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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  • Does the match love the wick? Does the wick love the wax or the air it consumes? “Yes, without question.” To melt together, To burn together, To change together, The pieces of the candle must love each other. Though not necessarily wisely, and not necessarily well.
    Chalice Lighting | By Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Commitment, Grace, Growth, Interdependence, Mystery, Transformation
  • 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
  • February is not for the faint hearted, I think.
    Opening | By Kay Montgomery | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Limitations, Nature, Presence, Strength, Winter
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Diversity, Division, Solidarity, Unity, Wholeness
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Homecoming / Ingathering
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Hope
  • We light this chalice, spark of the original fire of creation, to remind us that we all on this planet—the furred, the feathered, the finned, and the scaled, along with us featherless bipeds—we are all made of the same star-stuff and all share a common destiny. We all share the same hopes of a...
    Chalice Lighting | By Mark Causey | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Climate Justice, Compassion, Diversity, Earth, Earth-Centered, Equity, Ethics, Interdependence, Nature, Relationships, 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
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Forgiveness, Generosity, Hope, Justice, Love, Patience, Peace, Strength, Winter, Wisdom
  • We gather together as a community of seekers, to honour the interdependence of life, to respect the dignity of all, and to honour the land we walk humbly upon....
    Opening | By Sean Neil-Barron | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Indigenous American, Multiculturalism, Multiculturalism, Responsibility
  • Call to sing joyfully to fulfill our role as part of creation Let us sing a song to the Eternal. Let the earth and her children break forth in song. Let the sky and its creatures in chorus reply. Let the sea and all that is within it sound out praise. Let the storms raise their voices, the river...
    Opening | By Eric Williams | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Creativity, Joy, Judaism
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Relationships, Reverence, Wholeness
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Beginnings, Earth, Immanence, Interdependence, Mystery, Nature, Reverence, Sacred, Transcendence