Watershed
Watershed moments are turning points, moments that permanently alter an understanding.
Begin Your Journey Home
Set your compass to point towards hope and begin your journey home.
Rest from Our Journeys
The travelers had come a long way, and had a long way yet to go. Unable to come off the donkey without her husband’s assistance, and the grace of a large stone, still she came down, one hand to her back, feeling the ache throughout her body....
You Are Never Alone
It's okay to be feel weary of resiliency and wholeness and learning and growth.
Witnesses World
It is now, when we are called to act on our values, not to hide, not to fear, but to be bold and loud.
Call To Gather Days Of Awe
We are held by the great Book of Life, in which it is written that we will inevitably face deprivation and discomfort. Each among us must contemplate our own place in it all.
Giving Thanks and Exploring Suffering
It is always good to give thanks! All that we have is a gift from life: our food, our relationships, our shelter from the cold. And when we give thanks, it is always good to be mindful of all people, and notice those who are suffering and do what we can to ease suffering and change its causes....
First Comes the Waiting
This is the season of endings and beginnings, when the small signs of dawn pierce through the night and something new is born. But first comes the waiting. First come the lessons of endings and beginnings....
Gathering in Our Own Spaces
Come. Gather. Not into a common space— sharing a physical closeness we long for, precluded by wise choice. But come, gather into this common time and a common space. We need to be together. We yearn for connection....
Let there be joy in our coming together this morning.
Let there be joy in our coming together this morning. Let there be truth heard in the words we speak and the songs we sing. Let there be help and healing for our disharmony and despair. Let there be silence for the voice within us and beyond us. Let there be joy in our coming together.
Come ye into this house of worship!
Come ye into this house of worship! Come in and find peace and rest, inspiration and aspiration, fellowship and love. Come in and find light for your darkness, a friend's touch for your loneliness, and music for your soul. Come in and let your heart sing for all the blessings that are yours this...
We come to love a church,
We come to love a church, the traditions, the history, and especially the people associated with it....
Whatever the need
Whatever the need that brings you to this special place and hour, know most surely that it is best served through eager receptivity of mind and heart....
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....
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...
We, whose journeys are always beginning
(adapted from the original) We, whose journeys are always beginning We, whose mission always awaits us We, whose visions are bent on loving, We gather together here. We gather as a community drawn together out of common need, each toting our own carpetbag of treasures and dreams....
Your Body Is Welcome Here
Your body is welcome here, all of it. Yes, even that part. And that part. And yes, even that part. The parts you love, and the parts you don’t. For in this place we come with all that we are All that we have been, And all that we are going to be. Our bodies are constantly changing, cells die and...
The Calling of the Creatures
Come hoof and trunk and tail and horn and paw and wing and claw; Come bird and reptile, mammal born all full of nature’s law. Bring bark and crow and ribbit, too and silent stare and hiss; Bring purr and trill and warble, too and voice no ear can miss....
Come Into This Place
Come into this place with your whole self – the parts that are raw and exposed; the part that is beaming with joy; the part that is seeking the truth, the new, the possibility. Come into this place – open your heart, lay down your burden, lift up your hope – for something new to happen. Come...
Invoking the Past, Present and Future
Come, let us enter this space of hope and community. Come, let us enter this space with our sorrows, our joys, our passion and compassion. Come. let us enter this space with the stories of our ancestors, for their strength and wisdom beats in our hearts....
You Are Beloved and You Are Welcome Here
Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here Voice 2: Whether tears have fallen from your eyes this past week or gleeful laughter has spilled out of your smiling mouth Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here Voice 2: Whether you are feeling brave or broken-hearted; defiant or...
May we come into this building hallowed
May we come into this building hallowed by generations of thoughtful worship. May we come into the company of this congregation, enlightened by reason and moved by concern. May we come with open minds and warm hearts....
Seasons of Our Lives
Creator of all times and seasons, and of all the seasons of our lives, we gather in this place, thankful for the days that have been, even those that have tried our souls; and hopeful for the days that shall be, even those that shall demand of us the best that we have of faith and hope and courag...
We come to this hour
We come to this hour knowing that it is but an hour. Yet out of all the hours in the week this is one that is set apart: an hour that is saved, an hour that is savored. It is a time for us to recognize what gives life meaning. It is a time to honor what we value. It is a time to celebrate our lives.
On a Winter Morning
It is a good morning to be together! When winter's darkness spreads across the land, and cold seeps through our thickest coats, we hurry here, drawn by the warmth of faces familiar and new, to the welcoming walls of this house. Here, for this hour, we open ourselves to new understanding,...
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...
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....
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...
Welcome to this Place
Welcome to this place of peace; May we find some moments of quiet contemplation. Welcome to this place of celebration; May our hearts soar with gratitude for the gift of life. Welcome to this place of sacred love; May we gently hold all that is broken here. Welcome to this place of inquiry; Here,...
Come One, Come All
Come one, come all! Come with your missing pieces and your extra screws Come with your hard edges and your soft spots Come with your bowed heads and upright spines Come all you flamboyant and drab verbose and quiet fidgeting and lethargic All you with large vision and tender hearts All you with...
Embracing the Unexpected
What if everything always went according to plan? At first, we might accomplish more of what we think we need to accomplish. And it may seem less stressful, at first, being able to anticipate what happens next. But after a certain amount of time (and that amount would vary person to person) the...
Suspended Between
Suspended between all that was and all that might be, we struggle to find this very moment—to live this very moment. Let us sit together for a moment, and savor this moment. Let us relish this between time where past meets future, Let us harbor a faith that reminds us that right now, right here,...
The Heart of Our Faith
What is it That calls you here That calls you onward That calls you inward That leads you homeward? What is it That gives you the power To make that change To ask that question To take that journey?...
One of the old ones stood up into the morning light
One of the old ones stood up into the morning light and spoke to those who had come back to the river: "Now we have come again to this place; it is a good thing. My life apart from you is not as strong. "Yes, I have danced and I have told the stories at my own fire and I have sung to all the six...
Do not leave your cares at the door.
Do not leave your cares at the door. Do not leave there your pain, your sorrow or your joys. Bring them with you into this place of acceptance and forgiveness. Place them on the common altar of life and offer them to the possibility of your worship. Come then, and offer yourself to potential...
Come together in praise and thanksgiving
We come together today in praise and thanksgivingfor the gift of life itself.Someone gave birth to us and some of us havegiven birth.All of us have been mothered in our time,All of us have mothered.Let our time today be one of recognition-- That we arrive from so many places,Joy and...
Heart full or heart empty
Leader: Whether you have come here with heart full or heart empty, with spirits high or low, rested or tired, hopeful or despairing, Congregation: Whether we have come here out of habit, conviction, loneliness, or curiosity, Leader: You belong here because you are here, and all that you have and ...
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....
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...
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...
Opening Words for Labor Day
We enter this meeting house for kindness and comfort. May rough-worn hands and aching backs be healed. We enter this meeting house of hope for equality. May those who labor to survive live to know justice. We enter this meeting house of love and vocation. May our bonds of solidarity be strengthened.
The Old, Old Story
We gather today in the presence of the old old story of death defeated by emptiness, of hope and newness triumphant over fear and separation. We come, hearts heavy with pain and anxiety, spirits flattened by exhaustion and apathy, vision darkened by strife and violence. We come seeking connection...
Right Here, Right Now
As we create and share sacred space together, let us reflect upon what brings us here. We have all come here for different reasons, from different decisions, faced different challenges and shared different love. And yet all of our differences have led us to this space, right here, right now. Some...
Opening Words for a Quinceañera
Welcome to this sacred celebration of emerging adulthood. We are gathered today to rejoice and bear witness as (name) and her parents and friends mark her transition from childhood to the estate of a young woman. The quinceañera tradition has its roots in the ancient cultures of Central and South...
Invitation to Christmas
[for 2-3 voices, alternating] On this eve of mystery and magic, let us enter into the Christmas story as if we were there on the holy night. What part will we play this year? Are you the mother, trusting your body to know what to do when the time of birth comes?...
Call to Worship on Easter
Out of the earth Rises light, Rises life, Rises spring. May we join with the miracle that is springtime, and enter into life with lightness and joy. Out of the spirit Rises faith, Rises hope, Rises love. May we join with the miracle that is Easter time, and enter into life with hope and love....
Enter with me the sacred space.
Enter with me the sacred space. Bring with you what is yours— a burdened heart, a joyous song, a wearied spirit, a seeking mind. Bring the gift of yourself to the altar. It is an honorable gift.
Opening Words for a Leadership Team Worship
(This was written for the opening worship at a district board retreat....