To prepare for this Message for All Ages, you’ll need to do the following: remove a small white tea light from its aluminum casing make a fake candle out of a turnip or jicama: carefully peel and cut (adults only!) until your disc of turnip is the same size as the tea candle. (The aluminum case...

Spirit of Life, Spirit of Love, Spirit of Generosity, As we draw near to that quiet essential side of ourselves, may we open enough to consider the sacred choices we make each minute, each hour, each day that add up to a lifetime. Let us become aware that here is the place to be forgiven, and to...

Here we have come into this sacred space— quieter now with our readiness Hushed voices, hoping, trusting for so many things: For connection, for communion For inspiration, for information For healing, for wholeness, For words, for music, For celebration and consolation, Here we have come into thi...

Spirit of Love and Power, we are gathered today in beloved community that we might manifest in our lives the values and truths that we hold dear. Let us rejoice that we are together for this time is holy time, the transformation we seek is holy work, and the bonds that hold us together are sacred.

I wish I were like the trees, Who let their leaves go gracefully, without regret. Or the tumbling stream that flushes silt to sea, Exchanging murkiness for blessed clarity. Or the dandelion, who bows its head to the subtle breeze, Unleashing its future without fear or loss. Instead, I drive...

The following ritual—which could be used to honor a congregation's founders—is used at First Unitarian Church of Des Moines (IA) to honor decade(s) membership anniversaries. Those celebrating 10, 20, 30, etc. years of membership are invited on stage, given a rose for each decade of membership,...

Reader 1: The word courage comes from the Latin cor, which means heart. According to poet Mark Nepo, the original use of the word courage meant to stand by one’s core: a “striking concept that reinforces the belief found in almost all traditions that living from the Center is what enables us to...

A covenant is not a definition of a relationship; it is the framework for our relating. A covenant leaves room for chance and change, it is humble toward evolution. It claims: I will abide with you in this common endeavor, be present as best as I can in our becoming....

We, all of us, build houses for our dreams.. The masonry and lumber, glass and tiles, A solid form, wherein we see our hopes, A shelter and protection for our growth....

This is a congregation that gathers in faith. Not faith in one religion or one god or any one way. We gather in faith of the power of diversity, the power of love, and the hope of a world transformed by our care. We gather in faith in ourselves and those around us. Not a faith that requires...

We have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before us; the labyrinth is thoroughly known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god......

Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them....

There are different versions of this Middle Eastern folktale; this version is just one way to tell it. You can find storytelling tips on WorshipWeb, but this story is also followed by suggestions about integrating this story into worship....

This is a ritual of caring for one another, couched in terms of struggle and hope.

Torn and confused, lonely and enraged, I greet the new day with suspicion. Spirit of Life, show me the gate to healing. May I find in my hands the tools to craft a way through the pain. When even those tools fail me, may other hands reach out....