Unitarian Universalists use different terms for the words that begin a worship service, including call to worshipinvocation, and opening words. These words invite the congregation from their separate lives and to the common place and time of the worship hour.

(In Unitarian Universalist worship if there are Opening Words there is generally not an Invocation, and vice versa.)

Search Words for Worship Services

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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15

  • Set your compass to point towards hope and begin your journey home.
    Opening | By Lindasusan Ulrich | June 2, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Brokenness, Community, Healing, Wholeness
  • Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here Voice 2: Whether tears have fallen from your eyes this past week or gleeful laughter has spilled out of your smiling mouth Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here Voice 2: Whether you are feeling brave or broken-hearted; defiant or...
    Opening | By Joan Javier-Duval | January 16, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Brokenness, Caring, Community, Compassion, Diversity, Inclusion, Love, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness, Worth, Worship
  • There is too much beauty in this world to give up on it yet, and it is always too soon to surrender to cynicism....
    Opening | By Gretchen Haley | February 16, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Brokenness, Disaster, Hope, Sadness, Unitarian Universalism
  • You whose hearts are broken, come in. You whom pain has touched, and sorrow, and shock. You who have cried this week, and read the news with sadness. You whom loss has shadowed. You who grieve. Come in, come in. You with hearts open to joy and hope, come in. You whom love has touched, and...
    Opening | By Sharon Wylie | November 21, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Brokenness, Challenge, Community, Despair, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Hope, Inclusion, Interdependence
  • We live inside paradox. Humans generally don’t like to admit it—we much prefer tidy, stable, comprehensible, logical ways of getting through the day—but paradox is woven into the fabric of this particular universe we inhabit. Light is both a particle and a wave Imaginary numbers describe the...
    Opening | By Lindasusan Ulrich | October 2, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Agnosticism, Balance, Brokenness, Christianity, Easter, Faith, Hope, Mystery, Unitarian Universalism
  • Here here is where you can lay it down Lay down all that you have carried the weight of the world that has rounded your back leaving you aching and exhausted Here here is where healing begins where burdens are set down and alongside one another’s their magnitude does not seem as great Here here i...
    Opening | By Joan Javier-Duval | April 13, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Brokenness, Community, Healing, Hospitality, Unitarian Universalism
  • Welcome to this space, this sanctuary of peace where we come to not only create our best selves, but to also do the work of creating a beloved community....
    Opening | By Jo VonRue, Linette Lowe | January 26, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Acceptance, Brokenness, Community, Direct Experience, Diversity, Hospitality, Humanism, Inclusion, Interdependence, Multiculturalism, Presence, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness
  • In the houses of the holy, the world pauses. In the hearts of the holy, Love abides. In the havens of the holy, Hope comforts. In the hearths of the holy, Spirit refreshes. Come then, one and all, gather in. Come then, one and all, gather here. Bring here all of your heart, Bring here all of your...
    Opening | By Andrea Hawkins-Kamper | November 28, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Brokenness, Community, Direct Experience, Diversity, Hospitality, Inclusion, Prophetic Words & Deeds
  • In times of darkness we stumble towards the tiny flame. In times of cold we seek the warming fire. In times of repression we reach for the lamp of truth. In times of loss we pray for the comforting light. In times of joy we light a candle of celebration....
    Chalice Lighting | By Brian Kiely | October 6, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Challenge, Hope, Purpose, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism
  • Mother's Day is complicated. Joyful for many, yes, but complicated. It's right there on the calendar, even if your mother has died....
    Opening | By Becky Brooks | May 28, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Brokenness, Children, Direct Experience, Family, Grief, Healing, Humanism, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Wholeness
  • Today we walk toward the dayspring breaking through, the Easter day of joy.
    Opening | By Daniel Chesney Kanter | February 17, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Change, Christianity, Hope, Joy, Palm Sunday, Power, Unitarian Universalism
  • "Why a flaming chalice?” the question comes. It’s the cup of life, we answer. A cup of blessings overflowing. A cup of water to quench our spirits’ thirst. A cup of wine for celebration and dedication. The flame of truth. The fire of purification. Oil for anointing, healing. Out of chaos,...
    Chalice Lighting | By Lisa Doege | January 22, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anger, Anti-Oppression, Beliefs & Principles, Brokenness, Courage, Disaster or Crisis, Healing, Oppression, Solidarity, Sorrow, Tradition, Truth
  • With humility and courage born of our history, we are called as Unitarian Universalists to build the Beloved Community where all souls are welcome as blessings, and the human family lives whole and reconciled. With this vision in our hearts and minds, we light our chalice. —“A vision for...
    Chalice Lighting | By UUA Leadership Council | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Brokenness, Calling, Courage, Diversity, Humility, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Vision, Wholeness, Worth
  • Joy and grief Health and sickness Light and Darkness Peace and anger Life and death Wholeness and brokeness We each bring all of these here to this sanctuary of unity in diversity For this one hour of this one day And pour them out Commingling the oil of our lives To become the flame of this chal...
    Chalice Lighting | By Paul Stephan Dodenhoff | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anger, Birth, Brokenness, Death, Diversity, Grief, Joy, Peace, Unity, Wholeness
  • May God—the mind that sees our faults, the tears that sting our wounds, the laugh that soothes our aches, and the love that redeems us all—be illuminated by the light we kindle in this house of faith.
    Chalice Lighting | By Max A Coots | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Balance, Brokenness, Caring, Compassion, Despair, Faith, Forgiveness, God, Grace, Healing