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 - 20 of 47

  • Our common work is the creation of Beloved Community.
    Chalice Lighting | By Pat Uribe-Lichty | October 18, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Living Our Faith, Purpose, Service, Unitarian Universalism
  • Can we find space for lifting our heads in wonder—that we’re still striving, still trying together
    Chalice Lighting | By Li Kynvi | August 10, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Business Meetings, Commitment, Community, Faith, Hope, Identity, Living Our Faith, Purpose, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • As we light this chalice [this evening], may it serve to give us clarity of purpose and illumine our way as we set about doing the work of this congregation, in commitment, in cooperation, and in love.
    Chalice Lighting | By Viola Abbitt | January 7, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Business Meetings, Commitment, Community, Governance, Humanism, Leadership, Love, Purpose, Secular, Teamwork, Unitarian Universalism, Work
  • We light this chalice—symbol of our faith alive in this world— naming our vision of collective liberation, and daring to re-member each other into beloved community.
    Chalice Lighting | By Deanna Vandiver | May 27, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Community, Faith, Freedom, Hope, Justice, Living Our Faith, Oppression, Vision
  • We light this chalice, the symbol of our faith, knowing that this morning many others across this land and around the world are doing the same. For us and for our far-flung kin it is a light of peace, of justice, and of love....
    Chalice Lighting | By Ben Soule | January 7, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Connections, Faith, Hope, Interdependence, Justice, Living Our Faith, Love, Peace, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • Voice One, Elder (with chalice): Across the generations we have carried the flame. We fought the injustice, sang the songs, spoke for truth, and built something lasting. We join in the line and we carry the flame forward. (pass chalice and mic to next speaker) Voice Two, Active Leader (with metal...
    Chalice Lighting | By Douglas Taylor | December 7, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Bridging, Bridging Ceremony, Building/Space Dedication, Coming of Age, Coming-of-Age, Commitment, Faith, Family, Generations, Justice, Leadership, Stewardship, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • It is not by chance that you arrived here today. You have been looking for something larger than yourself. Inside of you there is a yearning, a calling, a hope for more, A desire for a place of belonging and caring. Through your struggles, someone nurtured you into being, Instilling a belief in a...
    Opening | By Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson | September 14, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Abundance, Acceptance, Caring, Coming Out, Commitment, Community, Flower Communion, Home, Homecoming / Ingathering, New Member Ceremony, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion
  • We light this chalice today in honor of the Unitarian Universalist First Principle: To affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person....
    Chalice Lighting | By Florence Caplow | December 8, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Courage, Integrity, Justice, Living Our Faith, Multiculturalism, Oppression, Unitarian Universalism
  • We kindle a flame of power, illuminating the Holy in each of our faces. We recognize in the flame a passionate commitment to our shared faith. We are held and carried from day to day, week to week, in the shining of the light. This flame is mine, as well as yours. We are brought together on this...
    Chalice Lighting | By Adrian L. H. Graham | October 15, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Community, Direct Experience, Living Our Faith, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism
  • We light our flaming chalice as a beloved people united in love and thirsting for restorative justice. May it melt away the tethers that uphold whiteness in our midst. May it spark in us a spirit of humility. May it ignite in us radical love that transforms our energy into purposeful action....
    Chalice Lighting | By Rebekah Savage | October 15, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Community, Direct Experience, Hope, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity, Reconciliation, Unitarian Universalism
  • We are Unitarian Universalists. When we lift up our Seven Principles, some of us think of them as a form of theology—but they are more important to our collective than that: they do not tell us what we should believe; they tell us how we should be. They tell us how we should act in the larger...
    Invocation | By Viola Abbitt | October 15, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Community, Direct Experience, Integrity, Listening, Living Our Faith, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity, Reconciliation, Unitarian Universalism
  • We light this chalice in honor of Life’s sacred dance of living and dying. May its flame remind us of those who have passed to us fragments of holiness. May it remind us that we too are participants in the dance. inspired by Wendell Berry and Sara Moores Campbell...
    Chalice Lighting | By Joanne Giannino | November 4, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Death, Direct Experience, Generations, History, Hope, Humanism
  • We light this flame to ignite our hearts and minds— the spark of knowledge that enlightens, the shimmering hope that burns, the blazing love that engulfs our actions, the bonfire of our commitment. We light this flame for those who celebrate themselves who fear who hope who persevere who stand on...
    Chalice Lighting | By Linda lee Franson | August 14, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Activism, Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Commitment, Inclusion, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Love, Pride Sunday, Unitarian Universalism
  • The flaming chalice was first used by the Unitarian Service Committee as a symbol of life-saving refuge for people fleeing persecution in Europe. As we light this chalice, we invoke the love that called people to put their lives at risk to save others. May we be vessels of life-saving welcome.
    Chalice Lighting | By Michael J. Tino | July 28, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Activism, Commitment, Community, Ethics, History, Justice, Justice Sunday, Relationships, Salvation, Unitarianism
  • We light this chalice for mothers and mothering; to celebrate those who have taken on the task of nurturing a young one-baby, child, or youth-into adulthood; to celebrate those who have nourished the light of truth and compassion in growing minds and hearts; to celebrate those who have committed...
    Chalice Lighting | By Claudene (Deane) Oliva | May 4, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children, Commitment, Education, Family, Fathers, Generations, Gratitude, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Parents, WorshipWeb
  • The ritual of welcoming and honoring ancestors is an ancient spiritual practice found in many cultures and traditions. Thus we begin this ceremony with paying tribute and expressing gratitude to our ancestors. From our histories our ancestors call to us, asking “whence we come, and how and...
    Opening | By Christina Shu, Tera Little | March 1, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Commitment, Generations, History, Installations, Justice, Ordinations, Purpose, Responsibility, Unitarian Universalism
  • Fire of our faith, fire our future.
    Chalice Lighting | By Cynthia Landrum | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Faith, Generations, History, Hope, Identity, Journey, Leadership, Living Our Faith, Responsibility, Unitarian Universalism
  • As we kindle this flame, May it spark in each of us Connection and commitment To this living tradition And to each other.
    Chalice Lighting | By Cynthia Landrum | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Commitment, Connections, Interdependence, Living Our Faith, Relationships, Reverence, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Wonder
  • Flame of our faith, call us into the community of love and justice this morning and every morning.
    Chalice Lighting | By Cynthia Landrum | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Challenge, Commitment, Community, Compassion, Courage, Faith, Justice, Love, Tradition
  • We light this chalice, the beacon that calls us: To love To justice To a deepening of the spirit.
    Chalice Lighting | By Cynthia Landrum | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Calling, Commitment, Community, Conscience, Faith, Growth, Justice, Love, Solidarity, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism