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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 - 20 of 43

  • A tea light glows in a hollow in a fallen log, surrounded by moss that has been dusted lightly with snow.
    We light this chalice, here in the darkness of winter as we wait.
    Chalice Lighting | By JeKaren Olaoya | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A dark indigo sky peppered with stars
    Darkness is as important as light.
    Opening | By Jo VonRue | December 27, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Direct Experience, Imagination, Nature, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A chalice, by Nebraska potter Thomas Hamilton, inspired by the local landscape of rivers and prairie -- river glaze colors, edge plants and stones, birds, and three rivers meeting in the cup.
    We rekindle our connection to the sacred web of life.
    Chalice Lighting | By Shari Woodbury | October 18, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Wonder
  • Man in silhouette playing a shofar during sunset on Lake Erie
    Breathe in us, with us, and through us as we gather—one in community.
    Invocation | By Kristin Grassel Schmidt | September 22, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Earth-Centered, Judaism, Nature, Rosh Hashanah, Unity, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A rust-colored leaf floats on the surface of a pond, and under the surface of the water there are stones and rocks. The surface of the water reflects the hand that dropped the leaf onto the water.
    Watershed moments are turning points, moments that permanently alter an understanding.
    Opening | By Martina Thompson | August 5, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth-Centered, Nature, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A field of purple flowers, in Latvia, with small lights reflected on them.
    Easter is a holiday of miracles.
    Opening | By Peggy Clarke | March 31, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Belief, Christianity, Easter, Hope, Love, Nature, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A blurred photo of a wreath of red and warm white lights.
    This solstice night [or day] In honor of ancient traditions that celebrate this time of longest night, we observe that the flaming chalice holds the elements of the four directions: Earth, air, fire, water....
    Chalice Lighting | By Sharon Wylie | May 5, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Balance, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • In a meadow, a small curious fox approaches the camera.
    We light this chalice in honor of the animal realm, Furred and hoofed, two-legged, four-legged, many-legged, Fanged and clawed, gentle and fierce, wild and tame. May we remember that all animals are our relatives, Worthy of our care and respect.
    Chalice Lighting | By Florence Caplow | January 16, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animal Blessing, Animals, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Interdependence, Nature, Relationships, Secular
  • Fat drops of dew on the emerald leaves of a succulent
    We gather together this morning tenderly—like drops of dew on a leaf of grass hopefully—like gathered raindrops in a cloud gleefully—like water rushing in a stream to the sea deeply—like groundwater pulled up from a well We gather from every direction, for another year of growth and depth,...
    Opening | By Molly Housh Gordon | September 4, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Community, Earth, Earth-Centered, Homecoming / Ingathering, Interdependence, Nature, Water Communion
  • An array, fan-like, of leaves ranging from green to gold to rust to red.
    Recognizing the beauty around us and within us, in voice and spirit, we gather to light our chalice. May we savor the beauty of our abundance and diversity, always cherishing one another and our earth. May we remember to inhale the lushness in life knowing that we are a people of beauty.
    Chalice Lighting | By Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson | August 7, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beauty, Earth, Earth-Centered, Humanism, Imagination, Nature
  • large_greenleaf_many_raindrops
    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
  • A field of purple flowers, in Latvia, with small lights reflected on them.
    Leader 1: At this time of balance, at this time of awakening,we celebrate Ostara, the Spring Equinox. Leader 2: We honor the fertile Earth. We honor the warming breezes. Leader 1: We Honor the waxing light. We honor the nurturing rains....
    Opening | By David Ensley | June 18, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Spring, Vernal Equinox
  • light plays on the ripples of water's surface, up close
    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
  • A pale pink Gerbera daisy, with its green stalk in front of a pale blue background
    Within the heart of the flower, the fountain of beauty Within the heart of the community, a fire that warms and dances Within the heart of each of us, a spark of the spirit of life. Holy, holy, holy.
    Chalice Lighting | By Amy Zucker Morgenstern | May 29, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, God, Nature, Paganism, Sacred, Wonder
  • Foamy waves wash up on craggy rocks, made red by the sun, in Morrazo, Galicia (Spain)
    A: Because the tides are rising B: So must we C: Rise! A: to this moment C: Rise! B: to this day C: Rise! A: to this life B: This place in the web A: That is yours, and ours. C: Rise! B: Because the earth remains A: Our only home C: And we B: Fellow travelers A: Its only hope C: For healing B:...
    Opening | By Gretchen Haley | February 15, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Beauty, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Gratitude, Nature, Responsibility, Climate Justice
  • A crescent moon in the dark silhouette of evergreen trees, against a deep blue night sky
    The hours of day and night are in balance. In honor of Earth-centered traditions that celebrate this time of year, we observe that the flaming chalice holds the elements of the four directions: Earth, air, fire, water. The lamp oil for earth The air that feeds the flame The fire we light And the...
    Chalice Lighting | By Sharon Wylie | December 22, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Autumnal Equinox, Balance, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Searching, Vernal Equinox
  • An arc of Earth's surface, blue oceans and swirling white clouds, taken from space
    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
  • Seen from above, a person's hands cradle a mug of cocoa. Also visible is their torso wrapped in a wool blanket.
    Now has come hard winter, With whip of wind and slash of snow and the diamond-bright stars in the black ice of the heavens. Just as we resist the season with shovel and scraper, wool and windbreaker, we embrace it with sled and snowboard, cocoa and comforter. Winter is here: let us find warmth in...
    Opening | By Ben Soule | February 7, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Balance, Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Grace, Nature, Secular, Winter
  • A stunning, bright Milky Way and the rest of the night sky over a cabin and man in the wilderness.e
    Our light is the light of the sun, keeper of all we love; our light is the light of the earth, provider of sustenance; our light is the light of all living things, life precious like our own....
    Chalice Lighting | By David Breeden | January 25, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Awe, Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Humanism, Imagination, Nature, Science, Secular, Transcendence, Truth, Unitarian Universalism
  • A speckled egg and leaves inside of a bird's nest
    When all around us voices are raised in anger, hatred spilling into the streets and sparking more hatred, sometimes the best we can do is to sink our hands into the soil. Let the fights over abstractions ebb away, flow like water into the earth....
    Invocation | By Elena Westbrook | August 8, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Despair, Earth, Earth-Centered, Hope, Imagination, Nature, Worry