Being Sanctuary
Welcome to this space, this sanctuary of peace where we come to not only create our best selves, but to also do the work of creating a beloved community....
Let Us Sing a Song to the Eternal
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 Words: Call from Beyond
From beyond the playful summer clouds, beyond the earth's thin blue line, from beyond the bright moon and meteor showers, we hear the call to look and listen carefully, to turn away from a world that buys and sells happiness, to fully experience the luring whisper of your heart's truth. Why not...
We, whose journeys are always beginning
We gather together seeking meaning, yearning to understand life in all its dimensions
What Does It Mean to Bless?
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....
Clothesline
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 ?...
Springtime Call to Worship
The earth is warming, the birdsong increases, the sweeter breezes brush our cheeks, and the earth holds hope in its seeds and buds....
For Five Thousand Years, Or More
For five thousand years, or more, more than fifteen thousand generations, human beings have been invoking spiritual power. My predecessors, and yours, have gathered together to make sense of their lives and their place in the cosmos. And they have spoken aloud, and invited what they conceived as...
In Praise of Technology & Social Media
In praise of computers and routers and servers and all the hardware and software that can help us build our connectedness; in praise of all the gremlins that live in the machines and bug our programs and help us to practice patience; in praise of the trolls who dwell in the internet and push us t...
Territorial Acknowledgment
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....
Call to Worship for Stewardship Sunday
To worship means to consider that which has worth—today we consider, with gratitude, the many gifts of this community— The opportunity to be affirmed in who we are and to offer that affirmation to others The chance to stand up together to help remake the world in the ideal of justice The freedom...
Come, Come, Whoever You Are
Come, come, whoever you are - you are welcome here! No matter your age, your size, the color of your eyes, your hair, your skin—you are welcome here! No matter how you came here, if you came alone, or with others— you are welcome here! No matter whom you love, or how you speak, or whatever your...
The Sacred Hour
We set aside an hour each week to worship the Holy, to come together as a community, and to refresh our souls....
Ingathering Ritual with Calling of Directions
I invite you to join me in a special ingathering ritual in which we will gather in energy and love from all directions. Your responsive call is the “Gathered Here” chant. Some of you will participate perhaps in a more metaphysical sense and for others your participation may be more metaphorical;...
Opening Words for the Summer Solstice
We come together this morning as celebrants, as seekers and companions. We enter into this, the longest day, joyfully, allowing ourselves the beauty of this time together in which we may rest our cares and sorrows, and allow our hearts and spirits to be uplifted....
The Only Ones Who Ever Win
Out of our separate lives we come, to walk this path together for an hour or a day, for a week or a month or a series of months and years. For this space of time we travel together, making much or little or nothing at all of the fact that another walks beside us. We can keep our eyes cast down...
House of Welcoming
Here find a house of welcoming Here find vision and hope Here be received as you truly are Unique and beautiful Your journey acknowledged Your love honored Let us rejoice together...
Come, Come To This Place
Come, come to this place, whoever you are: Wanderer, worshipper, lover of learning, All seekers after what is true, All who seek a community of compassion & diversity Come, come to this place, whoever you are: Though you’ve broken your vows a thousand times And you’re too busy and you don’t...
It Is Good To Be Together
With thankful hearts we have come together this morning to celebrate the bounty of the day, to bask in the warmth of this community, to share with friends the tides of our lives, to entertain, perennially, our hopes for a better future....
Enter Into The Quiet
Let us seek the quiet and the calm Let us lay aside our loud calling Let us lay aside our struggle Speak softly: let us listen to the melodies that recall other proportions Our moments tarry not with us Let us then seek the dimension that endures beyond all nowness and hereness beyond all...
How To Write Your Own Invocations
To “invoke” is to “call forth” and is traditionally associated with calling upon God. You can also think of it as invoking the spirit of your community—its vision of justice, its playful energy, or its familial feeling. Invocations can also serve to introduce the theme that you’ll be...
Come, yet again, come
The Persian poet Rumi challenges us: "Come, come, whoever you are: wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving: Ours is no caravan of despair, come, yet again come." And we come, from rich heritages of liturgy and pomp; We come, from burning legacies of angry gods and threats of hell-fire....
Reach the Place of Self
Let us reach the place of self, the place that is not alien to truth. Let us wash over with peace and serenity, with fierce longing for light and heart; with living strength flowing in our veins, bringing ourselves into fearlessness and into trust.
The meaning of Christmas
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?...
When I Change
Leader: We are here to derive meaning in our actions All: When I change, the world changes Leader: We are here to win our power back over our areas of powerlessness All: When I change, the world changes Leader: We are here to deepen our understanding of ourselves in order to strengthen...
All of Us Are Beautiful
We come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Some of us grow in bunches. Some of us grow alone. Some of us are cupped inward, And some of us spread ourselves out wide. Some of us are old and dried and tougher than we appear. Some of us are still in bud....
We unite in our differences
We unite in our differences in background and belief; We unite—with gratitude and hope: Hope for a world of differences; Hope for a world that honors difference; We unite in community With gratitude for difference. Source: Association Sunday 2009...
Many Paths
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...
We Need One Another
We come together this morning because within us there is something that knows we need more than we can find in our aloneness. We know—instinctively, in the depths of ourselves—that we need others for this journey of life even though we also guard our independence and individuality quite...
If just for this hour
In this hour may we be open To a rededication of treasured friendships, a renewal of spirit; May we relinquish the worries and anxieties of the past week, if just for this hour, and regain our strength Through this community of faith.
Come into this circle of love and justice
Come into this circle of love and justice, Come into this community where we can dream and Believe in those dreams— Come into this holy space where we remember who we are And how we want to live. Come now, and let us worship together!
The conscious choice
We who are here assembled Have made a conscious choice: We live intentionally. May we keenly attend to the silent, pulsing needs Here present at this altar, Made sacred by the power of our communion.
Today we celebrate a dream awakening
Today we celebrate a dream awakening. Today we worship with renewed hope in our hearts. Today we act on an audacity of hopes and dreams for the future. Today we begin the hard work for justice, equity and compassion in all human relations, for today is a day like no other and it is ours to shape...
We are Unitarian Universalists
Welcome to this place. This is a home where no revealed truths are promoted and no scripture or human being accepted as infallible. This is a place for searching for truth. But we are believers....
We Arrive Together Here
We arrive together here Travellers on life's journey Seekers of meaning, of love, of healing, of justice, of truth The journey is long, and joy and woe accompany us at every step None is born that does not die None feels pleasure that does not also feel pain....
Motherless Child
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......
Children of the earth and sky
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....
Once More
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....
We gather here as individual people
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 who are more than...
Ingathering
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.
As surely as we belong to the universe
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...
Determined Seed
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.
We are here today to recognize the completion of your Coming of Age...
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...
Easter
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.
We bid you welcome on this first Sunday of the new year
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....
Bridging Ceremony
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...
These Bodies, These Blessings
"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...
Blessing of the Animals
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...