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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 486

  • 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
  • A flock of pigeons in flight, seen from below, against the background of a pale blue sky.
    There is room here for each and every one. Come in. Be among us.
    Welcome | By Shari Woodbury | December 12, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Community, Hospitality, Inclusion, Searching, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Close-up image of several blades of grass coated in small ice crystals. The sun is visible between the blades, and the crystals create a small rainbow.
    Let us open all our senses and let our synapses spark one connection after another.
    Welcome | By Shari Woodbury | December 12, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Birth, Child Dedication, Children, Connections, Joy, Playfulness, Wonder, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Three orange and black monarch butterflies on a lavender blossom, surrounded by other lavender blossoms
    Welcome, all who seek renewal in a weary world.
    Welcome | By Shari Woodbury | December 11, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Connections, Friendship, Generations, Hope, Interdependence, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    What if sometimes it’s about sparking potential into possibility, and possibility into existence?
    Chalice Lighting | By Lisa Doege | November 17, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Hope, Journey, Justice, Love, Peace, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A person holds an open Qur'an in their hands, with beautiful calligraphy visible, as they sit on a green rug.
    “Verily with hardship comes ease...” (Quran; 94:5-6)
    Chalice Lighting | By Summer Albayati | November 16, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Compassion, Hope, Islam, Justice, Oppression, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • From the back, a Black woman wearing a hat and a small Black child are seated in a church pew.
    God, Your creation is not yet done creating you.
    Opening | By Gretchen Haley | July 24, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: God, Goddess, Imagination, Immanence, Playfulness
  • A burst of sunlight appears through leafy branches
    This chalice is for the living, the changing, the becoming.
    Chalice Lighting | By Li Kynvi | March 15, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Growth, Identity, Living Our Faith, Transformation, Truth, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • an abstract image of greens and yellows with bursts of orange
    May we know ourselves as vessels of infinite possibility
    Opening | By Leah Ongiri | March 10, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Growth, Living Our Faith, Purpose, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    We gather this morning as one community
    Chalice Lighting | By Adam Slate | March 9, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Connections, Individualism, Unity, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    We shall all be free.
    Chalice Lighting | By Adam Slate | March 9, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Freedom, Living Our Faith, Purpose, Vision, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A 360-degree panorama photo, taken above an outdoor field, edited into a ‘Little Planet’ style photo.
    We need places where we can come and find our grounding once again.
    Opening | By Heather Rion Starr | January 6, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Balance, Contemplation, Presence, WorshipWeb, Worship