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Affirmations Benedictions Blessings Chalice Lightings Closings Invocations Litanies Meditations Openings Poetry Prayers Readings Responsive Readings Rituals Stories
Stories in the Making

Stories in the Making

We won’t know how the story ends until we get there, but we can decide what words we use to write those stories.

E Emily Richards
Live into Love

Live into Love

Today in UU congregations all over the world, people will gather in an effort to live into, as best as we can, what we profess about placing love at the center of all we do.

D David A Miller
Let Our Rest Be a Resurrection

Let Our Rest Be a Resurrection

Let our rest be a resurrection. Let the veils be lifted so we can feel, see, taste, and smell the power of our rested selves.

T Tricia Hersey
The Work of Citizenship

The Work of Citizenship

Our true wealth is the welfare of all beings and the planet that we all call home.

A Aaron Payson
The Holy Work of Showing Up

The Holy Work of Showing Up

You are loved beyond belief. You are enough, you are precious, your work and your life matter, and you are not alone. You are part of a “we,” a great cloud of witnesses living and dead who have insisted that this beautiful, broken world of ours is a blessing…

A Ashley Horan
The Deep Well of Black Lives

The Deep Well of Black Lives

On August 25, 1619, the ship the White Lion arrived at Point Comfort, now known as Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, Virginia. The ship contained enslaved Africans. This is the first recorded arrival of Africans in America....

K Kristen L. Harper
The Church Has Left the Building

The Church Has Left the Building

The church is not a place; it is a people… it is a people proclaiming to the world that we are here for the work of healing and of justice.

M Margaret Weis
A Community Well

A Community Well

We need one another so that when our own little spring of hope dries up, there is a community well from which we can drink.

J Julia Hamilton
It Is Not Always Easy to Find Love at the Center

It Is Not Always Easy to Find Love at the Center

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.

E Esther Hurlburt
All Water Is One Water

All Water Is One Water

Water unites us. All water is one water, shape-shifting as it goes on and on in its unending cycle. The stream we gather by unites us with all the waters of the world, for all of life depends on water. That's why this common, everyday element on which our very lives depend is sacred. In our...

M Mel Hoover and Rose Edington
You Are the Holiday Miracle

You Are the Holiday Miracle

As December opens up before us, we welcome in the gift of reflection.

G Gwen Matthews
Do Not Be Alone Right Now

Do Not Be Alone Right Now

Do not be alone right now. Gather together. Gathering together grows courage: in ourselves and in others who see the numbers swelling. It is a small thing, but right now it is an important thing....

K Karen G. Johnston
Now the Work of Christmas Begins

Now the Work of Christmas Begins

When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to...

H Howard Thurman
Constellations of Our Lives

Constellations of Our Lives

Humans make maps of stars, choosing some stars, ignoring others, to project our imaginations onto the heavens. These maps shift over time, across cultures. Names change for the same assemblage of bright points: Drinking Gourd, Big Dipper, Plough, Lost Hunters [1], Saptarishi [2]. Humans make...

K Karen G. Johnston
Love Is Our Greatest Purpose

Love Is Our Greatest Purpose

We affirm that love is our greatest purpose. Accepting one another is the truest form of faithful living. The search for truth is our constant star....

J Jay E Abernathy, Jr
Choice

Choice

I want to talk about choice. I want to talk about the fact that just because someone who is out to destroy you says you chose to be the way you are does not mean the path of best protection is to counter with “no I didn’t, it’s not a choice, I was born this way and I’ve always been this...

A Alex Kapitan
They Are with Us Still

They Are with Us Still

In the ­struggles we choose for ourselves, in the ways we move forward in our lives and bring our world forward with us, It is right to remember the names of those who gave us strength in this choice of living. It is right to name the power of hard lives well-lived. We share a history with those...

K Kathleen McTigue
Affirmation of Hope

Affirmation of Hope

We, bearers of the dream, affirm that a new vision of hope is emerging.

L Loretta Williams
Community Means Strength

Community Means Strength

We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been—a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of...

S Starhawk
I Can Feel the Suffering of Millions

I Can Feel the Suffering of Millions

I can feel the suffering of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think it will all come right, and that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again. In the meantime, I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry...

A Anne Frank
So are we bound together

So are we bound together

As drops of rain that find each other and build to become a track, a rivulet, a stream, a river, a sea, so are we drawn together; so are we fortunate to find each other; so are we bound together, on this shared passage toward an unknown ocean and eternity.

E Elizabeth Lerner Maclay
I Want to Be with People

I Want to Be with People

Often people say that they love coming to a place with so many like-minded people. I know just what they are getting at -- and I know that they aren’t getting it quite right. I don’t want to be with a bunch of people who think just like me. I want to be in a beloved community where I don’t...

D Dana E Worsnop
Circle of Care

Circle of Care

In religious community, we share our joys and our triumphs, our sorrows and our broken places. In this circle of care, we make space for the complexity of life, the myriad experiences that bless and break our hearts....

L Lisa Bovee-Kemper
There's My Temple

There's My Temple

There's my temple! Believer, unbeliever or wild one. You are welcome! We have no definition of who we are but human. We have no code but that of respect. We have no creed but that of equality. There's my temple! Identity-seeker, sinner, stateless or not. You are welcome! We have no constraints on...

M Ma Theresa "Tet" Gustilo Gallardo
The Struggle Continues

The Struggle Continues

The road that lies ahead of us is a long one, and the pace of progress will sometimes feel glacially slow. Never forget that glaciers over time can carve out grand canyons and great lakes. Moving tectonic plates can rise up mountains over millennia, or they can explode awe-inspiring volcanoes in...

I Israel Buffardi
I Am Mother

I Am Mother

Kristin Kany wrote this multi-voice poem in 2016 to be read by a group of "diverse moms." I am mother Mother 1: I am Mother Mother 2: I am Mother Mother(s) 3: I am Mother Mother 4: I am Mother Mother(s) 5: I am Mother Mother 6: I am Mother I am Mama, I am Mommy, I am Chinese, Jewish, African,...

K Kristin Kany
The Complexity of Motherhood

The Complexity of Motherhood

On Mother’s Day, let us mark how beautiful and complex it can be to mother and be mothered: To those who have mothered, we thank you. To those who rejoice in the work, the role, the presence of mothering and mothers, we celebrate with you....

L Leah Ongiri
Psalm 23 for This Moment

Psalm 23 for This Moment

May I remember in this tender moment that Love is my guide, always, shepherding me toward ways of openness and compassion. I have what I need, really, with Love at my side, above me, below me, in front of me, behind me, inside every cell of me, Love infused everywhere! Just when the weight of the...

K Kevin Tarsa
The Breath of Life Is Not Mine Alone

The Breath of Life Is Not Mine Alone

I do not wish to breathe another breath if it is not shared with others. The breath of life is not mine alone. I brought myself to be with you, hoping that by inhaling the compassion, the courage, the hope found here, I can exhale the fear, the selfishness, the separateness I keep so close to my...

K Kristen L. Harper
Hold Fast to Summer

Hold Fast to Summer

Hold fast to summer. Enjoy with heightened appreciation these still-warm September days. Create more memories, take more pictures. Enjoy a bit of denial. Suck all the summer sweetness out of your sun-warmed garden tomatoes. Smile at someone. Squeeze a hand. Put up some jam or pickles....

B Ben Soule
I Put My Faith in You

I Put My Faith in You

I put my faith in you. I put my faith in every one of you who woke up this morning with the weight of loss—manifesting as numbness, anger, fear, or an alienating, aching pain. I put my faith in you, and I pray you will put your faith in me. We need one another now, because we will not make it...

A Anya Sammler-Michael
We Are Grateful

We Are Grateful

Of all the gifts in all the world, for love we are grateful. Of all the gifts in all the world, for helping hands we are grateful. Of all the gifts in all the world, for food we are grateful. May we remember that the best gifts don't arrive wrapped in paper or bows....

A Amy Kindred
This Essential Work of Justice and Liberation for All

This Essential Work of Justice and Liberation for All

By no means are we [Unitarian Universalists] perfect; we often fail as much as we succeed. Yet even when "we have broken our vows a thousand times,"* we return to this essential work of justice and liberation for all. We do the work best when we remember what church is and what it is not....

R Rosemary Bray McNatt
The Seasons of Life

The Seasons of Life

We are grateful to mark time with seasons, to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, or to gather as family to remember our loved ones. In all these seasons, may we give thanks for the breath of life, ever mindful of the fragile nature of existence. May we live fully in each moment....

M Mary Frances Comer
A Stream of Living History

A Stream of Living History

This ritual entails having an empty vase on the altar, and cut flowers. It's especially meaningful to have founders or other "pillars" of the congregation have flowers with them in the service, and to have the congregation's children bring those flowers forward and put them in the vase (perhaps...

E Erika Hewitt
Affirmation of Mutual Care

Affirmation of Mutual Care

Reader 1: In 1637, the white settlers in what was to become the town of Dedham, Massachusetts, wanted to start a church. What they longed for was sincere religious association based in love, and founded in freedom. Reader 2: The idea of a free church took shape among the people—a church whose...

E Erika Hewitt
You Matter

You Matter

You matter. There is no one like you; never will be again, from the birth of the earth to its outermost end. You — an eager shout, a sacred “Yes!” that moves your flesh, your bone, your breath. You— she, he, ze, they, you are whole and okay, gracefully teaching your truth and your way. You...

M Matthew Rosin
Yes, There's No Binary

Yes, There's No Binary

The road not taken is not a fork. That’s too simple a thought, flipping some coin. Either/or. Nope. It’s not this or that. No or yes. It’s nor/ neither and all of the above and more. The road taken goes every way at once. There. There. They. Them. Go. Now. Live.

D David Breeden
Call from the Past, Present, and Future

Call from the Past, Present, and Future

In the weaving of our story to the web of life, we must remember that we must not cut the strings, for there are others coming after us.

T Tania Y Márquez
In Honor

In Honor

In honor of the risk takers, those that hold the vision with clarity and charge forward with optimism even in the face of others doubts. You are our lamp lighters and our guides; may we never forget the courage it takes to lead the way forward. In honor of the cautious skeptics, those that gather...

A Amanda Schuber
Love

Love

Love cannot be bought or sold; it does not make a profit. Love does not hide from truth. Love dives deep. Love takes on flesh. Love is queer. Love is platonic. Love is erotic. Love is asexual. Love confronts evil. Love delights in pleasure. Love touches and weeps and flirts and feeds and creates.

e enfleshed
Blessings on Those Staying Home

Blessings on Those Staying Home

We’re staying home. Love has never asked this of us before. We’re staying home, this is our gift to humanity. Let us wish each other well. For those staying home alone, I offer you this blessing. May you grow a deeper understanding of your own worth. Dear one, leaven the aloneness with gentle...

L Linda Barnes
Even When Our Hearts Are Broken

Even When Our Hearts Are Broken

There is a Universal Love that has never broken faith with us and never will.

R Rebecca Ann Parker
Feel That?

Feel That?

Feel that? Each breath, every inhale, exhale We are living, breathing, connected. We are the whole, complete, beautiful selves that we were born to be. Feel that? In your bones, in your muscles In your heart and your blood That is the extraordinary you. The you who was born for this time, this...

G Gwen Matthews
We Are Connected

We Are Connected

Across the limits of our imagination, we are connected.

L Leslie Takahashi
We Gather to Remember

We Gather to Remember

We gather because we need community to do all of this holy work.

N Nicole McKay
We Are One

We Are One

We are one, a diverse group of proudly kindred spirits, here not by coincidence but because we choose to journey together.

H Hope Johnson
A Question, a Gift, and a Summons

A Question, a Gift, and a Summons

We are left with a new sense of ourselves as God’s people.

W Walter Brueggemann
Why I Celebrate Easter

Why I Celebrate Easter

Every day offers us, yet again, the chance to experience our own Divinity and spiritual Transformation.

P Paul Stephan Dodenhoff
The Freedom to Doubt

The Freedom to Doubt

To be content to live in Mystery is central to the liberal religious tradition.

P Paul Stephan Dodenhoff