Throughout the year (or sometimes just once a year), our congregations hold services to honor the newest members of the congregation. This celebration invites those who have recently “signed the book” to come before the congregation with the minister or worship leader. The new members might share a responsive reading with the congregation or recite a bond of fellowship or covenant together. The focus on membership might be a small part of the overall worship service, or the theme of membership might pervade the entire service.

From Tapestry of Faith Curricula

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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14

  • We are the recipients of an incredible gift and a beautiful vision.
    Offering | By Alice Anacheka-Nasemann | December 12, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: All Souls Day, Building/Space Dedication, Canvass/Pledge, Commitment, Generations, Gratitude, History, Homecoming / Ingathering, Humanism, Leadership, New Member Ceremony, Samhain, Vision, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • We are not automatic lovers of self, others, world, or God. Love does not just happen.
    Quote | By Carter Heyward | February 7, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Choice, Commitment, Direct Experience, Love, New Member Ceremony, Relationships, Valentine's Day, Weddings and Commitment Ceremonies
  • Welcome, you questioners, seekers of Truth with a capital T, pilgrims longing for sanctuary, travelers needing harbor from the storm. Welcome, those who are holding on by a thread, determined breakers of the chains of loneliness and isolation....
    Welcome | By Rachel Rott | October 27, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Community, Homecoming / Ingathering, Living Our Faith, New Member Ceremony, Universalism
  • 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...
    Affirmation | By Erika Hewitt | August 8, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), All Souls Day, Direct Experience, Generations, History, Humanism, Identity, Installations, New Member Ceremony, New Year, Secular
  • It is not by chance that you arrived here today. You have been looking for something larger than yourself. Inside of you there is a yearning, a calling, a hope for more, A desire for a place of belonging and caring. Through your struggles, someone nurtured you into being, Instilling a belief in a...
    Opening | By Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson | September 14, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Abundance, Acceptance, Caring, Coming Out, Commitment, Community, Flower Communion, Home, Homecoming / Ingathering, New Member Ceremony, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion
  • Come, let us enter this space of hope and community. Come, let us enter this space with our sorrows, our joys, our passion and compassion. Come. let us enter this space with the stories of our ancestors, for their strength and wisdom beats in our hearts....
    Opening | By Katie Romano Griffin | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Community Ministry Sunday, Connections, Generations, History, Homecoming / Ingathering, Humanism, Interdependence, New Member Ceremony, Purpose, Scout Sunday, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Vision, Water Communion
  • Often people say that they love coming to a place with so many like-minded people. I know just what they are getting at -- and I know that they aren’t getting it quite right. I don’t want to be with a bunch of people who think just like me. I want to be in a beloved community where I don’t...
    Affirmation | By Dana E Worsnop | March 23, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Business Meetings, Commitment, Community, Integrity, Interdependence, New Member Ceremony, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Purpose, Unitarian Universalism
  • Today, you join in membership. This is a moment of excitement and possibility. And although I don’t wish to pull you out of this moment, I need to talk to you for a bit about a moment in your future....
    Reading | By Liz James | February 11, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Commitment, Community, Covenant, Inclusion, Living Our Faith, New Member Ceremony, Reconciliation, Relationships, Strength, Teamwork, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb
  • As drops of rain that find each other and build to become a track, a rivulet, a stream, a river, a sea, so are we drawn together; so are we fortunate to find each other; so are we bound together, on this shared passage toward an unknown ocean and eternity.
    Affirmation | By Elizabeth Lerner Maclay | September 15, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Connections, Earth, Earth-Centered, Homecoming / Ingathering, Nature, New Member Ceremony, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Water Communion, WorshipWeb
  • New Member Covenant (new members recite in unison) We enter this faith with hope and possibility in our hearts, pledging to participate in and support the ministries of this church. We covenant to remain true to the spirit of love that flows through this church and guides us....
    Ritual | By Manish Mishra-Marzetti | February 18, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: New Member Ceremony, Unitarian Universalism
  • Minister: Today, we welcome into our community these new members, who have chosen to make a commitment to this congregation by signing our Membership Book....
    Ritual | By Laura Randall | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Commitment, Community, Covenant, Identity, Living Our Faith, New Member Ceremony, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • In this religious community we reach back into the past to honor those who came before us and those who have given much so that we may be here today. And we reach forward with hands of welcome to embrace those who have newly joined our Fellowship....
    Closing | By Thomas Rhodes | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Direct Experience, Generations, Gratitude, New Member Ceremony, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • Here in this church, human beings have gathered for centuries seeking a higher purpose and deeper life than they could find alone. We are grateful today for each one of you, that you have found your way here, and that you have decided to make a commitment to this faith community. We hope that as...
    Reading | By Victoria Weinstein | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: New Member Ceremony
  • President: We at ______ welcome you as new members of our community this morning. You have come to worship, play, work and grow among us. Ours is a free fellowship; we have no creeds and you are free to bring your ideas and beliefs to this fellowship to share with others....
    Ritual | By Sarah C Stewart | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Children, Commitment, Community, Family, Inclusion, New Member Ceremony, Unitarian Universalism