Closing words bring the service to an end and prepare people to return home. If the service has been thematically tied together, the words can be a summation, a parting thought, a final nugget for people to reflect on throughout the week.

Benediction comes from the Latin, to speak well or the good words, and are a final blessing on the community. Benedictions are a blessing: words of comfort, strength, and encouragement for the week to come.

Search Words for Worship Services

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 28

  • Let us remember that we are not alone until we light this flame next time.
    Chalice Extinguishing | By Ben Atherton-Zeman | December 11, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Community, Connections, Relationships, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • We leave this gathered community, But we don’t leave our connection, Our concerns, our care for each other. Our service to each other, to the world, and to our faith continues. Until we are together again, friends, Be strong, be well, be true, be loving.
    Benediction | By Cynthia Landrum | April 7, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #COVID19, Community, Connections, Love, Communication
  • It is our work, shared with each other in covenant, That creates and sustains this beloved community. We extinguish this chalice, but its light lives on in the directions we have chosen today. The light of this faith lives on in us, together, in our hearts, minds, bodies and spirits. Amen and...
    Chalice Extinguishing | By Krista Taves | January 31, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Community, Connections, Covenant, Faith, Growth, Interdependence, Relationships, Vision
  • We are on a journey. We didn’t plan it. We didn’t have time for the bread to rise. We may find ourselves in the wilderness, hungry, thirsty, Doubting that we should have ever come. But look around: We are not alone. It is our journey together: A journey to our better selves, A journey to a...
    Closing | By Debra Haffner | July 4, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Community, Connections, Courage, Doubt, Journey, Judaism, Passover (Pesach)
  • May whatever gatherings or activities we engage in this Sunday afternoon help restore us — our connections to one another; our sense of hope, beauty, and fun in this world; our deep knowing that we have to take care of ourselves and each other with love and joy if we are to soulfully survive the...
    Benediction | By Heather Rion Starr | April 13, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Balance, Connections, Direct Experience, Joy, Playfulness, Presence, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • I invite you to rise in body or in spirit, and join hands with your neighbors. Hands touch hands. These hands you hold now, once held _________’s hands. Hand by hand we touch those who are here with us, and those who are no longer with us. And hand over hand, we touch all of humanity. Let our...
    Benediction | By Matt Alspaugh | April 6, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Death, Memorial Services, Relationships
  • This was written for Christmas Eve, or other occasions when people are each holding a candle. The spirit of the holy dwells in each of us. The spirit of love dwells in each of us. May the flames in our hands remind us that Eternal Love dwells in our hearts....
    Benediction | By Renee Ruchotzke | January 1, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Connections, Immanence, Love, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder
  • May the next ten days be days of reflection, introspection, and peace.
    Closing | By Debra Haffner | September 29, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Connections, Judaism, Letting Go, Rosh Hashanah
  • 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
  • Become aware of the hands that you are holding: their warmth, texture, and weight. As an infant, these same hands reached out for the nourishment of milk. As a child, these hands shakily wrote a name on paper for the first time....
    Closing | By Amy Bowden Freedman, Keith Kron | June 1, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Connections, Direct Experience, Growth, Justice, Purpose, Service, Work
  • We all emerge from Dwell within Are transformed by And called back to Love. May your mind be humbled before this Mystery. May your heart grow hopeful by it. May you be sustained by this Love always.
    Benediction | By Eric Williams | February 27, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Love, Mystery, Reverence, Universalism
  • May you be filled with the blessings of this covenanted community. May you carry them with you as you depart from here. May you discover the places in the world where these blessings are needed. May you have the courage to share them....
    Closing | By Eric Williams | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Relationships, Service
  • As we leave this hallowed place, may our feet remember its feel, So that wherever we walk, we know ourselves to be on hallowed ground. May we know that we are kin with every soul, every star, every stone and leaf of grass. And may our words be gentle and our touch be kind. Blessed be.
    Closing | By Amy Zucker Morgenstern | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Reverence
  • 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
  • To act so that our empathy is evident wherever we go—that's the object.
    Closing | By David Hicks MacPherson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Connections, Purpose
  • Because of those who came before, we are;in spite of their failings, we believe;because of, and in spite of, the horizons of their vision,we, too, dream.Let us go remembering to praise,to live in the moment,to love mightily,to bow to the mystery.(No.680, Singing the Living Tradition)...
    Closing | By Barbara J Pescan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Generations, Purpose, Tradition, Vision
  • To pass the peace is a revolutionary act. It means to trust the outsider we fear, to wish well those who have hurt us; and to forgive at last ourselves. To offer the blessing to those around you is to love your neighbor and yourself and to be at peace with God. Pax vobiscum. Peace. Peace.
    Closing | By Clarke Dewey Wells | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Connections, Forgiveness, God, Peace, Trust
  • Reminded that we are part and participants of the Universe, let us go forth from the quiet of this hour encouraged to strive toward faithfulness to the best in ourselves, in others, and in the whole creation.
    Closing | By Norman V Naylor | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Failure, Integrity, Interdependence, Unitarian Universalism, Vision
  • Our time in this place may have ended, but our connection to each other and this community remains. Together may we walk the path of justice, speak words of love, live the selfless deed, trod gently upon the earth, and fill the world with compassion. Until we meet again, blessed be.
    Closing | By Kathy A Huff | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Community, Compassion, Connections, Justice, Love, Unitarian Universalism
  • May the quality of our lives be our benediction, and a blessing to all whom we touch.
    Closing | By Philip Randall Giles | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Integrity, Interdependence, Kindness, Love, Unitarian Universalism