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Unitarian Universalists use different terms for the words that begin a worship service, including call to worship, invocation, 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 - 6 of 6

  • A pitcher of flowers rests on the windowsill inside a room reseembling a chapel
    These opening words are formatted for two readers, as indicated below....
    Opening | By Shari Woodbury | January 16, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Home, Humanism, Listening, Secular, Self-Respect, Unitarian Universalism
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    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
  • A gnarled tree in sunlight.
    Around us, light is returning. It rekindles the spirit of life in the skeletons of trees. It brings forth new shoots from the soil. It wakes us from our winter slumber, and invites us to see what lies beyond. We light this chalice in the spirit of our Earth’s awakening and to reaffirm our...
    Chalice Lighting | By Kate McPhee | May 13, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Earth, Earth-Centered, Healing, Home, Nature, Vernal Equinox, Climate Justice
  • An arc of Earth's surface, blue oceans and swirling white clouds, taken from space
    Committed to respond to the call of a wounded world… We join together this day with loving hearts, hands and minds. Embracing the interconnected web of water, air and earth… We light a fire of sustaining hope, ever bright with love and justice. May we bring forth this day new wisdom, strength...
    Opening | By Lynn Harrison | March 18, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Home, Nature, Responsibility, Unitarian Universalism, Climate Justice
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    To those of you who are visitors here for the first time, thank you again for being with us. If you are lonely, here you will find a warm companionship....
    Welcome | By David R Chapman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Connections, Direct Experience, Friendship, Home, Secular, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • Chalice lit at General Assembly 2012.
    In this small flame dwell: the beacon light of lanterns guiding travelers home; the warmth of hearth fires tended through the generations; the transforming energy of furnaces and the power and life of our sun. May these blessings -- warmth and light and life-giving energy -- be kindled in each of...
    Chalice Lighting | By Jean L Wahlstrom | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Community, Family, Friendship, Generations, Home, Journey, Love, Power, Transformation, Winter Solstice / Yule