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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.

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Displaying 21 - 40 of 105

  • Last summer at General Assembly, I walked out of the sanctuary we had made from the convention center space. As tired as I was, I returned more and more to my deeply introverted default of self, and I passed a woman who had to stop to talk with me....
    Reflection | By Glen Thomas Rideout | May 10, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Direct Experience, History, Humanism, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Respect, Responsibility, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism
  • Our grief is a holy thing. It is that proof that another life touched ours in a profound way. It is the mark of love, the mark of connection, and the mark of a life well lived. We will mourn, we will cry, we will miss (Name)....
    Closing | By Tracie Barrett-Welser | April 25, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Death, Grief, Memorial Services, Relationships, Sacred
  • Late in his life, the philosopher Richard Rorty — a well-known atheist — was asked by an interviewer if he could define holy. Perhaps the interlocutor thought the aging and dying Rorty would be stumped by the question or would fall into some traditional language of reverence. But Rorty was not...
    Reading | By David Breeden | April 20, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Dignity, Hope, Humanism, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism
  • Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson, is a novel that takes the form of a letter or journal that a dying, elderly Congregationalist minister in Gilead, Iowa, writes to his 7-year old son in 1956 – written so that one day the boy will know something about his father’s life and character. In this passage...
    Reading | By Marilynne Robinson | March 10, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Animal Blessing, Animals, Awe, Calling, Christianity, Faith, Leadership, Ministry, Ordinations, Power, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder
  • "The soul is made of love and must ever strive to return to love. Therefore, it can never find rest nor happiness in other things. It must lose itself in love. By its very nature, it must seek God, who is love." —Mechthild of Magdeburg, 13th century Germany For twelve years, Daisy has been the...
    Reflection | By Jake Morrill | March 8, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Animals, Christianity, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, God, Imagination, Lent, Love, Nature, Presence, Sacred, Searching, Unitarian Universalism
  • Kristin Kany wrote this multi-voice poem in 2016 to be read by a group of "diverse moms." I am mother Mother 1: I am Mother Mother 2: I am Mother Mother(s) 3: I am Mother Mother 4: I am Mother Mother(s) 5: I am Mother Mother 6: I am Mother I am Mama, I am Mommy, I am Chinese, Jewish, African,...
    Affirmation | By Kristin Kany | March 7, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Children, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, Growth, Humanism, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Relationships, Sacred, Secular
  • Here is where we gather in the presence of the Sacred. Here is where we gather to experience the Holy Here is where, together, we face the unanswerable questions and acknowledge that not knowing is as sublime as it is frustrating....
    Opening | By Patricia Shelden | February 27, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Direct Experience, Diversity, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • Your gifts—whatever you discover them to be— can be used to bless or curse the world. The mind's power, the strength of the hands, the reaches of the heart, the gift of speaking, listening, imagining, seeing, waiting Any of these can serve to feed the hungry, bind up wounds, welcome the...
    Blessing | By Rebecca Ann Parker | February 9, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Brokenness, Choice, Community, Humanism, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Purpose, Sacred, Secular, Service, Seven Principles, Unitarian Universalism
  • How does it happen? this transformation....
    Opening | By Everett Howe | February 1, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Business Meetings, Community, Direct Experience, Humanism, Inclusion, Interdependence, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • The winter solstice is a time to look back upon our ancestors, gather our family and friends close, and rejoice in the return of the sun. It is a time of renewed hope and a time of resurrection – for just as Arianrhod’s Wheel turns and the Oak King resumes his rightful place, so must we go on.
    Meditation | By Andrea Hawkins-Kamper | January 10, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Connections, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Paganism, Sacred, Spirituality, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • This is the key to the mystery, The Word became flesh.
    Poetry | By Rebecca Ann Parker | December 1, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Awe, Body, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, God, Immanence, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder
  • Today, we're thankful for you and what you bring to our church. Your spirit, talents, generosity, imagination, and dedication reaffirm our fellowship and create our Beloved Community. Our heartfelt thanks to you on this day and for all days to come. For those who embrace Thanksgiving as a day to...
    Blessing | By Gwen Matthews | November 30, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Abundance, Caring, Community, Family, Gratitude, Grief, Humanism, Love, Oppression, Sacred, Secular, Sorrow, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism
  • Gather we now into this space, this time when the Wheel turns and the Veil shatters. Gather we now to remember, to grieve, to prophesy, to complete our harvests before the Long Dark comes. Gather we now to tell the Old Stories and sing the Old Songs, to be as we have always been —the Voice of our...
    Invocation | By Andrea Hawkins-Kamper | October 26, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), All Souls Day, Autumnal Equinox, Community, Connections, Día de los Muertos, Earth-Centered, Generations, Halloween, Interdependence, Paganism, Reverence, Sacred, Samhain, Spirituality, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism
  • This ritual provides an opportunity for people to bless one another, look into other's eyes with respect and acknowledge the sacredness within. People may participate while seated or standing or may choose to sit in silent meditation or prayer instead. We travel together on a search for meaning,...
    Blessing | By Lyn Cox | September 25, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Abundance, Community, Connections, Diversity, Generosity, Gratitude, Inclusion, Journey, Presence, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism
  • My friends, when you go from here know that our hearts are always in a holy place, for we are always connected to one another. Know that deep down, our hearts beat in one universal rhythm. May we each find the sacred space to hear it.
    Benediction | By Israel Buffardi | September 22, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Arts & Music, Community, Connections, Love, Music Sunday, Sacred, Unity, Valentine's Day
  • "I remove my shoes because this is hallowed ground," the guide says. "A holy place, not an everyday life place." The guide tells us how we know—or think we know—it was the one and not the other for those people millennia ago. But aren’t the places where we live holy ground? Don’t our very...
    Meditation | By Lisa Doege | August 24, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Direct Experience, Discernment, Earth-Centered, Humility, Imagination, Indigenous American, Sacred, Searching, Spirituality, Wisdom
  • In a world ravaged by violence, by hatred, by conflicts that seem eternal and insoluble, sometimes the only thinbg we can do is be still for a moment to remind ourselves what is real: the sun that rose this morning, the dirt under our feet, the air whispering in and out of our lungs....
    Opening | By Elena Westbrook | August 8, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Mindfulness, Presence, Sacred, Simplicity, Spiritual Practice
  • Come, come, whoever you are. Do you hear that voice calling you, calling us? That voice which calls us together here today in this room made holy by our presence and by the sacred breath we share in our singing and speaking and silence....
    Invocation | By Ian W. Riddell | July 30, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Awe, Community, Connections, Direct Experience, Hospitality, Interdependence, Sacred, Unity, Wonder
  • Desire and sexuality are not held in high regard by many of the world’s religious traditions today. And sex? Don’t even go there! As extremism rises, desires are seen as objects of suppression while bodies become things to control. The Greeks first articulated this idea of separation of the...
    Reading | By Robin Tanner | March 2, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Christianity, Direct Experience, Intimacy, Islam, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Sacred, Secular, Sexuality
  • One day, your church was born. Maybe it was a gathering of saints, called together for the common worship of a wrathful god, ceaselessly praying between bouts of decrying the evil of Christmas or dancing. Or maybe a few brave souls answered a notice in the newspaper, curiosity piqued by the...
    Reading | By Sean Neil-Barron | February 26, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Building/Space Dedication, Business Meetings, Change, Child Dedication, Community, Creativity, Direct Experience, Generations, Installations, Leadership, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Purpose, Religion, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb

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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.

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