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

Changing a filter will refresh results (and remaining options) immediately. Searching by keyword or changing the number of items per page requires use of the "Search" button.

Displaying 1 - 20 of 60

  • Here we engage in a holy alchemy, finding beauty in the ordinary and life in the present.
    Opening | By Kim Mason | April 6, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beauty, Community, Connections, Solidarity, Transformation, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Let us open all our senses and let our synapses spark one connection after another.
    Welcome | By Shari Woodbury | December 12, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Birth, Child Dedication, Children, Connections, Joy, Playfulness, Wonder, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Welcome, all who seek renewal in a weary world.
    Welcome | By Shari Woodbury | December 11, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Connections, Friendship, Generations, Hope, Interdependence, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • We gather this morning as one community
    Chalice Lighting | By Adam Slate | March 9, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Connections, Individualism, Unity, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Speaking from the heart can turn an ordinary meeting into a rewarding one.
    Chalice Lighting | By Ben Ogilvie | October 18, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Business Meetings, Connections, Covenant, Relationships, Teamwork, Unitarian Universalism, Work, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • We cannot begin to find ourselves without love.
    Opening | By Elizabeth Mount | April 12, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Children, Connections, Father's Day, Humanism, Interdependence, Love, Mother's Day, Parents, Relationships, Secular, Trust, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • We light this chalice, symbol of our purpose to bring more love and justice into the world. We light this chalice, knowing our congregation as a church dispersed across communities, not bound by walls but connected through the web of life.
    Chalice Lighting | By Jennifer Gracen | June 21, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #COVID19, Connections, Unitarian Universalism
  • We kindle this flame, Honoring the doorways in our souls: The windows through which we gaze at one another The balconies where we catch glimpses of sky The thresholds we stand on this morning Wondering, hoping, fearing, dreaming.
    Chalice Lighting | By Florence Caplow | May 1, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Fear, Hope
  • As we kindle this the flame, we honor and remember Those who have passed into the mystery. Their brightness lives on in our vision; their courage lives on in our commitments; and their love continues to bless the world through us.
    Chalice Lighting | By Florence Caplow | October 31, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Connections, Death, Generations, History, Humanism, Mystery, Samhain
  • Let us be thankful and full of praise to be in the company of those who came before.
    Opening | By Karen G. Johnston | October 22, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Connections, Direct Experience, Generations, Gratitude, History, Prophetic Words & Deeds, 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
  • We gather as many drops, each winding our own path down life’s surfaces and ruts. Here we pool together as a single body, flowing together for a time. Together we are a stream, at times even a river, for with our shared force we can travel toward oceans of meaning and seas of connection.
    Chalice Lighting | By Leslie Takahashi | December 7, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Connections, Earth, Earth-Centered, Meaning, Nature, Playfulness, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion
  • Welcome to [name of your congregation]. I want to take a moment to extend a very warm welcome to everyone who's visiting us. Rather than gathering because we all have the same beliefs, we are an intentional community gathered around our shared promise to support each other’s individual spiritual...
    Welcome | By Joanna Fontaine Crawford | September 4, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children, Connections, Generations, Hospitality
  • We light this chalice as a symbol of reunion. We reunite in this sanctuary to share the flow of our hearts with one another. We gather together in ritual to celebrate our fountains of joy to hold each other through storms of grief to guide one another through rapids of transformation to rest...
    Chalice Lighting | By Katie Sivani Gelfand | May 31, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Connections, Direct Experience, Earth, Nature, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion
  • As the chalice is lit let us come together into the sacred space we have created. Let the cares of the day fall away and know that here is a place for quiet reflection, for a pause in our lives, for breathing into our true selves....
    Chalice Lighting | By Catherine Callahan | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Connections, Unitarian Universalism
  • May the flame of this chalice, the symbol of our faith, connect us to all who have come before us, all who are with us in body and and spirit, and all who are yet to come into being. May it serve as a reminder of our unity and connection across all time and space.
    Chalice Lighting | By Katie Romano Griffin | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Generations, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • Come, let us enter this space of hope and community. Come, let us enter this space with our sorrows, our joys, our passion and compassion. Come. let us enter this space with the stories of our ancestors, for their strength and wisdom beats in our hearts....
    Opening | By Katie Romano Griffin | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Community Ministry Sunday, Connections, Generations, History, Homecoming / Ingathering, Humanism, Interdependence, New Member Ceremony, Purpose, Scout Sunday, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Vision, Water Communion
  • Come into this place, bringing all you hold with you. though your heart be heavily burdened, whether you be on the brink of tears or burn with unquenchable rage this community can hold you and your strongest emotions, yes, even the messy ones are welcome here. Come in if you sing just a bit too...
    Invocation | By Elizabeth Mount | December 13, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Connections, Creativity, Direct Experience, Diversity, Faith, Humanism, Inclusion, Living Our Faith, Purpose, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness
  • Open up the doors Push on looming wooden arches embroidered with ironwork Brace shoulders against the weight of history unmoved Slough off the musty smell of unused joy and stored up sorrow Knock rust off the hinges if you have to And let your breath precede you inside Open the doors more Make ro...
    Opening | By Lindasusan Ulrich | September 27, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Change, Connections, Direct Experience, Hospitality, Interdependence, Living Our Faith, Searching
  • May we recognize and abandon the familiar attitudes and practices that do not serve the whole. We are who we are and we have the opportunity to be who we want to be, to create a new inheritance for the future....
    Invocation | By Sweethome Teacup | September 1, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, Animals, Anti-Oppression, Connections, Earth, Earth-Centered, Healing, Interdependence, Nature, Wholeness