Edit Header for Worship Opening Search

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

Displaying 41 – 60 of 527

Changing a filter will refresh results (and remaining options) immediately. Searching by keyword requires use of the "Search" button.

  • 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, 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, 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, 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, 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 | By Linda Hart | June 6, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Business Meetings, Community, Covenant, Democracy, Governance, Interdependence, Leadership, Service, Teamwork, Work, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, Worship