Lay Chaplain Services
Our Lay Chaplains
To contact our lay chaplains please call the Lay Chaplain information line 905-527-8441 x403 or email laychaplains@uuhamilton.ca
If you would like to rent space at The First Unitarian Church of Hamilton please refer to our Rentals page
Our Lay Chaplains are appointed by The First Unitarian Church of Hamilton and are trained and endorsed by the Canadian Unitarian Council to perform marriage ceremonies, memorial services and other significant rites of passage.
They are licensed to perform marriages by the provincial government of Ontario. Building on our Unitarian commitment of inclusiveness and our celebration of diversity, our chaplains are dedicated to bringing a sense of the sacred into non-denominational and secular ceremonies.
Based on personal integrity and choice, our chaplains respect and seek to bring into a meaningful ceremony the values, ideals and expectations of the participants.
We welcome the opportunity to serve interfaith families and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. We are happy to perform a ceremony in the location of your choosing, whether it’s our own church, a rented hall, your home, a friend’s, a park or forest clearing.
Beverly Horton
(Trained by the CUC to officiate all Rites of Passage and licensed by the Government of Ontario to officiate Weddings).
Beverly
Horton is an Educator, Workshop Facilitator, Worship Designer, and Music
Coordinator. Although originally from Brooklyn, New York, Beverly describes
herself as “culturally Canadian.” Since 2000 when Beverly joined the First
Unitarian Church of Hamilton, she has taken on a wide variety of leadership
roles in the church. She embraces Lay
Chaplaincy as a means of serving the community beyond the walls of the church, co-creating
meaningful ceremonies with and for people in the community-at-large as they meet
and cross important thresholds in their lives.
Ceremonies Offered
Weddings and Commitment Ceremonies
Standard Fee: $400
Vow Renewal Fee: $300
Rehearsal Fee: $50
Non-refundable Deposit: $150
Sliding Scale Fee – see footnote
Your ceremony and vows reflect the uniqueness of your relationship, and captures the celebration of your love, which has brought you to this memorable moment in your lives.
Whether you want a traditional or a contemporary ceremony, we can make your day a truly wonderful experience. Your wedding will be unique, personalized and to your complete satisfaction.
We help you design a ceremony that is simple, elegant and personalised, and unique to you and ensure that your ceremony reflects the personal values and spirituality you both share.
On your special day you have an experienced, trained, professional licensed officiant with the Province of Ontario who is focused on you and your needs.
Your officiant will provide you with warmth and presence and put friends and family at ease. Your ceremony will be conducted with sincerity, dignity, and an appropriate lightheartedness to suit the occasion.
We are honoured to serve couples of all ages, races, faiths, sexual orientations, and gender identities.
Sliding scale fee: The services we provide to the community are one of outreach. If you are in financial need due to unemployment or underemployment and require one of our Lay Chaplains to perform a rite of passage our services can be offered at a reduced rate. Please reach out to our Lay Chaplains if you would like discuss a sliding scale or “pay what you can” arrangement for our services.
Funerals and Memorials
Standard Fee: $400
Non-refundable Deposit: $150
Sliding Scale Fee – see footnote
Funeral or memorial services offer an opportunity to create a meaningful and honest testament of the life lost to us and to honour the feelings of those left behind.
Lighting candles; eulogies; and words of loss, love and hope help shape a memorial. Our Lay Chaplains can create a service that is sensitive, honest and true to the person being remembered.
Sliding scale fee: The services we provide to the community are one of outreach. If you are in financial need due to unemployment or underemployment and require one of our Lay Chaplains to perform a rite of passage our services can be offered at a reduced rate. Please reach out to our Lay Chaplains if you would like discuss a sliding scale or “pay what you can” arrangement for our services.
Child Dedication
Standard Fee: $250
Non-refundable Deposit: $150
Sliding Scale Fee – see footnote
The birth of a child is a great and joyful event. There is value in marking the moment with a naming or welcoming ceremony, with parents, family and friends formally accepting the new life in their lives.
The celebration may be large or small, formal or informal. Rituals may include responsive readings, the water of life, or presenting the child with a symbolic gift. Our Lay Chaplains can create a ceremony that honours your wishes for the future of your child.
Sliding scale fee: The services we provide to the community are one of outreach. If you are in financial need due to unemployment or underemployment and require one of our Lay Chaplains to perform a rite of passage our services can be offered at a reduced rate. Please reach out to our Lay Chaplains if you would like discuss a sliding scale or “pay what you can” arrangement for our services.
Other Significant Ceremonies Marking Rites of Passage
Standard Fee: $250
Non-refundable Deposit: $150
Sliding Scale Fee – see footnote
Our lay chaplains are also available to help you celebrate other life transitions such as Retirement, Becoming a Senior, Ending a Marriage, Coming of Age, Miscarriage, House Blessing, or Death of a Pet.
Sliding scale fee: The services we provide to the community are one of outreach. If you are in financial need due to unemployment or underemployment and require one of our Lay Chaplains to perform a rite of passage our services can be offered at a reduced rate. Please reach out to our Lay Chaplains if you would like discuss a sliding scale or “pay what you can” arrangement for our services.
Mileage Fee: Ceremonies that take place outside of the City of Hamilton will include a mileage fee of $0.68/km for both the ceremony and any rehearsals.
Testimonials
“Karen was the perfect officiant for our wedding. From our initial meetings she was approachable and easy to work with. She listened to our ideas, values and priorities and made sure the ceremony was a reflection of ‘us’. On the day of the wedding she was calm, organized and patient even when we had a delay in getting started. My partner and I would recommend her to any of our friends looking for an officiant.”
Jeremy and Elizabeth
During my first phone conversation with Karen Trollope-Kumar, I explained the unique circumstances of performing our wedding ceremony and she immediately made me feel comfortable, relieved and at peace. Shortly thereafter, she sent me a draft script for the ceremony which clearly indicated she understood precisely what my husband and I wanted. She made a couple of suggestions that could be added to the ceremony and we embraced her ideas and were able to include some very personal and tender touches which were very beautiful and meaningful. Karen is an exceptional listener, insightful, accommodating, open minded and has a very kind, warm, soothing demeanor. Karen was the perfect fit for us and gave us a truly memorable event in our lives.