The purple WorshipWeb logo

To search for resources that support March's Soul Matter theme of Transformation, toggle the red arrow below and search for Spiritual Themes of: Transformation, Change, Endings, Beginnings, Searching.

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 2051 - 2100 of 3078

  • A tale of salvation, ecology, and sharing. Characters Narrator Noelle Voice in a dream Noelle’s sisters Jane, Rain, and Elaine Friendly farmer(s) Ship builder(s) Numerous animals: dogs, cats, mice, cows, horses, frogs, etc. Act 1 (Noelle at center stage, sitting, covered in blanket and appearing...
    Story | By Christian Schmidt | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, Children's Sabbath, Christianity, Direct Experience, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Environment, God, Interdependence, Justice Sunday, Service, Water Communion
  • We ask blessings on this, our church home. May this building be a tool to continue the good work of our helping hands, our loving hearts, and open minds. May this home be safe harbor for all who sail upon the sea of Life, and a beacon of hope to those on rough waters....
    Blessing | By Jennifer Stokes | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Building/Space Dedication, Commitment, Community, Empathy, Generosity, Gratitude, Home, Responsibility, Reverence, Stewardship, Vision, WorshipWeb
  • "Why a flaming chalice?” the question comes. It’s the cup of life, we answer. A cup of blessings overflowing. A cup of water to quench our spirits’ thirst. A cup of wine for celebration and dedication. The flame of truth. The fire of purification. Oil for anointing, healing. Out of chaos,...
    Chalice Lighting | By Lisa Doege | January 22, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anger, Anti-Oppression, Beliefs & Principles, Brokenness, Courage, Disaster or Crisis, Healing, Oppression, Solidarity, Sorrow, Tradition, Truth
  • O light of life, Be kindled again in our hearts As we meet together this morning To celebrate the joy of human community Seeking a wholeness that extends beyond ourselves.
    Chalice Lighting | By Sam Trumbore | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Community, Connections, Faith, Gratitude, Inclusion, Joy, Sacred, Strength, Wholeness
  • Leader: Every endeavor begins with a first step, and encounters darkness and difficulty along the way. Response: We know the darkness of ignorance, of fear, and of tyranny. Leader: Yet we know the dawning of the light, the beginnings of hope, and the renewal of life....
    Chalice Lighting | By Charles F Flagg | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Challenge, Courage, Discernment, Doubt, Faith, Fear, Hope, Journey, Palm Sunday, Power
  • Fill your heart like a vessel with the Christmas spirit. Take the time to let your vision clear and your concern deepen. Allow your heart to overflow with all the authentic gifts that this season has to offer....
    Meditation | By Donna Morrison-Reed | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas
  • We’ve begun a new ritual around our dinner table in which each member of the family takes a minute or two to name what he or she has been grateful for. No matter how yucky our day has been, we try to offer our gratitude in the spirit of kindness and real thankfulness. Often, the ritual’s nicest...
    Reading | By Jane E Mauldin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Forgiveness, Gratitude
  • Like most traumatic scars, the ones that are found in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are permanent: reminders of the terrible damage human beings can inflict. Similar scars can be found in the hearts and souls of people around the world who understand this terror: scars of grief, sadness, fear and even...
    Prayer | By William G. Sinkford | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: America, Direct Experience, Hiroshima Day, Interdependence, Multiculturalism, Peace, Purpose, War
  • In this time of loss In this time of asking why We light a flame of sharing We light a flame of commitment. In this time of why We light this flame Sign of our searching Sign of our sharing Sign that together we remember Together we ask why Together in sadness and joy We share light. Together we...
    Chalice Lighting | By David Breeden | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Community, Death, Generosity, Grief, Identity, Joy, Sacrifice, Searching, Sorrow
  • The following meditation will begin and end with the sound of the mindfulness bell. breathing in i am aware of my pain. breathing out i am aware that i am not my pain. breathing in i am aware of my past. breathing out i am aware that i am not my past. breathing in i am aware of my anger....
    Meditation | By Nathan C. Walker | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Body, Buddhism, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Discernment, Healing, Health, Kindness, Mindfulness, Peace, Presence
  • Many of the past generation and many of today have found three abiding values in prayer: the quiet meditation on life, the reaching out toward the universal and the infinite, and the courageous facing of one's profoundest wishes....
    Meditation | By Sophia Lyon Fahs | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children
  • If you woke this morning with a sorrow so heavy that you need the help of this community to carry it; or if you woke with a joy so great that it simply must be shared, now is the time for you to speak....
    Ritual | By Judy Welles | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Joy, Listening, Presence, Sorrow, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability
  • Come we now out of the darkness of our unknowing and the dusk of our dreaming; Come we now from far places. Come we now into the twilight of our awakening and the reflection of our gathering. Come we now all together. We bring, unilluminated, our dark caves of doubting; We seek, unbedazzled, the...
    Chalice Lighting | By Annie Foerster | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Despair, Earth-Centered, Hope, Hospitality, Nature, Shadow, Spirituality, Transformation, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • We light this chalice to celebrate the inherent worth and dignity of every person; To reaffirm the historic pledge of liberal religion to seek that justice which transcends mere legality and moves toward the resolution of true equality; And to share that love which is ultimately beyond even our...
    Chalice Lighting | By Steve Stock | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Community, Dignity, Equity, Justice, Love, Mystery, Purpose, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Worth
  • Take from life its coals, not its ashes. Fan the flames of love and justice; join hands and hearts in common endeavor; and there will be no limit to what we can achieve together.
    Chalice Lighting | By Laurel S Sheridan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Abundance, Activism, Challenge, Commitment, Connections, Justice, Love, Purpose, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • Leader: Spring, the triumph of light over darkness, Response: Victory of newness and growth, and warmth vanquishing cold, Leader: We, too, know coldness and darkness within us, as it is in our world....
    Reading | By Charles F Flagg | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Vernal Equinox
  • Our prophets died for the freedom of faith; We are here in their spirit. We are here to practice and sustain our living tradition; To light a chalice, Claiming for justice The heat and power of fire....
    Chalice Lighting | By Heather K Janules | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Community, Connections, Faith, Freedom, History, Love, Sacred, Tradition, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism
  • Please join me now in a litany for the season. I invite you to respond with the words, “We remember. We forgive. We love.” For gifts we yearned for, but did not receive… For things we received, but never wanted… For those who offered us cheer when what we needed was comfort… For those who...
    Reading | By Peter Friedrichs | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas
  • Every week we gather in this beautiful space to find peace. Each week words and music offer and celebrate peace with the hope of instilling it in us. Now, take the peace you have found here, back out into the world with you. Renewed in our faith and inspired to act, Let us be the peacemakers the...
    Closing | By Sam Trumbore | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Peace
  • Reading Isaiah 58:1-12 (excerpt) Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet!Announce to my people their sins. Day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness… Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and...
    Sermon | By Kathleen McTigue | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Economy
  • Listen! This is a noisy world. You may have heard of the story of a dispute in the student union of one university. It seems "the presence of a juke box...disrupted conversation. Conversationalists petitioned for removal of the offending machine....
    Reading | By Richard S. Gilbert | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Listening
  • Last Sunday morning I picked up the phone in the office at the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, LA. After I said, "Good morning, Unitarian Church," a woman's voice said, "Good morning! Can you tell me what the topic is this morning?" Uh-oh. I thought real fast and said, "The topic is, "COME TO...
    Reading | By Victoria Weinstein | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Commitment, Connections, Direct Experience, Faith, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships
  • I grew up as the heavily-committed eldest child of an American Baptist minister in the 50's. Committed, that is, to self-preservation, staying out of trouble with our small town and my family, and having fun within safe parameters, namely, church activities. I never felt particularly committed to...
    Reading | By Elizabeth Ketcham | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Christianity, God, Playfulness, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Reason, Revelation, Reverence, Unitarian Universalism
  • In the presence of these flowers,These representatives of Creation's profound beauty:Diverse and Unique, but Related and Interdependent,These flowers which come to us as gifts from we know not whereAnd which we, in turn, choose to bring to our shared and common altarAs gifts to one anotherIn thei...
    Meditation | By William G. Sinkford | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Flower Communion
  • Earlier this week I was speaking with a member of the church about the sermon I was going to deliver today. She said to me, “What’s the big deal?” This one’s easy. All you have to say is: “You have money. We need money. Give us your money. Then we can all go home.” So, you have money. We...
    Sermon | By Peter Friedrichs | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Canvass/Pledge, Generosity
  • A complete service for Children's Sabbath, with Homily by Pat Hoertdoerfer. Chalice Lighting We gather this hour as people of faith With joys and sorrows; gifts and needs. We light this beacon of hope, Sign of our quest for truth and meaning, In celebration of the life we share together. Opening...
    Complete Service | By Patricia Hoertdoerfer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children's Sabbath
  • Welcome all you saints! Yes! You are saints, all of you are saints, for it is not by perfection that we are sainted, rather it is by our actions. It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our presence. It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our giving....
    Meditation | By Susan Brown | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: All Saints Day, Halloween, Samhain
  • I hate goodbyes. I hate everything about them. It bothers me that “goodbye” isn’t really what I think we most often want to say. When those I love leave me, or I leave them, goodbye isn’t what I want to say. I want to tell them that their warm hand on my cheek, which caught my desperate...
    Reading | By Kaaren Solveig Anderson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Change, Ending, Letting Go
  • Ministry is a quality of relationship between and among human beings that beckons forth hidden possibilities; inviting people into deeper, more constant, more reverent relationship with the world and with one another; carrying forward a long heritage of hope and liberation that has dignified and...
    Reading | By Gordon B McKeeman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Compassion, Healing, Installations, Leadership, Ordinations, Presence, Service, Teacher Dedication, Unitarian Universalism
  • I love to pray, to go deep down into the silence: To strip myself of all pride, selfishness, and coldness of heart; To peel off thought after thought, passion after passion, till I reach the genuine depths of all; To remember how short a time ago I was nothing,and in how short a time again I will...
    Meditation | By David O. Rankin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: God, Immanence, Presence
  • Among the most accomplished and fabled tribes of Africa, no tribe was considered to have warriors more fearsome or more intelligent than the mighty Masai....
    Reading | By Patrick T O'Neill | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Child Dedication, Children, Children's / Religious Education Sunday, Children's Sabbath, Commitment, Community, Family, Fathers, Generations, International, Mothers, New Child, Relationships
  • What can we say about Rudolph? He was excluded by other reindeer. They did not let him play with them. We may feel confident that they made fun of him and his red nose. It is possible that they hurt poor Rudolph. He was on the outside. The other reindeer had a special relationship with Santa Claus.
    Story | By Edward Harris | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Diversity
  • The Woman Who Outshone the SunThe Legend of Lucia Zenteno Characters Narrator Lucia Zenteno (older child or adult) Iguana (small child) Water (several) Fish (several) Otters (several) Townspeople-elders and children (several) Props Long, flowing, bright skirt with pinned on flowers and butterflie...
    Story | By Nancy Jilk | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Diversity, Earth Day, Forgiveness
  • This light unites us. This light unites us with our neighbors, Our friends and our enemies. Most importantly, This light unites us within ourselves. Our hearts, Our souls, Our spirits. This light unites us. —First Parish, Bedford, Massachusetts, Coming of Age participant...
    Chalice Lighting | By Rebecca Pankhurst | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Coming of Age, Community, Diversity, Healing, Reconciliation, Relationships, Sacred, Unity, Wholeness
  • The element of fire represents passion, veracity, authenticity, and vitality. If the chalice is the supporting structure of Unitarian Universalism, then we are the flame....
    Chalice Lighting | By Sarah Lammert | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Challenge, Commitment, Community, Compassion, Freedom, Living Our Faith, Love, Power, Truth, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability
  • Reverently I offer this symbol of our hope and high intent. Reverently I bequeath this flame to you. This is the light that is lit for everyone who comes into the world. Bear this light to others, one by one. Let the flame go from life to life till all is lit with its warmth. Tell that the light...
    Chalice Lighting | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, History, Hope, Inclusion, Interdependence, Kindness, Reverence, Sacrifice, Seven Principles, Vision, Wisdom
  • Our Unitarian heritage bids us light our chalice In the name of freedom, In the light of reason, In actions of tolerance. We gather in community to celebrate a heritage of freedom, reason, and tolerance....
    Chalice Lighting | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: History, Unitarian Universalism
  • Fire and water, ancient opposites Sun and ocean, the cradle of life Dancing flame and dancing river— We invoke them together today As we kindle our chalice flame.
    Chalice Lighting | By Laura Horton-Ludwig | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Earth, Earth-Centered, Immanence, Interdependence, Nature, Paganism, Peace, Playfulness, Reverence, Sacred, Transcendence
  • Divine spark from sacred dark Symbol of our holy intent Illuminate this hour.
    Chalice Lighting | By Kathy A Huff | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Discernment, Grace, Growth, Immanence, Meaning, Presence, Revelation, Reverence, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder
  • Deep calls unto deep, joy calls unto joy, light calls unto light. Let the kindling of this flame rekindle in us the inner light of love, of peace, of hope. And "as one flame lights another, nor grows the less,” we pledge ourselves to be bearers of the light, wherever we are.
    Chalice Lighting | By Gordon B McKeeman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Calling, Caring, Commitment, Community, Covenant, Hope, Journey, Joy, Love, Peace
  • Blessed is the fire that burns deep in the soul. It is the flame of the human spirit touched into being by the mystery of life. It is the fire of reason; the fire of compassion; the fire of community; the fire of justice; the fire of faith....
    Chalice Lighting | By Eric A Heller-Wagner | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Compassion, Faith, Justice, Love, Mystery, Reason, Reverence, Sacred, Worth
  • At this hour, in small towns and big cities, in single rooms and ornate sanctuaries, many of our sibling Unitarian Universalist congregations are also lighting a flaming chalice. As we light our chalice today, let us remember that we are part of a great community of faith. May this dancing flame...
    Chalice Lighting | By Judith L Quarles | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Calling, Community, Connections, Faith, Hope, Interdependence, Justice, Love, Presence, Unitarian Universalism
  • As we light this chalice We take those little sparks Glowing within all of us And combine them to create this flame. —First Parish, Bedford, MA, Coming of Age participant...
    Chalice Lighting | By Jamie Dorer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Coming of Age, Coming-of-Age, Community, Growth, Living Our Faith, Responsibility, Strength, Truth, Unity, Wholeness
  • As frozen earth holds the determined seed, this sacred space holds our weariness, our worry, our laughter and our celebration. Let us bring seed and soul into the light of thought, the warmth of community, and the hope of love. Let us see together, hear together, love together. Let us worship.
    Chalice Lighting | By Laura Wallace | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Community, Earth, Faith, Growth, Hope, Joy, Love, Sacred, Worry
  • (May be read responsively) We light this chalice to affirm that new light is ever waiting to break through to enlighten our ways: That new truth is ever waiting to break through to illumine our minds: And that new love is ever waiting to break through to warm our hearts. May we be open to this...
    Chalice Lighting | By Charles A. Howe | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Birth, Calling, Grace, Growth, Healing, Hope, Listening, Love, Truth, Vision, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • We light our flaming chalice To illuminate the world we seek. In the search for truth, may we be just; In the search for justice, may we be loving; And, in loving, may we find peace.
    Chalice Lighting | By Elizabeth M McMaster | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Justice, Love, Peace, Purpose, Truth, Vision
  • To face the world's shadows, a chalice of light.
    Chalice Lighting | By Lindsay Bates | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Courage, Peace
  • We pray for the peace not past understanding: The peace of children laughing and students quietly studying, Of young women dancing and men flirting beneath the stars. The peace not past understanding: Where no gunfire disrupts the night, Where girls can walk downtown and not be afraid, Where boys...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Peace
  • Each of us will be grateful this Thanksgiving in differing ways, Gathered in our separate families, Each with our own distinct recipes, customs and traditions; For some will have pies of mince, And others of pumpkin or apple; And some will dine early And some sit down late to the meal, Passing on...
    Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: America, Family, Food, Generations, Gratitude, Secular, Thanksgiving
  • There is a living web that runs through us To all the universe Linking us each with each and through all life On to the distant stars. Each knows a little corner of the world, and lives As if this were his all....
    Meditation | By Robert T Weston | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Connections

Search Options

  • worship component, like chalice lighting or prayer
  • tags include spiritual themes (like hope, winter, anti-oppression or trust), UU Principle, and holiday, holy day, or other occasion: (holiday pages)
  • keyword searches the title, page text, tags, and author names
  • author: list of authors

Using the Site Search Box

You can also use the search box in the upper right corner of any page.

Give Credit to Authors

Our authors and artists have granted permission for use by Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) member congregations for any worship service, including printing materials, projecting onto screens, or including in audio/video podcasts. Thank you for crediting the author or artist.

WorshipWeb's Origin Story

Conceived in 1999, WorshipWeb was implemented in late 2000 and 2001 through funding from the Unitarian Universalist Association's successful 1997 "Handing on the Future" capital fund campaign.

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association and its members in the development of WorshipWeb.