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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As the first hint of green begins to peek through the barren ground As that little sprig grows into a healthy stem As that stem grows into a stalk and forms a bud As that bud slowly opens with each new day To form a yellow daffodil Let us be, like that first hint of green, renewed by the warm of ...Chalice Lighting | By Jennifer McGlothin | October 20, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Awe, Beauty, Beginnings, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Easter, Flower Communion, Growth, Health, Interdependence, Nature, Secular, Spring, Unitarian Universalism, Vernal Equinox
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This is a congregation that gathers in faith. Not faith in one religion or one god or any one way. We gather in faith of the power of diversity, the power of love, and the hope of a world transformed by our care. We gather in faith in ourselves and those around us. Not a faith that requires...Opening | By Sunshine Jeremiah Wolfe | October 2, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Faith, Identity, Purpose, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
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We enter this meeting house for kindness and comfort. May rough-worn hands and aching backs be healed. We enter this meeting house of hope for equality. May those who labor to survive live to know justice. We enter this meeting house of love and vocation. May our bonds of solidarity be strengthened.Opening | By Megan Visser | September 15, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Body, Justice, Labor Day, Work, Worth
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And so we gather, from the ebb and flow of our lives Thirsty for connection to ourselves Thirsty for connection to others Thirsty for connection to the larger life. As we light this chalice May all who gather here be filled: Filled with joy and hope Filled with compassion and love Here, may we be...Chalice Lighting | By Gregory Pelley | September 15, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Agnosticism, Body, Community, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Earth, Homecoming / Ingathering, Hope, Humanism, Joy, Love, Nature, Searching, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion
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Welcome to this place of peace; May we find some moments of quiet contemplation. Welcome to this place of celebration; May our hearts soar with gratitude for the gift of life. Welcome to this place of sacred love; May we gently hold all that is broken here. Welcome to this place of inquiry; Here,...Opening | By Cathy Rion Starr | June 19, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Community, Contemplation, Gratitude, Justice, Unitarian Universalism
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This is a house of reflection and contemplation, of joy and sorrow, friendship, sharing and laughter. We light this chalice in remembrance of what we have been and in the hope of what we may become.Chalice Lighting | By Dale Hudson | June 19, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Commitment, Community, Connections, Direct Experience, Friendship, History, Hope, Joy, Reconciliation, Relationships, Sorrow
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Your body is welcome here, all of it. Yes, even that part. And that part. And yes, even that part. The parts you love, and the parts you don’t. For in this place we come with all that we are All that we have been, And all that we are going to be. Our bodies are constantly changing, cells die and...Opening | By Sean Neil-Barron | June 5, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Body, Connections, Direct Experience, Diversity, Intimacy, Joy, Sacred, Self-Care
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We light this chalice for our children and youth, and for us: celebrating the flame of faith lit in each of us, honoring the light each of us bring into the world, rejoicing in the community we create together.Chalice Lighting | By Christian Schmidt, Alexis Capen | June 4, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Child Dedication, Children, Children's / Religious Education Sunday, Community, Direct Experience, Faith, Family, Generations, Inclusion, Interdependence, Reverence, Worth, Youth Sunday, Youth/Teens
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We speak to the god, the goddess, the spirit of life, the eternal. We speak to the mysterious thread that connects us one to the other and to the universe. We speak to the deep wisdom at the center of our beings. We embody the yearning of all people to touch each other more deeply, to hear each...Invocation | By Susan Manker-Seale | June 2, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Caring, Community, Connections, God, Interdependence, Justice, Mystery, Service, Solidarity, Wisdom
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Mother's Day is complicated. Joyful for many, yes, but complicated. It's right there on the calendar, even if your mother has died....Opening | By Becky Brooks | May 28, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Brokenness, Children, Direct Experience, Family, Grief, Healing, Humanism, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Wholeness
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Today is Father's Day, a day in which we honor and offer gratitude for our fathers, in whatever form or fashion they come into our lives—biological fathers, stepfathers, adoptive and foster fathers, grandfathers, spiritual fathers, and all of the uncles, brothers, and friends who, whether they...Opening | By Loraine Bottorff McNeill | May 20, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Children, Connections, Direct Experience, Family, Father's Day, Fathers, Humanism, Men, Parents, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships
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Leader: We light our Chalice in honor of all those who have served in our ministry. People: May the Chalice be to us a symbol of the sharing of faith and hope which they have brought. May the flame remind us of the giving of their lives and love upon the altar of service and truth.Chalice Lighting | By Peter Scott Lee | May 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Faith, Gratitude, Installations, Love, Ministerial Transition, Ministry, Ordinations, Remembrance Day, Sacrifice, Service, Truth, Unitarian Universalism
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What if when I light the chalice, you hear an invitation to welcome gratitude for the earth? This week, as I got ready to light the chalice, my family talked about blessings from this planet. Here is my list: [list 3-7 things] And now, with this flame of hope shedding light in your heart: what is...Chalice Lighting | By Karen G. Johnston | May 6, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Children, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Environment, Gratitude, Nature, Unitarian Universalism
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Among Star Wars afficianados, May 4th is recognized as a special day. This "May the Fourth" invocation was written by Tori Jameson with help from Earl Rogers, Kevin Mann, and Cyn Burnelle. Please use it in worship as responsibly as a Jedi uses a lightsaber. Leader: May the force be with you!Invocation | By Tori Jameson | May 4, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, History, Playfulness, Secular
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We meet on holy ground, Brought into being as life encounters life, As personal histories merge into the communal story, As we take on the pride and pain of our companions, As separate selves become community. How desperate is our need for one another: Our silent beckoning to our neighbors, Our...Opening | By Richard S. Gilbert | April 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Connections, Purpose, Relationships, Sacred
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For sleepless nights awaiting the curfew-breakers For anxious hours as a driving instructor For hours spent on sidelines, cheering And watching school plays, sometimes “resting our eyes,” For the pressures of bread-winning And “wait ‘til your father gets home.” For teaching moments and...Chalice Lighting | By Peter Friedrichs | April 16, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Change, Children, Direct Experience, Father's Day, Fathers, Parents, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships
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Bring who you are as you enter our church this morning. Bring your best self and your struggling self; bring your mistakes and your triumphs; bring your shortcomings and your recommitment to good....Opening | By Sarah C Stewart | March 29, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Covenant, Love, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability
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It is said that ministers are here to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. I say, we are all afflicted, and we are all comfortable. May our time together this morning be a comfort and a confrontation. May we here find peace in times of tumult; May we here invite tumult into lives of...Opening | By Sharon Wylie | March 27, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Challenge, Commitment, Justice
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The diversity of the human species is astounding. The fact that we can gather together for common experience is nothing short of a miracle. Today, let us celebrate some of those differences....Opening | By Dawn Skjei Cooley | March 27, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Covenant, Diversity, Sacred
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We join our voices in a holy communion of mind and heart, dedicated to the promises that bind us in compassion, one with another. In this hour we light the flame that signals our intention to find the sacred in every living thing.Chalice Lighting | By Robin F. Gray | March 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Compassion, Covenant, Dignity, Healing, Immanence, Inclusion, Reverence, Sacred