2016 Wesleyan Discipline:Installation: Of general officials
5935. Order of Installation of General Officials.
(In the parts of the service prior to the actual installation, a scripture lesson such as 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1 Corinthians 12:14–28 shall be read. The person appointed to preside over the service shall be responsible for giving the various charges, and shall address the congregation, saying:)
According to Acts, chapter 6, the Holy Spirit led the first-century church to select persons for positions of service according to gifts bestowed upon them. So the Holy Spirit has led The Wesleyan Church to choose persons believed to be blameless in heart as well as in life, possessing in measure the qualifications for the offices to which they are called. These persons we now come to set apart as General Officials.
(Then the chair shall address the elected General Superintendent, saying:)
Will the General Superintendent-elect please stand. __________________, Name of elected, the Church has called you to its most honored and responsible place of leadership, to the office of General Superintendent. This high office is one of great importance and dignity, imposing weighty responsibilities and demanding earnest, arduous, and self-sacrificing labor. In assuming your duties, you become stewards over the spiritual and temporal affairs of the Church worldwide.
You have been chosen for the office of General Superintendent because the Church recognizes in you the leadership abilities to carry spiritual and administrative authority in humility that is born of love. Further, you exemplify the high standard for Christian leadership set forth in the Word of God by Paul in the first chapter of his epistle to Titus, when he said, “Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:7–9).
Do you accept the office of General Superintendent, and promise that you will faithfully endeavor to discharge your duties as set forth in The Discipline of The Wesleyan Church?
Answer: I do.
Inasmuch as the Church has elected you to this high office, and you have declared your willingness to accept it and your sincere purpose to discharge faithfully your duties as a General Superintendent, you are hereby set apart to this service in the Church.
May faith, courage, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity be in you and abound, so that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in your leadership of the Church. Amen.
(Then the General Superintendent shall be seated, and the chair shall address those others elected as General Officials, saying:)
The Church is served by General Officials, some elected by this General Conference, and some elected by the General Board.
Will _______________, elected as Executive Director of the Communication and Administration Division; _______________, elected as Executive Director of the Church Multiplication and Discipleship Division; ____________________, elected as Executive Director of the Education and Clergy Development Division; ____________________, elected as Executive Director of the Global Partners Division; and _________________________, elected as General Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer please stand.
The Wesleyan Church has honored you by electing you to stand with the General Superintendent as the general officials of the Church. These are highly esteemed places of leadership. In assuming these offices, you become the recipients of respect and deference from faithful Wesleyans around the world.
In connection with your respective offices, The Discipline charges you under the direction of the General Board with the responsibility of the secretarial and corporate affairs of the Church, the development and promotion of the work of spiritual formation, the promotion and administration of the outreach of the Church into new areas of the homeland, the promotion and correlation of the Church’s educational institutions, the administration of a program of worldwide missions, the editorship of the official Church publication, the administration of the financial affairs of the Church, the publication and distribution of materials as resources for the growth of the Church, the communication of the gospel through the written and spoken word, and the promotion of the current and ongoing stewardship of those who make up our fellowship. Your service in these offices will impose duties which cannot be faithfully performed without self-denial and self-sacrifice. You must spend and be spent for the Church in the spirit of joyful service. Your election to these offices is evidence of the confidence the Church has in you as Christian leaders. May your leadership always inspire such confidence, to the glory of God.
Do you accept the office to which the Church has elected you, and do you promise to discharge your duties as God may help you?
Answer: I do.
Inasmuch as the Church has elected you to these high offices, and you have declared your willingness to accept them and your sincere purpose to discharge faithfully your several duties, you are now set apart to this service in the Church.
May you be strong to do God’s will and have great joy in your labors. Amen.
(Then the other general officials shall be seated, and the chair shall address the area representatives of the General Board, saying:)
Will the area representatives of the General Board please stand.
Having carefully considered the responsibilities and obligations of service as members of the General Board as set forth in The Discipline of The Wesleyan Church, will you, with just appreciation of these responsibilities and obligations, accept this service to which you are called?
Answer: I will.
Will you promise that, always seeking divine help, you will faithfully serve as a member of the General Board of The Wesleyan Church, assisting to govern and direct its affairs in a manner which will make for peace, purity, and spiritual growth throughout the denomination?
Answer: I will.
(The General Superintendent and other general officials shall stand once again, and the chair shall address them and the area representatives of the General Board collectively, saying:)
Forasmuch as you have been chosen and have declared your willingness to accept the service to which you have been elected, you are hereby formally recognized as the general officials and General Board of The Wesleyan Church. May you always be worthy of the honor conferred upon you and the trust reposed in you by the Church. And may God, by whose providence you have been set apart to this service, grant that “the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Amen.
(Then the chair shall address the congregation, saying:)
Have you, members and representatives of The Wesleyan Church, worldwide, seeking the guidance of divine wisdom, chosen the persons who now stand before you to take charge of your denominational activities and interests as general officials and members of the General Board?
Answer: We have.
Will you pledge to honor, encourage, and cooperate with them in all things consistent with the will of God, and will you zealously aid them in the discharge of their official duties?
Answer: We will.
(Then the chair shall address the General Superintendent, other general officials and area representatives of the General Board, saying:)
Take to yourselves the office to which you have been called, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(Then the chair shall pray:)
O Lord, we ask that you set apart these Your servants unto the work to which You have called them by the voice of the Church. Endue them with heavenly vision. Grant to them Your grace that they may serve You well, being full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, administering the work of their office in the fear of the Lord. Give these Your servants favor and influence throughout Your Church. May Your work increase and advance because of Your blessings and their diligence. Equip these officers for their respective duties and enable them to be faithful in all things, so that when the Great Shepherd shall appear, each may receive a crown of glory that does not fade away. Through Christ we bring this petition. Amen.