LAY CHAPLAINS . . .

While larger church communities have professional ministers, who have received intensive professional education, smaller church communities, known as "Fellowships" do not have the resources to hire professional ministers, and thus depend on lay leadership. The St. Catharines group is such a Fellowship. The pulpit is offered to a diversity of individuals on Sundays, some professional ministers from our own or other denominations, but mostly, lay expert speakers on a variety of topics that are deemed to be of relevance to the congregation.

Rites of passage, such as child dedication, marriages, services of union and funerals are conducted by appointed lay chaplains who receive some training, and who are licensed by the Province of Ontario for the performance of marriage ceremonies.

The Unitarian Congregation of Niagara has two appointed lay chaplains, Valerie Jaeger and Julianne Momirov. They can be contacted through the church telephone, (905) 687-8433.