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Openings: Words for Worship
How To Write Your Own Opening Words
Often called a “call to worship” these words bring the congregation from their separate lives and to this common place and time of the worship hour. They are, then, both a summons and an invitation. Think of the bell of a New England meeting house—when your opening words are as clear, concise, and commanding as that, you will have succeeded. (In Unitarian Universalist worship if there are Opening Words there is generally not an Invocation, and vice versa.)
How To Write Your Own Invocations
To “invoke” is to “call forth” and is traditionally associated with calling upon God. You can also think of it as invoking the spirit of your community—its vision of justice, its playful energy, or its familial feeling. Invocations can also serve to introduce the theme that you’ll be exploring in the service. (In Unitarian Universalist worship if there is an Invocation there are generally not Opening Words, and vice versa.)
For more information contact worshipweb @ uua.org.
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Last updated on Monday, April 11, 2011.
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