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 32

  • Pause here, and be renewed and restored.
    Opening | By Linda Hart | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Journey, Self-Care, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • What if sometimes it’s about sparking potential into possibility, and possibility into existence?
    Chalice Lighting | By Lisa Doege | November 17, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Hope, Journey, Justice, Love, Peace, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • We are a People of Memory. As inheritors of our ancestors’ legacy, we hold their stories tenderly. Gleaning wisdom from diverse journeys; united in hope for the future. Guide us to trust in love as we kindle this flame together.
    Chalice Lighting | By Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson | March 27, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Compassion, Courage, Covenant, Diversity, Faith, Hope, Journey, Living Our Faith, Love, Tradition
  • [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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Birth, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Dignity, Faith, Family, Hope, Hospitality, Journey, Love
  • What is it That calls you here That calls you onward That calls you inward That leads you homeward? What is it That gives you the power To make that change To ask that question To take that journey?...
    Opening | By Monica Jacobson-Tennessen | January 20, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), Authority, Contemplation, Covenant, Journey, Living Our Faith, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism
  • We call forth the life of our faith by igniting our chalice. This spark of new beginnings invites us into a sacred space to reflect where we have been and where we are going. Even knowing that this particular flame will intentionally end with our ritual extinguishing, we fear not its end… For we...
    Chalice Lighting | By Katie Sivani Gelfand | May 31, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Challenge, Courage, Direct Experience, Divorce / Separation, Earth-Centered, Ending, Fear, Humanism, Job Loss, Journey, Leaving Home, Letting Go, Life Transition, Mystery, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • Come into this place with your whole self – the parts that are raw and exposed; the part that is beaming with joy; the part that is seeking the truth, the new, the possibility. Come into this place – open your heart, lay down your burden, lift up your hope – for something new to happen. Come...
    Opening | By Margaret Weis | July 4, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Acceptance, Caring, Direct Experience, Humanism, Journey, Joy, Presence, Wholeness
  • We kindle a flame we trust will lead us forward as we travel in unknown lands, where the question, “Shall I ever get there?” resounds: A clear pure note in every silence. Note: this chalice lighting is based on reading #486 by Dag Hammarskjöld in Singing the Living Tradition.
    Chalice Lighting | By Barnaby Feder | December 6, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Challenge, Community, Direct Experience, Journey, Mystery, Patience, Searching, Transcendence, Unitarianism
  • Note: this was written for a worship service with a Wizard of Oz theme. Come you accidental pilgrims, you who find yourself on a journey of surprise and wonder. Come you who emerge into this place as an act of liberation. Come you who seek a life of mindfulness and a place to test your thoughts.
    Invocation | By Lyn Cox | September 22, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Courage, Diversity, Generations, Homecoming / Ingathering, Inclusion, Journey, Teamwork, Trust, Unitarian Universalism
  • Good Morning. Welcome to our Unitarian Universalist congregation. I’m [name]; I serve as [role] of this growing, journeying community. We welcome all of you to our service, especially those of you who are searching for a spiritual home. Many of us were once, too, seeking for something larger than...
    Welcome | By Erika Hewitt | March 23, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Humility, Interdependence, Journey, Purpose, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability
  • Come sit by our fire and let us share stories. Let me hear your tales of far off lands, wanderer, and I will tell you of my travels. Share your experience of the holy with me, worshipper, and I will tell you of that which I find divine. Come and stay, lover of leaving, for ours is no caravan of...
    Opening | By Jennifer Kitchen | January 11, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Direct Experience, Empathy, Homecoming / Ingathering, Hospitality, Journey, Listening, Love, Personal Stories
  • Original version in English by Tracy Bleakney, traducción en español por Theresa Soto A child journeys far from home Fearful and brave, in need of safe harbor. Guided by this chalice, may we seek to understand the causes of flight. Like the comfort of a candle flickering in a window of darkness,...
    Chalice Lighting | By Julián Jamaica Soto , Tracy Bleakney | December 15, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Children, Compassion, Dignity, Hospitality, Humanism, Immigration, Journey, Justice, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb
  • 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
  • Fire of our faith, fire our future.
    Chalice Lighting | By Cynthia Landrum | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Faith, Generations, History, Hope, Identity, Journey, Leadership, Living Our Faith, Responsibility, Unitarian Universalism
  • In the bleak and cold winter, We gather ourselves in To light the fire to warm our spirits, To kindle the flame of love and hope.
    Chalice Lighting | By Cynthia Landrum | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Community, Earth-Centered, Faith, Friendship, Hope, Imbolc / Brighid's Day / Candlemas, Journey, Kindness, Love, New Year, Relationships, Twelfth Night / Epiphany, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • For the wonder and inspiration We seek from sun and stars And all the lights of the heavens We light this chalice.
    Chalice Lighting | By Cynthia Landrum | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Beauty, Connections, Contemplation, Earth, Journey, Mystery, Nature, Presence, Wonder
  • (Can be preceded by singing the first verse of "Bright Morning Stars," Hymn 357 in Singing the Living Tradition) Day breaks on our gratitude for family and friends, For the freedom to find our own truth, For the company of those who gather here, And the promises we offer one another....
    Chalice Lighting | By Robin F. Gray | March 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Covenant, Faith, Family, Freedom, Friendship, Grace, Gratitude, Hope, Journey, Truth
  • During our darkest moments, still, there is hope. When facing our biggest challenges, still, there is hope. When all we can do is put one foot in front of the other, still, there is hope. When we can’t find the way out, still, there is hope. When all we can do to help is hold someone’s hand as...
    Chalice Lighting | By Nadine McSpadden | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Challenge, Compassion, Despair, Empathy, Hope, Humanism, Interdependence, Journey, Love, Secular, Solidarity, Strength
  • The flaming chalice is the symbol of Unitarian Universalism. It is an everlasting flame for this community. It offers its warmth to those who are cold. It provides light to those who would see. It purifies and transforms this sanctuary into sacred space, this congregation into sacred community....
    Chalice Lighting | By Beatrice Hitchcock | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Faith, Hospitality, Journey, Kindness, Sacred, Strength, Tradition, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Vision
  • We light our chalice this morning, grateful for the love that we experience in this beloved community. May the flame light the way for all who seek such abundance.
    Chalice Lighting | By Dawn Skjei Cooley | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Abundance, Caring, Commitment, Community, Gratitude, Inclusion, Journey, Love, Searching