Unitarian Universalists use different terms for the words that begin a worship service, including call to worshipinvocation, 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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  • This welcome was written for a Sunday after a national crisis. Whether you’re here because worshiping with us is part of your routine or whether you feel like our country has been stopped in its tracks and it’s impossible to return to normalcy, on this morning we gather to proclaim that we...
    Welcome | By Erika Hewitt | July 10, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Anger, Balance, Connections, Despair, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Hope, Humanism, Mourning, Pain, Purpose, Relationships, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism
  • We come together tonight to remember the history, or the myth, that says hope was born in the form of a baby named Jesus. What is so compelling about the story of Jesus’s birth, his life, his love? Why has this story reached across the ages to us while so many others have faded into history?...
    Opening | By Alix Klingenberg | May 31, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Belief, Birth, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hope, Identity, Purpose, Unitarian Universalism
  • Around us, light is returning. It rekindles the spirit of life in the skeletons of trees. It brings forth new shoots from the soil. It wakes us from our winter slumber, and invites us to see what lies beyond. We light this chalice in the spirit of our Earth’s awakening and to reaffirm our...
    Chalice Lighting | By Kate McPhee | May 13, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Climate Justice, Earth, Earth-Centered, Healing, Home, Nature, Vernal Equinox
  • We light this chalice for mothers and mothering; to celebrate those who have taken on the task of nurturing a young one-baby, child, or youth-into adulthood; to celebrate those who have nourished the light of truth and compassion in growing minds and hearts; to celebrate those who have committed...
    Chalice Lighting | By Claudene (Deane) Oliva | May 4, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children, Commitment, Education, Family, Fathers, Generations, Gratitude, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Parents
  • In this hour of holy stillness we gather to honor the life and the person we love. In this hour of Holy Stillness we remind ourselves that the flames of life and love are never fully extinguished. In this hour of Holy Stillness we offer ourselves for sharing the weight of each other’s grief. In...
    Opening | By Patricia Shelden | April 13, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Animal Memorial, Death, Día de los Muertos, Ending, Grief, Healing, Holocaust Remembrance / Yom Ha'Shoah, Letting Go, Memorial Day, Memorial Services, Sadness
  • Good morning everyone and welcome to [congregation's name]. My name is {name} and I feel blessed to serve this healing and holy congregation. I'm so glad to see all of you here today on this brand new morning in this brand new world as we gather together in peace. Thank you for joining us: we who...
    Welcome | By Mark Glovin | March 23, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Community, Inclusion, Interdependence, Peace, Purpose, Unity
  • We are about to enter sacred time. We are about to make this time and this place sacred by our presence and intention. Please turn off or silence your phones… and as you do so, I invite us also to turn down the volume on our fears; to remove our masks; and to loosen the armor around our hearts.
    Welcome | By Chip Roush | March 23, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Body, Fear, Forgiveness, Inclusion, Vulnerability
  • Good Morning. Welcome to our Unitarian Universalist congregation. I’m [name]; I serve as [role] of this growing, journeying community. We welcome all of you to our service, especially those of you who are searching for a spiritual home. Many of us were once, too, seeking for something larger than...
    Welcome | By Erika Hewitt | March 23, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Humility, Interdependence, Journey, Purpose, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability
  • If we lived in another climate Our souls might speak other languages We might speak oasis or permafrost, dry season or monsoon But our souls speak spring Our souls speak green shoots pushing through last year’s leaves Our souls speak flower buds stretching to sun Our souls speak mud puddle and...
    Opening | By Evin Carvill Ziemer | March 23, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Direct Experience, Earth, Earth-Centered, Easter, Growth, Hope, Nature, Passover (Pesach), Spring, Vernal Equinox
  • Welcome to this morning, this day, and this opportunity to be together in community—which is a time of joy, comfort, and sometimes challenges. This Unitarian Universalist congregation is a place where we come to learn more about being human. We’re not here because we’ve figured out life’s...
    Welcome | By Erika Hewitt | March 21, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Direct Experience, Humility, Identity, Purpose, Vulnerability
  • We gather to worship, our hearts alive with hope that here we will be truly seen, that here we will be welcomed into the garden of this community, where the simple and the elegant, the fluted and frilled, the shy and the dramatic complement one another and are treasured....
    Welcome | By Meg Barnhouse | March 16, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Community, Diversity, Inclusion, Purpose
  • Good Morning! Welcome to this liberal religious congregation [or name of congregation]. My name is [name, role]. Some of us are bringing our best selves to this space, and some of us are bringing our struggling selves, including pieces we might be ashamed of....
    Welcome | By Erika Hewitt | March 9, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Beginnings, Compassion, Inclusion, Interdependence, Living Our Faith, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism
  • The ritual of welcoming and honoring ancestors is an ancient spiritual practice found in many cultures and traditions. Thus we begin this ceremony with paying tribute and expressing gratitude to our ancestors. From our histories our ancestors call to us, asking “whence we come, and how and...
    Opening | By Christina Shu, Tera Little | March 1, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Commitment, Generations, History, Installations, Justice, Ordinations, Purpose, Responsibility, Unitarian Universalism
  • Love is the aspiration, the spirit that moves and inspires this faith we share. Rightly understood, love can nurture our spirits and transform the world....
    Chalice Lighting | By Maureen Killoran | February 26, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Body, Challenge, Community, Direct Experience, Faith, Generosity, Healing, Love, Mourning, Power, Spirituality, Transformation, Valentine's Day
  • We arrive from many different experiences and backgrounds. Some of us have trouble speaking; others are so young that they’re still learning to talk. Some of us speak English as a second language, and others of us can speak several foreign languages....
    Opening | By Erika Hewitt | February 8, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Business Meetings, Community, Conflict, Connections, Direct Experience, Integrity, Interdependence, Intimacy, Living Our Faith, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Valentine's Day
  • We light this chalice on the brink of a new year Letting go of what has been Open and hopeful for what may come Renewed, restored, ready To live Life fully anew May we move forward with intention. Note: this chalice lighting can be read in unison or responsively.
    Chalice Lighting | By Lois Van Leer | January 14, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Chinese New Year, Ending, Healing, Health, Hope, Letting Go, New Year, Purpose, Rosh Hashanah, Strength, Vision, Wholeness
  • Let go Of all that binds you Of all that burdens you Of what you carry Of all that shames you Of fear Of trespasses and transgressions Of woundedness Let go of guilt Let go of anger Let go of small mindedness and pettiness Of ways of being that no longer work for you Of compulsions that consume y...
    Opening | By Lois Van Leer | January 14, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Ending, Healing, Letting Go, New Year, Yom Kippur
  • Dear God, Spirit of Life and Love, Creator of the mountains and the forests, It is good to be gathered here on the occasion of N receiving his/her/their Eagle Scout Award. We are thankful for the service he/she/they has/have given to his/her/their troop/crew/ship, community and council. We are...
    Invocation | By Aaron Stockwell Wisman | January 12, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Integrity, Scout Sunday, Service, Teamwork, Work
  • Come sit by our fire and let us share stories. Let me hear your tales of far off lands, wanderer, and I will tell you of my travels. Share your experience of the holy with me, worshipper, and I will tell you of that which I find divine. Come and stay, lover of leaving, for ours is no caravan of...
    Opening | By Jennifer Kitchen | January 11, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Direct Experience, Empathy, Homecoming / Ingathering, Hospitality, Journey, Listening, Love, Personal Stories
  • Out of the flames of fear We rise with courage of our deepest convictions to stand for justice, inclusion and peace Out of the flames of scrutiny We rise to proclaim our faith With hope to heal a fractured and hurting world Out of the flames of doubt We rise to embrace the mystery, wonder and awe...
    Chalice Lighting | By Sara Eileen LaWall | January 11, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Awe, Courage, Doubt, Faith, Fear, Fire Communion, Healing, Inclusion, Justice, New Year, Peace, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Vision