Are you looking for interactive worship materials? Be sure to check out our Litanies section.

(In a responsive reading, the leader and congregation read different words as the piece progresses. In a litany, the congregation responds to the reader with the same phrase, repeatedly.)

Search Words for Worship Services

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 48

  • Welcome abundance, welcome prosperity, welcome love, and welcome light.
    Responsive Reading | By Michael J. Tino | October 10, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Diwali, Goddess, Hinduism, Multiculturalism, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Loving sometimes takes all that we have.
    Responsive Reading | By Patty Willis | March 8, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Courage, Forgiveness, Friendship, Love, Relationships, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • In our lives, people sometimes do us wrong.
    Responsive Reading | By Patty Willis | March 8, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Empathy, Forgiveness, Grace, Pain, Solidarity, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • All that we are, together and individually, is part of the abundance of the universe.
    Responsive Reading | By Julián Jamaica Soto | November 11, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Canvass/Pledge, Connections, Earth, Earth-Centered, Gratitude, Interdependence, Stewardship, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Let us imagine washing the feet of someone who has wronged us. Their feet, too, are calloused and muddy from the road.
    Responsive Reading | By Patty Willis | October 3, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Christianity, Compassion, Easter, Empathy, Ministry, Service, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • We celebrate our desires to stretch our wings towards where we wish to fly and soar free. And thus, we make a bridge. We affirm our commitment to remain connected to those who are still earth-bound and captive, remembering that a bridge may be a footpath or an umbrella. And thus, we offer a bridge.
    Responsive Reading | By Leslie Takahashi | June 19, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Connections, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • As Unitarian Universalists, our journey is to transform the big and the small, to transform ourselves, and to transform the world.
    Responsive Reading | By Elizabeth Nguyen | November 9, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Calling, Freedom, Justice, Living Our Faith, Purpose, Seven Principles, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Universalism, Wholeness, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • When we feel overwhelmed, we gather to find a path, to find new ways forward.
    Responsive Reading | By David Breeden | September 19, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Disaster or Crisis, Grief, Humanism, Memorial Services, Purpose, Searching, Secular, Strength, Stress, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Hope rises. It rises from the heart of life, here and now, beating with joy and sorrow. Hope longs. It longs for good to be affirmed, for justice and love to prevail, for suffering to be alleviated, and for life to flourish in peace. Hope remembers. It remembers the dreams of those who have gone...
    Responsive Reading | By John A. Buehrens, Rebecca Ann Parker | April 8, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Faith, Generations, Healing, Hope, Humanism, Love, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • Reader 1: We come today to gather together as Unitarian Universalists. Reader 2: We come today to join in the spirit of love and the service of life. Reader 3: We come today to be part of the stream of this living tradition. All: In our gathering, may we be blessed. Reader 1: Our shared faith is...
    Responsive Reading | By Monica Jacobson-Tennessen | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Commitment, Direct Experience, God, Justice, Living Our Faith, Love, Ordinations, Service
  • Many: This morning* and all mornings, we are called to pay attention. One. We are called to pay attention to our individual lives, to our delights and pains. We are called to understand and cherish ourselves, to take good care of ourselves, to know ourselves as loving and worthy of love....
    Responsive Reading | By Amanda Udis-Kessler | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Caring, Compassion, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Interdependence, Justice, Mindfulness, Presence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Respect, Unitarian Universalism
  • As we move deeper into the season, There are some things we know. Fall brings a growing darkness That we cannot escape. The nights become cooler And take on winter’s chill. The leaves on the trees and blades of grass Try on new suits of yellow, orange, red and brown....
    Responsive Reading | By Viola Abbitt | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Autumnal Equinox, Awe, Beauty, Earth, Earth-Centered, Humility, Letting Go, Nature, Transformation
  • Love is hard. Love for people, especially those who are different from you. Love that says “I see you as a person.” Love that says “let your unique light shine in the world” because each of our souls touches the divine mystery. Love that says “we’re on a journey together, and my fate is...
    Responsive Reading | By Carey McDonald, Terasa Cooley | September 27, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Love, Relationships
  • We are grateful for the gift of our lives and the gift of other people in our lives. Each of us is created with dignity and worth. We are called to love one another and to do nothing to others that we would find hateful to ourselves. We honor the many ways that people live and love....
    Responsive Reading | June 3, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Diversity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, National Coming Out Day, Pride Sunday, Secular
  • We people, gathered here today on the quest for truth and meaning, bear witness. We bear witness. To the record of human lives extinguished, simply because these people dared to live authentically, we bear witness. To the lives and reported deaths of (number) transgender people, globally, so far...
    Responsive Reading | By Amy Brooks | January 22, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Choice, Conscience, Courage, Diversity, Empathy, Freedom, Gender, Identity, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Unitarian Universalism
  • One: On Labor Day we honor our work, physical and mental, paid and unpaid, joyous and heartbreaking. Many: We give thanks for work’s gifts, suffer its difficulties, and strive to make labor just and joyous for all. One: Our work can build our society, provide for our material needs, and give our...
    Responsive Reading | By Amanda Udis-Kessler | December 7, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Character, Direct Experience, Gratitude, Integrity, Labor Day, Living Our Faith, Meaning, Purpose, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Work
  • Leader: Ours is a world alive and aloud with the presence of creatures and critters. Animals abound, interwoven in our human lives and wholly independent. This is the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part....
    Responsive Reading | By Karen G. Johnston | July 17, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animal Blessing, Animals, Awe, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Nature, Relationships, Responsibility
  • We give thanks for your presence among us. You are living examples of courage and perseverance. We give thanks for the stories you have collected through the years. By sharing your stories, you help shape ours. We give thanks for the many tasks you have undertaken for the betterment of others. We...
    Responsive Reading | By Elizabeth Stevens | May 15, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Aging, Direct Experience, Generations, Humanism, Inclusion, Relationships, Secular
  • This Lamentation is for two voices: one white, and one person of color/indigenous (POCI). Both voices invite people to repeat a refrain several times: white voices say, “So much has been lost,” and voices of color say, “Beloved, you must not be defensive when you hear our hurt.” The latter,...
    Responsive Reading | By Erika Hewitt, Rebekah Savage | October 15, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Grief, History, Humanism, Listening, Multiculturalism, Pain, Personal Stories, Race/Ethnicity, Reconciliation, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • One: Despair is sapping our spirits, damaging our souls, hurting our hearts. Many: We need to be resurrected into hope, faith, and trust. Today, may we be resurrected. One: Violence is shortening our lives and robbing us of our joy. Many: We need to be resurrected into peace and its many blessings.
    Responsive Reading | By Amanda Udis-Kessler | September 12, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Brokenness, Despair, Direct Experience, Failure, Good Friday, Grace, Hope, Redemption, Salvation