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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- Abundance (2)
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 34
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There is room here for each and every one. Come in. Be among us.Welcome | By Shari Woodbury | December 12, 2023 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Caring, Community, Hospitality, Inclusion, Searching, WorshipWeb, Worship
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May we tend our Soul Fire through these challenging and trying timesChalice Lighting | By anastasi birosh | March 31, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #8thPrinciple, Acceptance, Challenge, Hope, Hospitality, Inclusion, Purpose, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Whether you have made promises, broken promises, or are renewing your promises, you are beloved and you are welcome here.Opening | By Joan Javier-Duval | March 2, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Abundance, Acceptance, Community, Hospitality, Inclusion, Love, WorshipWeb, Worship
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We are one people of many beliefs, many origins, sexualities, and genders.Welcome | By Rachael Hayes | February 23, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Diversity, Hospitality, Inclusion, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Light the fire of the FutureOpening | By Kiakiali Bordner | January 14, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Freedom, Hope, Hospitality, Inclusion, Love, Purpose
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All are welcome from everywhere.Chalice Lighting | By anastasi birosh | September 27, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Hospitality, Inclusion, WorshipWeb, Worship
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As we light this flame, we remember friends and loved ones near and far and we give thanks. As the fire burns brightly, we open our minds and hearts to new ways of being and we feel alive....Chalice Lighting | By Leia Durland-Jones | April 17, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Hospitality, Inclusion, Love, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Welcome! What you bring—who you are—enriches us all. We say “Welcome” to your joy, your hope, your pride. We say “Welcome” to your grief, your fear, your anger. And the parts of you that are not yet ready to be seen and heard— Welcome to them as well. For we are people of faith: Faith...Welcome | By Monica Jacobson-Tennessen | January 16, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Hospitality, Inclusion
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This opening was written for two voices, as indicated below. 1: Welcome, who come in friendship who long for genuine community... 2: May you be graciously received here as your authentic self. 1: Welcome, who come in curiosity, full of questions or simply open... 2: May you embrace wonder and...Opening | By Shari Woodbury | January 5, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Beauty, Caring, Direct Experience, Hospitality, Humanism, Joy, Secular, Self-Care, Unitarian Universalism
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[for 2-3 voices, alternating] On this eve of mystery and magic, let us enter into the Christmas story as if we were there on the holy night. What part will we play this year? Are you the mother, trusting your body to know what to do when the time of birth comes?...Opening | By Shari Woodbury | January 21, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Birth, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Dignity, Faith, Family, Hope, Hospitality, Journey, Love
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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 WorshipWebTagged as: Children, Connections, Generations, Hospitality
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Every little thing that breaks your heart Is welcome here We'll make a space for it Give it its due time and praise for the wanting it represents the longing for something more, some healing hope that remains not yet We promise no magic no making it all better But offer only this circle of trust...Opening | By Gretchen Haley | February 19, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Compassion, Direct Experience, Growth, Healing, Hospitality, Unitarian Universalism
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We seek our place in the world and the answers to our hearts’ deep questions. As we seek, may our hearts be open to unexpected answers. May the light of our chalice remind us that this is a community of warmth, of wisdom, and welcoming of multiple truths.Chalice Lighting | By Julianne Lepp | December 8, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Direct Experience, Diversity, Hospitality, Mystery, Searching, Truth, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder
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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 WorshipWebTagged 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
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We light this chalice remembering and honoring our own tradition and celebrating the rich diversity of traditions among us. As we search for justice, meaning, and purpose, may we remember that justice, meaning, and purpose live first in deeply listening to one another. This chalice lighting was...Chalice Lighting | By David Breeden | August 21, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Connections, Diversity, Hospitality, International, Living Our Faith, Meaning, Multiculturalism, Purpose, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism
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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 WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Brokenness, Community, Healing, Hospitality, Unitarian Universalism
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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 WorshipWebTagged 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
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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 WorshipWebTagged 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
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Come one, come all! Come with your missing pieces and your extra screws Come with your hard edges and your soft spots Come with your bowed heads and upright spines Come all you flamboyant and drab verbose and quiet fidgeting and lethargic All you with large vision and tender hearts All you with...Opening | By Ian W. Riddell | July 30, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Body, Hospitality, Humanism, Inclusion, Limitations, Unitarian Universalism
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Come, come, whoever you are. Do you hear that voice calling you, calling us? That voice which calls us together here today in this room made holy by our presence and by the sacred breath we share in our singing and speaking and silence....Invocation | By Ian W. Riddell | July 30, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Awe, Community, Connections, Direct Experience, Hospitality, Interdependence, Sacred, Unity, Wonder