. Marcel, these are the Pastoral and Finance Councils of St. Gerard Majella Parish. They are the voice of your people and will assist and counsel you as you minister to this parish. Always be attentive to the needs they express.
(Fr. Marcel faces the parish council and says :)
Fr. Okwara:
My friends, I pledge to seek your counsel, guidance and advice in the spiritual and temporal care of my pastorate.
(Bishop Muench invites the members of the Parish and Finance Councils to come forward and greet the pastor)
PRESENTATION OF PARISH TRUSTEES
(Bishop Muench now invites the Parish Trustees to come forward, and presents them to the pastor)
Bishop Muench:
Fr. Marcel Okwara and trustees) are the civil trustees of this parish. As the lay officers of the parish corporation they will share with you the responsibility for the parish's corporate and legal affairs.
(The trustees greet the pastor and return to their places)
PRESENTATION OF FAITH AND OATH
(Bishop Muench now faces pastor and says :)
Bishop Muench:
Fr. Marcel Okwara, my brother, always be a loving father, a gentle shepherd, and a wise teacher of your people, so that you may lead them to Christ who will strengthen all that you do.
As a teacher of that faith, I ask you now to lead your people in the profession of faith.
(Pastor then faces the people and leads them in the Profession of Faith (Nicene Creed.) At the conclusion of the Profession of Faith, pastor faces the Bishop and recites the following oath.)
Fr. Marcel Okwara:
With firm faith I also believe everything contained in God's Word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the Church, whether in solemn judgment or in ordinary and universal Magisterium, as divinely revealed and calling for faith.
I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by the Church definitively regarding teaching on faith and morals.
Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.
(Continue with intercessions and closing prayer)
