The charge of the soul was powerfully felt on Sunday afternoon, as we formally Installed the Rev. Lee Paczulla as our settled minister at WellSprings! More than a dozen guest speakers – from our local community, and from across the denomination – joined our musicians and worship leaders to create a joyful and celebratory service. We’re not kidding when we say that each moment, each speaker, and each song was a highlight… but the Rev. Cheryl M. Walker preached a particularly electrifying Installation message, that you won’t want to miss. 
You can watch her message – and the full recording of our livestream from the day – here:
We had some technical difficulties during the video message from Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson, who delivered our Charge to the Congregation from the denomination. We have uploaded that video to YouTube directly for you to hear his words, on how our UU faith tradition needs more “WellSprings!” Click the video below, to watch.
Our gratitude goes out to all the volunteers and Staff in our community, who worked so hard to bring this celebration into being! 
There were so many unique elements which brought this special service to our community. A pick-up choir directed by Association for UU Music Ministries President Jen Hayman delivered two beautiful songs – first rehearsing together just hours before the ceremony. A beautiful art piece, where WellSpringers got to share the meaning of the word “community” to them, was created by all of us for the Installation, and hung throughout the reception.
While many gifts of time, service, and material items were given and received, one of special note was Rev. Lee’s offering back to our Congregation. Several months ago our original chalice – lit during every service for the past 17 years – broke, and lost a piece. Rev. Lee determined that a new chalice would be a fitting gift to mark this new era in our community.
A local metalwork artist from Chester County, Lele Galer, made and donated our new chalice, designed and created specifically for WellSprings. This unique chalice holds a flame within a metal “water droplet,” which is suspended above a pool of water symbolizing our “ripples of connection” – just like the image contained within our WellSprings logo. Our new chalice will be lit for the first time this coming Sunday, and will continue to be lit at each service thereafter.
During our time of generosity, a new fund for WellSprings was also announced: The Future Fund. This new Fund is an investment in WellSprings’ future, created on the occasion of our first ministerial Installation, and intended to honor our congregation’s founding era by planning for the era to come. Gifts given to the Future Fund will not be used for our normal operating budget, but for future-oriented projects that help sustain our community, such as seeding a large purchase, or earning ongoing interest from an invested fund. You can donate directly to the WellSprings Future Fund here.
Check out our album with more photos from the day, above – and if you missed the service on Sunday (or want to re-watch and soak in some more soul-charge for your week!) you can view the livestream recording here.
What a joy to celebrate this milestone with our community, on Sunday afternoon! Our Order of Service for the day provides specific thanks to everyone who volunteered for the Installation service – but our gratitude again goes out to all the members of our congregation who helped this day come into being.