Elections and Installation Ceremonies

CCW Organization Notebook provided by the Joliet Diocesan CCW

Every year (or every other year, depending on individual council procedures), CCW affiliates choose new officers for the upcoming term.  No matter how formal or informal your selection of new officers is, all councils should have an actual ‘Election’.  In other words, there should be a formal motion to elect, and the majority of attendees should agree to the election; if – as often happens - your nominating committee has named only one candidate for each office, this can be a simple motion, such as follows: “I move that the nominated slate become the elected slate”, followed by a vote of ‘Aye’ or ‘Nay’.  Ideally this should be done at a meeting of many members of your council – not just the current board; your new officers deserve to know that they have the support of the full membership of your council.  Of course, if your council is fortunate enough to have more than one nominee for one or more offices, written ballots will need to be cast, counted and announced.

Following the election, it is also important to ‘install’ or ‘commission’ your new officers, and don’t forget to ‘install’ or ‘commission’ your new Nominating Committee (they also serve an important function in assuring the ongoing life and energy of your council).  This installation should be done at an event attended by a large gathering of your parish membership: a Spring Luncheon, your Woman of the Year parish recognition/congratulation event, an end-of-year Thanksgiving Mass, etc.  Wikipedia (an online encyclopedia) says that an installation “refers to the process or ceremony of placing a person into an office or position of dignity”.  Women who have agreed to – and been elected to  - leadership positions in your council should be honored with the courtesy of a formal public ritual ceremony recognizing their agreement to taking on the position, and their subsequent commitment to carry out the duties of the position.

The installation ceremony can be conducted by a variety of persons – again depending on your council’s customs, or could even vary from time.  In many councils, the council Moderator conducts the installation; in other councils, this role is filled by: the outgoing President, the council’s Church Commission Chair, or an officer from another ring of Council, such as a Deanery President.

Elaborate installation ceremonies can last as long as 15”.  However, most are quite short, as they are designed to fit into the agenda of a major event program.  

Ideas and texts for installation ceremonies abound.  Several are contained in NCCW’s Resource and Guidance Manual: ‘Installation Prayer Service of Light’; and two others.  Two more are found in NCCW’s “Called to Pray”: ‘Installation Ceremony Based on the Lives of Women Saints’, and ‘Installation Conducted during Mass’.   In addition, many councils – including the Joliet Diocesan Council of Catholic Women - have developed their own unique installation ceremonies; some feature presentation of flowers to incoming officers, recognition of various attributes of our Blessed Mother, passing on a candle, etc.  If you would like information on, or copies of, any of these ceremonies, please contact

Marianne McKeague @ 630-934-2183 or mariannemck@sbcglobal.net