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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  • Children of the earth and sky, we are nurtured, sustained, given warmth and light from above and below. Supported by earth's strong, firm crust, we build our homes, till the fields, plant our gardens and orchards....
    Opening | By Alice Berry | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Autumnal Equinox, Awe, Children's / Religious Education Sunday, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Meaning, Nature, New Child, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Vernal Equinox
  • Sometimes I feel like a motherless child... Here may you find a warm greeting a kind word a gentle touch Sometimes I feel like I have no friend... Here may you find a community of support a pulse of liberation a vision of hope Sometimes I feel I am almost gone......
    Opening | By Amy Bowden Freedman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Despair, Friendship, Juneteenth, Kindness, Suffering
  • Once more, the earth has turned toward the light of the sun. As we are bathed in the light of a new day, So may we greet the dawning of fresh possibility. Once more, we awaken from our slumber....
    Opening | By Amy Bowden Freedman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth Day, Vernal Equinox
  • As frozen earth holds the determined seed, this sacred space holds our weariness, our worry, our laughter and our celebration. Let us bring seed and soul into the light of thought, the warmth of community, and the hope of love. Let us see together, hear together, love together. Let us worship.
    Opening | By Laura Wallace | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Advent, Caring, Community, Earth-Centered, Hope, Love, Nature, Sacred, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • As surely as we belong to the universe we belong together. We join here to transcend the isolated self, to reconnect, to know ourselves to be at home, here on earth, under the stars, linked with each other...
    Opening | By Margaret A Keip | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Connections, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Inclusion, Interdependence, Unity, Weddings and Commitment Ceremonies
  • In gathering In the fall In the church In the quiet In the noise In thought In the spirit In anticipation In calm In the beginning In the end In transition In gratitude In hope In love In faith In unison Ingathering.
    Opening | By Tamara Lebak | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Direct Experience, Homecoming / Ingathering
  • As we enter this sacred, silent space, Let us renew both our commitment and our covenant: There are those among us who have endured a loss in the past week; May their hope be uplifted again in this community of faith. There are those among us who have struggled with hardship in the past week; May...
    Opening | By Martha Kirby Capo | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning)
  • Deep calls unto deep, joy calls unto joy, light calls unto light. Let the kindling of this flame rekindle in us the inner light of love, of peace, of hope. And "as one flame lights another, nor grows the less,” we pledge ourselves to be bearers of the light, wherever we are.
    Chalice Lighting | By Gordon B McKeeman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Calling, Caring, Commitment, Community, Covenant, Hope, Journey, Joy, Love, Peace
  • For holy days on which we recall the old stories, we light the flame. For Passover which reminds us of the courage and strength of those seeking freedom in the past, we light the flame. For Easter which reminds us that love is our greatest challenge, we light the flame....
    Chalice Lighting | By Dillman Baker Sorrells | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Challenge, Christianity, Community, Courage, Easter, Freedom, History, Judaism, Love, Passover (Pesach), Sacred, Searching, Strength, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism
  • For five thousand years, or more,more than two hundred fifty generations,human beings have been invoking spiritual power.My predecessors, and yours,have gathered togetherto make sense of their livesand their place in the cosmos.And they have spoken aloud,and invited what they conceived as sacred ...
    Opening | By Matthew Johnson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Generations, History, Indigenous American, Meaning, Mystery, Power, Purpose
  • We light our chalice, symbol of our faith, For truth, sought through a questioning heart and an attentive mind; And for love, pursued through obstacles inside and outside our own human heart; And for forgiveness, and all it entails— The place where truth and love meet and merge.
    Chalice Lighting | By Vanessa Rush Southern | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Courage, Forgiveness, Healing, Hope, Judaism, Living Our Faith, Love, Relationships, Searching, Truth, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Yom Kippur
  • We are here today to recognize the completion of your program of study for this Coming of Age ceremony and to celebrate with you the faith you have come to accept through this year of questioning and investigating. Some of you were brought to a Unitarian Universalist church to be Dedicated and...
    Opening | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Coming of Age
  • We seek life’s meaning in the wonder of morning In the freshness of springtime, And in each others hearts and minds. Yet still we hope for something more, A break in the ordinary, An infusion of the unexpected, An explosion of glory, A miracle, Revealing more than we hope to understand.
    Opening | By Charles F Flagg | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Easter, Mystery
  • We bid you welcome on this first Sunday of the new year. Like Janus we gather with part of us looking backward and part of us looking forward. We gather on the edge of the new year saddened by our losses, cherishing our joys, aware of our failures, mindful of days gone by....
    Opening | By Sylvia L Howe | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Change, Community, Ending, Hope, Letting Go, New Year, Unitarian Universalism
  • The Bridging Ceremony celebrates the transition of our youth from their high school experience into young adulthood. It is a time of tremendous change—and stress—for our youth. It is a time when many of them will leave our particular church community to travel to other cities, into higher...
    Opening | By Jeff Liebmann | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Youth/Teens
  • (May be read responsively) We are not alone. We are this flame, ancient as the stars, new as the vulnerable spark. We are not alone. We are this chalice, rimmed by the spiral dance of searching. We are not alone. We are the light soaring, the shadow deepening, the dance between them. We are not...
    Chalice Lighting | By Michael DeVernon Boblett | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Connections, Generations, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Wonder
  • This light we kindle is set in the lamp of our history. We inherit this free faith from the brave and gentle, fierce and outspoken hearts and minds that have come before us. Let us be worthy inheritors of this faith and through our good works, pass it boldly to a new generation.
    Chalice Lighting | By Audette Fulbright Fulson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), Generations, Giving & Generosity, History, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Purpose, Unitarian Universalism
  • In these hard times, let us look first to the response of love. In the midst of challenge, may our chalice flame bear witness to the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. In the midst of uncertainty, may our chalice be a beacon of encouragement, that our values may guide our choices....
    Chalice Lighting | By Maureen Killoran | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Challenge, Choice, Courage, Dignity, Integrity, Love, Reverence, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Vision, Worth
  • We gather together seeking meaning, yearning to understand life in all its dimensions
    Opening | By Marni Harmony | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Community, Hope, Meaning, Reverence, Sacred, Searching, Unitarian Universalism
  • We kindle this flame as a symbol of the light we would keep glowing in our lives: of appreciation for those who differ, loving kindness for those who suffer, esteem for all who remind us of our heritage and calling as agents of the Most High.
    Chalice Lighting | By Philip Randall Giles | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Calling, Kindness, Purpose, Sacred, Searching, Unitarian Universalism