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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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 WorshipWebTagged as: Calling, Kindness, Purpose, Sacred, Searching, Unitarian Universalism
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February is not for the faint hearted, I think.Opening | By Kay Montgomery | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Limitations, Nature, Presence, Strength, Winter
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What does it mean to bless? To bless does not mean Saying magical words Changing the mind of God Or altering the course of the cosmos. To bless does mean Reminding each other of our gifts Remembering the wisdom that is within us And recalling our common purpose....Opening | By Eric Williams | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Connections, Relationships, Reverence, Wholeness
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I you us them those people wouldn’t it be lovely if one could live in a constant state of we? some of the most commonplace words can be some of the biggest dividers: they? what if there was no they ? what if there was only us ?...Opening | By Marilyn Maciel | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Diversity, Division, Solidarity, Unity, Wholeness
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In the beginning There was light Infinite and expansive Flowing out from an unseen center. Throughout Creation There is light From the steady Sun The glowing Moon The flashing Meteor The twinkling Stars And the auroras dancing in the northern skies....Chalice Lighting | By Eric Williams | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Beginnings, Earth, Immanence, Interdependence, Mystery, Nature, Reverence, Sacred, Transcendence
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Why Christmas? Especially to one who doubts? Are you not being hypocritical? Unitarian Universalists, with their penchant for secular humanism are fond of arguing the validity of Christmas: Is it a Christian holiday? A pagan holiday? A secular holiday?...Opening | By Lenny Scovel | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas
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We gather here as individual people:young and old; male and female; temporarily able and disabled; gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight people, all the colors of the human race; theist, atheist, agnostic; Christian, Buddhist, feminist, humanist. We gather here as a community of people...Opening | By Barbara Hamilton-Holway | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Homecoming / Ingathering
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We reach out, both backward into history and forward into the future, to link together the generations in this imperfect, but blessed, community of memory and hope.Opening | By Andrew C Kennedy | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Hope
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Let this purest of flames kindle in each of our hearts A pledge to justice, a commitment to freedom, And a reverent awe for the crystalline glories That sparkle along our footpaths...Chalice Lighting | By Martha Kirby Capo | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Freedom, Justice
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Each of the stars in the heavens is unique, an individual, yet together they form the night sky; Each of us here is unique, an individual, yet together we are a congregation; Each of our congregations is unique, an individual, yet together we are an Association....Chalice Lighting | By Erik Walker Wikstrom | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Caring, Connections, Diversity, Gratitude, Identity, Individualism, Nature, Purpose, Relationships
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Through the week this chalice abides, cupped and silent, Softly it gleams in a dimly lit room, complete unto itself. Today, we come together as a community of faith, joyful and free, Our individual energies combine to spark the flame of Truth....Chalice Lighting | By Martha Kirby Capo | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Commitment, Community, Faith, Justice, Living Our Faith, Meaning, Presence, Reverence, Tradition, Truth
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We light this chalice for all who are here, and all who are not; For all who have ever walked through our doors, for those who may yet find this spiritual home, and for those we can't even yet imagine. For each of us and for us all, may this flame burn warm and bright.Chalice Lighting | By Erik Walker Wikstrom | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Caring, Community, Generosity, Hospitality, Inclusion, Journey, Unity
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For some, the chalice cup is a communion cup, freely offered to all who would seek the greater Truth. Others see the circle of fellowship in its embracing sides....Chalice Lighting | By Martha Kirby Capo | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Abundance, Acceptance, Challenge, Community, Compassion, Inclusion, Love, Multiculturalism, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Wisdom
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"Holy One, You knit me together in my mother's womb." This is the voice of Psalm 139: "[I] was not hidden from you when I was made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth." Let us remember and celebrate, this morning, that each of our bodies was woven together in the depths of...Opening | By Erika Hewitt | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Body, Good, Healing, Health, Illness, Mystery, Reverence, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness
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Welcome to all our siblings this morning. We enter into this half circle of diversity, Celebrating the ways that we upright walking two-legged wanderers share With the four-leggeds lounging, lunging and leaping among us, With Winged warblers, With slithering, sliding snaky beings, With circling...Opening | By Susan Karlson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Animals
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As we light the chalice and fully embrace the sacred space created here this morning, please hold in your hearts the Unitarian Universalist principle which calls upon us to respect the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part....Chalice Lighting | By Viola Abbitt | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Compassion, Connections, Death, Earth, Gratitude, History, Interdependence, Sacred, Strength, Unitarian Universalism
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May the light of truth illumine our minds, May the spark of love set our hearts on fire, May the flame of freedom burn brightly within us, Now and always.Chalice Lighting | By Richard M Fewkes | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Commitment, Compassion, Ethics, Freedom, Justice, Love, Tradition, Truth, Unitarian Universalism
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Advent, adventus, means waiting. And the holiday season is nothing if not waiting—to get done the chores; to find the right gift; to find time for quiet moments; to accept that our loved ones will not be as we wish them to be....Chalice Lighting | By David Breeden | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Forgiveness, Generosity, Hope, Justice, Love, Patience, Peace, Strength, Winter, Wisdom
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May this flame, symbol of transformation since time began, fire our curiosity, strengthen our wills, and sustain our courage as we seek what is good within and around us.Chalice Lighting | By Bets Wienecke | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Community, Compassion, Courage, Faith, Freedom, Good, Searching, Strength, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder
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May God—the mind that sees our faults, the tears that sting our wounds, the laugh that soothes our aches, and the love that redeems us all—be illuminated by the light we kindle in this house of faith.Chalice Lighting | By Max A Coots | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Brokenness, Caring, Compassion, Despair, Faith, Forgiveness, God, Grace, Healing