Lay Chaplain Services

Weddings and Commitment Ceremonies
Funerals and Memorials

Child Dedications
Other Significant Ceremonies marking rites of passage

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.

Karen Trollope-Kumar
(Trained by the CUC to officiate all Rites of Passage and licensed by the Government of Ontario to officiate Weddings)

Karen Trollope-Kumar is a family physician who lived and worked for 11 years in the Himalayan foothills of north India with her husband Pradeep, who trained as a pediatrician.

Karen has been a member of The First Unitarian Church of Hamilton for the past fifteen years, and has held a variety of positions in the church during that time. She is excited to have the opportunity to serve as a Lay Chaplain.

Because of her own cross-cultural marriage and her years of living in India, she has a particular interest in ceremonies that bridge different cultural traditions.

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.

Sandy Lubert
(Currently on a Leave of Absence)

Sandy Lubert is a former teacher, writer and public speaker from Dundas, Ontario. She is passionate about equity, education and the arts. Sandy brings warmth and humour to her role as Lay Chaplain. She has a flexible, collaborative style and welcomes the opportunity to help create meaningful rites of passage.

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.

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.

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.