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Unitarian Universalists use different terms for the words that begin a worship service, including call to worship, invocation, and opening words. These words invite the congregation from their separate lives and to the common place and time of the worship hour.

(In Unitarian Universalist worship if there are Opening Words there is generally not an Invocation, and vice versa.)

Search Words for Worship Services

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 496

  • A glass ball, held in a person’s hand at the sea shore, acts as a lens and shows an inverted image of the sea and the sunset sky. The image in the glass ball is sharp and in focus; the actual sea and sky, visible around the ball, is out of focus.
    As we light this chalice, we kindle the spirit of the great turning: the movement for justice alive in this nation today. May we feel it in our bones, and in the stillness of this hour, may we sense it calling our name.
    Chalice Lighting | By Lisa Garcia-Sampson | September 13, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: America, Community, Democracy, Generations, Hope, Justice, Love, Politics, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Four people celebrating with arms raised, seen in silhouette against the sky. The sun is centered behind them, and the sky’s colors range from blue to pink.
    We are whole and holy; we are loved beyond all measure. And in our refusal to accept anything less, may we know we are rooted in the infinite divinity.
    Chalice Lighting | By Jami Yandle | August 1, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Body, Freedom, Gender, God, Imagination, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Wholeness, Wonder
  • The Milky Way in the night sky near the horizon, with one end aligned with a tree visible in silhouette.
    We light this chalice to ignite the divine spark of the universe, whose pronouns have always been plural…
    Chalice Lighting | By Jami Yandle | August 1, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Gender, Imagination, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Wonder, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A lily blossom, with pale violet leaves and yellow stamens, floats in a pond. Our view is from directly above, and in the water around the blossom we see the reflection of the concentric circles of the frames supporting the glass roof of a greenhouse.
    We light this flame to remind us: love is the center. As we grow and connect, mature and deepen: love remains the center. When the light of truth burns all else away: love remains.
    Chalice Lighting | By Eric Hepburn | July 17, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Growth, Love, Sacred, Truth, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Against a uniform dark background, a bright yellow light shines in the upper left of the image. Rays of light and lens flare effects stream from the central light.
    We light this chalice with all our soul’s longing, to be who we are, to be who will we will become, to be ourselves.
    Chalice Lighting | By SarahRuth Wekoye Davis | July 8, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Hope, Identity, Love, Reverence, Sadness, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A large tree with a sagging branch being held aloft by a prop shaped like a human hand.
    On this Sunday before Labor Day, we light this flame to honor all work. Not only the work we do for pay with our hands, our backs, and our minds, that is important, yes. But also the work we do for love!
    Chalice Lighting | By Paul Dalzell | June 28, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Caring, Community, Connections, Labor Day, Love, Work, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • The face and arms of a young person, surrounded by darkness, are illuminated by the light from the fire in a sky lantern that he is holding and about to launch.
    We light our chalice as a symbol of the Light within us and the life that flows through the world around us.
    Chalice Lighting | By Brian C. Lee | June 28, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Community, Love, Truth, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Through a heart-shaped window in the door of a light blue metal box, we see a glowing candle and its reflection.
    We gather in covenant to celebrate the reality that love is at the core of our beings and that love will guide us if we open ourselves to the challenges which love requires of us.
    Affirmation, Opening, Poetry | By Esther Hurlburt | June 26, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Covenant, Living Our Faith, Love, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • chalice at St. Cloud UU Fellowship
    May we be kind in our speaking, thoughtful in our deliberating, and never stray from the love that binds us together.
    Opening | June 6, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Business Meetings, Community, Covenant, Democracy, Governance, Interdependence, Leadership, Service, Teamwork, Work, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A woman with long hair, mostly in silhouette, holds a sparkler near the camera. The camera is focused mostly on the bright red and yellow sparks, with the woman behind them slightly blurred.
    The essence that is you—that spark of life, is in your body; is of your body; and it is—you are—divine.
    Opening | By Gwen Matthews | May 30, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Humanism, Sacred, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A greyscale silhouette of a person extending their open hand towards the viewer. The image is highly foreshortened, with the hand looming large in the image and the person seemingly far away.
    We proclaim with Love on our side: Our bodies are sacred. Our minds are blessed. Our spirits are beloved.
    Chalice Lighting | By Karishma Gottfried | April 24, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Body, Fat Liberation, Grace, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Love, Sacred, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • In a dark room, white-hot molten metal is poured from a crucible into a mold. We see leather-clad arms holding a long-handled tool to help guide the flow.
    Here we engage in a holy alchemy, finding beauty in the ordinary and life in the present.
    Opening | By Kim Mason | April 6, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beauty, Community, Connections, Solidarity, Transformation, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Close-up photo of the veins and midrib of a green leaf.
    We come from many places—along different paths, bringing different truths.
    Chalice Lighting | By Pat Uribe-Lichty | March 31, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Diversity, Healing, Justice, Peace, Unity, Wholeness, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • The sun, framed by two hands forming a heart shape, in an orange sky.
    Love is the center and foundation of this faith... let fall away all that might distract us from the whole-hearted practice of Love.
    Welcome | By Shari Woodbury | January 31, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #Article2, Anti-Oppression, Community, Covenant, Living Our Faith, Love, Principles and Purposes, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A lighted candle with three wicks on a dimly-lit table with greenery.
    We pause on this night of mystery, to tell the stories, to sing the songs, and to bring more light into the world.
    Chalice Lighting | By Linda Hart | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Mystery, Peace, Personal Stories, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A stone church stands silhouetted against a night sky in which the Milky Way is visible.
    Pause here, and be renewed and restored.
    Opening | By Linda Hart | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Journey, Self-Care, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A tea light glows in a hollow in a fallen log, surrounded by moss that has been dusted lightly with snow.
    We light this chalice, here in the darkness of winter as we wait.
    Chalice Lighting | By JeKaren Olaoya | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A collection of loose pieces of moveable type, in many shapes and sizes and from many different fonts.
    We light this chalice, so that by its light we may read ALL the books…
    Chalice Lighting | By Julie Conrady | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Democracy, Freedom, Human Rights, Humanism, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A bonfire sends sparks flying upwards, against a pitch black background.
    Holy flame of times past, brighten this present moment…
    Chalice Lighting | By Tracy Johnson | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Courage, Freedom, Generations, Reason, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • An abstract image of swirling colors ranging from yellow to orange, reminiscent of fire.
    Illuminate our hearts and the spaces between them in this Sacred Time of unfolding.
    Chalice Lighting | By Tracy Johnson | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Love, Wisdom, Wonder, WorshipWeb, Worship