Based on the theology of Creative Interchange, this training is for teams who have the honor of co-creating meaning while shaping the worship experience of the congregation.

Every relationship is an ongoing story that unfolds between people.

What’s your most memorable story about getting lost? What do you remember about finding your way home?

Celebrate 100 Years of the Flower Ceremony! The first Flower Ceremony was held in Prague, in June 2023, led by Rev. Norbert Čapek.

Of all the things "faith" can mean, to me it means believing in us.

If you’re trying to build a worship service that's anti-racist and decenters whiteness, you start in one spot.

We are mourning the dead and fighting for the living. We're singing for joy and striving for meaning.

I need to celebrate our human family, whose power and potential shimmer against the backdrop of deep time, because we aren’t at our best right now.

Church is for helping people stay human in the face of inhumane circumstances.

When we learn to dismantle the markers and habits of white supremacy in our worship life, we get free together.

May I have the wisdom to be curious when I find myself grumbling about “them.”

To be a Unitarian Universalist means we’ll never be done with the work.

I feel disoriented when I’m in a new place or situation and can’t figure out whether the rules are real or imaginary.

The chalice, as a symbol of Unitarian Universalism, arose as a beacon of hope in an atmosphere of tyranny. The chalice arose as a sign of promise that the marginalized would neither be forgotten nor ignored, because they are beloved and precious from the perspective of the Holy. This morning, we...

The most life-giving coping strategy—for me—is to attune to a voice calmer and wiser than mine, and allow that seeking to be its own expression of faith.

Please note that these selections are intended to ease our collective transition into the sometimes confusing world of online worship. They're shared in the spirit of supplementing your existing resources and should not be interpreted or used to justify decreasing the wages or positions of...

Many Unitarian Universalist congregations and communities are choosing to livestream their worship services during the pandemic so that members can connect to their faith community at a familiar time. Creating online worship—whether it's live or recorded—involves a series of learning curves,...

In this community, we hold hope close. We don’t always know what comes next, but that cannot dissuade us. We don’t always know just what to do, but that will not mean that we are lost in the wilderness. We rely on the certainty beneath, the foundation of our values and ethics. —Rev. Theresa I.

Vibrant, thriving congregations arise from a meaningful worship life—which is based on the presence & energy that its leaders bring to worship. In this post, we’ll explore practices and skills that empower worship leaders to strengthen and deepen worship. Beginning Assumptions When people are in...

We can be cheerleaders for simple joys (even when we don't share them) and compassionate about the fact that we’re all just trying to survive.

Although the German word Giftschrank sounds like a quirky holiday tradition, the term is really a combination of the words poison and cabinet....

In her 1975 theological treatise Suffering, German liberation theologian Dorothee Söelle* examines the ways that suffering can knit humans beings closer together, and can draw us more fully into the process of loving. She uses the term apatheia, “the inability to suffer,” to describe the...

Reader 1: In 1637, the white settlers in what was to become the town of Dedham, Massachusetts, wanted to start a church. What they longed for was sincere religious association based in love, and founded in freedom. Reader 2: The idea of a free church took shape among the people—a church whose...

This ritual entails having an empty vase on the altar, and cut flowers. It's especially meaningful to have founders or other "pillars" of the congregation have flowers with them in the service, and to have the congregation's children bring those flowers forward and put them in the vase (perhaps...

Worship that’s overly predictable can also feel stale. What’s more, UU religious professionals of color, in particular, have pointed out that an unchanging, linear order of service and allegiance to time limits are both constructs of whiteness. Using the same liturgy (whose greek roots mean...

"We are the people who return to love like a North Star and to the truth that we are greater together than we are alone." —Rev. Theresa Soto, in "We Hold Hope Close" I spend a lot of my Saturday evenings feeling awkward at wedding receptions, because most guests don’t want to talk to The...

Think of where you feel safe and at peace. What’s the signal that tells you it’s okay to be at peace? (Ask for answers.) For people in the United States military, there’s a special signal that says “you’re okay, and you’re at peace.” It's a melody called "Taps," and it's only 24 notes...

This Message for All Ages requires its leader to feel comfortable soliciting answers from the congregation—both children and adults—and then reframe or summarize each response for all to hear. Will you play a game of “Let’s Pretend” with me? It goes like this: You’re on a television game...

Despite being warmly welcomed over and over by the greeters, by the family sitting behind me, and by the lead pastor, I couldn’t shake that “guest” feeling.

To offer hospitality, we first have to identify ourselves — sometimes in inconvenient or uncomfortable ways — as helpers; as willing to offer kindness or connection to someone we might disagree with.

In our congregations, how often do we assume that preachers, music directors, and other worship leaders are there to fulfill our personal preferences?

This service was written by Rev. Clyde Grubbs and Mary Jane Holden, and adapted by Erika Hewitt. It uses readers—as many as ten, plus the Worship Leader—to tell the story of the Civil Rights movement as it unfolded over the course of a decade. This story was designed to be read while photos were...

This message for all ages involves two people, one of whom will need to bring forward a broken mug, plate, or bowl. These two leaders might hold a private rehearsal so that, in worship, this feels natural and playful — and yet meaningful....

We lean in expectation into all that is being born in us at this Holy time of the year...

May love guide us and be a creating force in our lives.

During Advent, we listen and keep vigil for the promise of things to come.

May this time of waiting inspire our courage.

Week by week, the candles remind us that fear and hopelessness recede as more warmth enters the world.

This is the season of endings and beginnings.

"How complicated it is to break silence: to open all of the secrets in all of our broken hearts. But silence does break; truth seeks the light. We're unraveling silence because we have determined that our power with one another is greater than the power someone once had over us."

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,...

The offering that we take each Sunday isn't just a stale habit: it's an opportunity to recommit to this place, and to this people. Our offering is an affirmation—a “yes.” When we give, we say yes to something we value. With our gifts, freely given, may we say yes to the values of our faith.

Failing to use a microphone is a form of exclusion. “When I’m excluded, I feel weary, frustrated, and invisible."

We carry bags with us throughout the week for many reasons. (If you have a bag with you, and you want to have it blessed, please bring it forward, send it forward with a helper, or lift up your bag when you hear me describe you.) Some of us take books and homework to school Some of us bring our...

Going to my gym taught me how leaders can create a climate of acceptance, encouragement, and empowerment for newcomers.

Leader: We know that hurt moves through the world, perpetrated by action, inaction, and indifference. Our values call us to live in the reality of the heartbreak of our world, remembering that: Congregation: “No one is outside the circle of love.” L: We who are Unitarian Universalist not only...

This Releasing of Covenant was created to end the final worship service of a settled ministry. Minister: For [number] years you have offered me your free pulpit and the freedom of creativity in worship, gifts for which I’m grateful. I hereby return the ministry of worship to your able hands. Use...

”If we don’t find a way to transform our pain, we will always transmit it to those around us or turn it against ourselves… If your religion is not teaching you how to recognize, hold, and transform suffering, it is junk religion.” —Fr. Richard Rohr People are in pain all around us, all of...

There we were, two strangers idling at the red light―but I felt seen, and blessed, by a stranger.

“Everything around us and within us is made up of energy particles that are woven together into a universal tapestry. Since everything is connected, there is an intimate relationship between the atomic space around and within me, and the atomic space around and within you — regardless of where...