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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 - 5 of 5

  • Against gray leaves, a chalice of green stems and a "flame" of red leaves
    Reader One: You who feel your heart is breaking, come in. Reader Two: You who are confused and wondering. Come in. Reader Three: You who are angry, in pain, or not wanting to be here. Come in. Reader Four: You who are hopeful and energized. Come in. Leader: Come into this community of your heart...
    Chalice Lighting | By Amy Russell | October 24, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Community, Hope, Pain, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability
  • Be the Love
    This welcome was written for a Sunday after a national crisis. Whether you’re here because worshiping with us is part of your routine or whether you feel like our country has been stopped in its tracks and it’s impossible to return to normalcy, on this morning we gather to proclaim that we...
    Welcome | By Erika Hewitt | July 10, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Anger, Balance, Connections, Despair, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Hope, Humanism, Mourning, Pain, Purpose, Relationships, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    We are called today, from the midst of pain and challenge, we are called to praise the world. From a world that appears broken, we are called to praise life’s moments of joy and grace. From time that seems to freeze in ongoing exchanges of platitudes and blame, we are called to reach out to those...
    Opening | By Maureen Killoran | December 8, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Direct Experience, Grief, Healing, Justice, Pain, WorshipWeb
  • A long line of Syrian Kurdish refugees travel across a parched field intoto Turkey
    How often we seek refuge in this sacred flame From the world’s trouble and pain. Today, may our lamp light the way For whose who know no refuge, That we may open our minds Our arms Our hearts Our mouths to sing “Come, whoever you are,” Wholly new and wholly true.
    Chalice Lighting | By Amy Carol Webb | November 24, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Compassion, Disaster, Hope, Hospitality, Inclusion, Interdependence, International, Journey, Leadership, Pain, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • Dandelion_puff_radiant_sky
    "Let there be light!" Let it shine in dark places, in moments of pain, in times of grief, in the darkness of hatred, violence, oppression, where there is discouragement and despair. Wherever darkness is to be put to flight, "Let there be light!"...
    Chalice Lighting | By Gordon B McKeeman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Balance, Christianity, Compassion, Despair, Grief, Healing, Hope, Oppression, Pain, Sorrow, Unitarian Universalism, Violence