Options Click a first line. You may also search using the links below, or by entering your own search terms. Back to: Starting a Service Resource Library WorshipWeb Home See also: Calls to Worship Chalice Lightings Invocations Opening Words

Index of First Lines

Words to Open a Service

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Amid all the noise in our lives, we take this moment
Opening Words - Meditations -- Tim Haley

As we enter into worship
Call to Worship -- Erika Hewitt

As we gather together this morning, may we learn
Opening Words -- Bets Wienecke

Blessed is the fire that burns deep in the soul
Chalice Lighting -- Eric Heller-Wagner

The Bridging Ceremony celebrates the transition of our youth
    Closing Words -- Jeff Liebmann

Come, all you who seek truth, abide in love
Call to Worship -- Dorothy Boroush

Come down off the ladder. Wash out that paintbrush
Call to Worship -- David S. Blanchard

Come in. Come into this place which we make happy
Call to Worship -- Becky Edmiston-Lange

Come into this circle of community. Come into this sacred space.
Opening Words -- Andrew Pakula

Come into this house of worship. Come in bringing all
Call to Worship -- Carolyn S. Owen-Towle

      Back to the top

Come. Let us be joined in seeking the aspirations
Call to Worship -- Calvin O. Dame

Come, let us worship together
Call to Worship -- Lindsay Bates

Come we now out of the darkness of our unknowing
Call to Worship -- Annie Foerster

Come ye into this house of worship!
Call to Worship -- Elizabeth Parish

Creator of all times and seasons, and of all the seasons
Invocation -- Richard M. Fewkes

Deep calls unto deep, joy calls unto joy
Chalice Lighting -- Gordon B. McKeeman

Divine spark from sacred dark
Chalice Lighting -- Kathy Huff

Do not leave your cares at the door
Call to Worship -- Norman V. Naylor

      Back to the top

The element of fire represents passion, veracity
Chalice Lighting -- Sarah Lammert

Enter with me the sacred space
Call to Worship -- Amarette Callaway

Everything begins on the verge of awareness
Opening Words -- George Kimmich Beach

Fill your heart like a vessel with the Christmas spirit
Opening Words -- Donna Morrison-Reed

Flaming chalice, symbol of a free faith
Chalice Lighting -- Richard S. Gilbert

For every time we make a mistake and decide
Chalice Lighting -- M. Maureen Killoran

For holy days on which we recall the old stories
Chalice Lighting -- Dillman Baker Sorrells

For our community gathered here, for the spirit
Litany - Opening Words -- Jane Mauldin

From the power of our memory and history
Invocation - Opening Words -- Heather K. Janules

God of time and eternity, help us look to the past
Invocation -- Earl Holt

      Back to the top

Here in this sanctuary of ancient dreams
Invocation -- Jack Mendelsohn

If you woke this morning with a sorrow so heavy
Chalice Lighting -- Judy Welles

In every life, the human spirit wrestles to build
Chalice Lighting -- Kendyl Gibbons

In honor of those we have known and loved in the past
Chalice Lighting -- Charles F. Flagg

In lighting our candles
Chalice Lighting -- Charles F. Flagg

In memory of all the flames that didn't die
Chalice Lighting -- Amarette Callaway

In the mystery of life about us there is light
Chalice Lighting -- George Kimmich Beach

In this quiet hour may our spirits be renewed
Opening Words -- Gary Kowalski

In this small flame dwell the beacon light of lanterns
Chalice Lighting -- Jean L. Wahlstrom

It is good to be here
Opening Words -- UU Partner Church Council

Leave aside the little thoughts
Opening Words -- John Millspaugh

Let there be joy in our coming together this morning
Opening Words -- Carl Seaburg

"Let there be light!" Let it shine in dark places
Chalice Lighting -- Gordon B. McKeeman

      Back to the top

Light of life, be kindled again in our hearts
Chalice Lighting - Invocation -- Samuel A. Trumbore

Like Janus we gather with part of us looking backward
Opening Words -- Sylvia L. Howe

Long ago the chalice of communion wine was set apart
Chalice Lighting -- Maryell Cleary

May God -- the mind that sees our faults
Chalice Lighting -- Max Coots

May the Light of Truth illumine our minds
Chalice Lighting -- Richard M. Fewkes

May the walls of this house be strong
Blessing -- Michael DeVernon Boblett

May this chalice remind us of the shared cup
Chalice Lighting -- Vernon Marshall

      Back to the top

May this flaming chalice, symbol of transformation
Chalice Lighting -- Bets Wienecke

May we come into this building hallowed by generations
Opening Words -- Kenneth R. Warren

May we light this chalice to honor our past
Chalice Lighting -- George G. Brooks

One of the old ones stood up into the morning light
Opening Words -- Barbara Pescan

Our prophets died for the freedom of faith
Opening Words -- Heather K. Janules

Our Unitarian heritage bids us light our chalice
Chalice Lighting -- Elizabeth M. Strong

Out of the earth
Opening Words -- Elizabeth M. Strong

Power is yours to act or not to act; power is ours
Call to Worship -- Jean M. Rickard

Reflection on the UUA Purpose and Principles
Opening Words -- Michael E. Sallwasser

Reverently I offer this symbol of our hope and high intent
Chalice Lighting -- Elizabeth M. Strong

Spirit of life and hope, we turn our minds and hearts
Invocation -- Clarke Wells

Spirit of life and love, we have gathered here in search
Invocation -- Sue Ayer

Spirit of life, be present with us this hour
Invocation -- Kathy Huff

Spirit of life, come to us to break down barriers
Invocation -- Rhys Williams

Spirit of life, we gather here in loving community
Invocation -- Harold E. Babcock

Spirit of trust, of hope, of love, refresh me
Invocation -- Mark Belletini

      Back to the top

Take from life its coals, not its ashes
Opening Words -- Laurel S. Sheridan

That we may remember, that we may know
Chalice Lighting -- Susan L. Van Dreser

There are some heights to which we have not risen
Opening Words -- Paul H. Bicknell

There is a core of light that underlies the little darknesses of our days
Chalice Lighting -- John Millspaugh

This earthen chalice was born of clay and water
Chalice Lighting -- Edwin A. Lane

This flame glows as light glows in the darkness
Chalice Lighting -- Andrew Hill

Throughout the ages, light
Chalice Lighting -- Andrew C. Backus

To face the world's darkness -- a chalice of light
Chalice Lighting -- Lindsay Bates

To this house we come bringing our boldest dreams
Opening Words -- Larry McGinty

      Back to the top

Water! Earth! Air! Fire!
Opening Words -- Peter Raible

We are called to gather as a beloved community
Opening Words -- Kirk Loadman-Copeland

We are called not by words spoken, but by miracles
Call to Worship -- Gordon B. McKeeman

We are people of all ages who enter this space
Opening Words -- Carol Meyer

We are this flame, ancient as the stars
Chalice Lighting - Litany -- Michael DeVernon Boblett

We come to love a church
Opening Words -- Andrew C. Kennedy

We come to this hour knowing that it is but an hour
Opening Words -- Louise Robeck

We come to this place of high purpose
Call to Worship - Opening Words -- Daniel Budd

We come together today in praise and thanksgiving
Opening Words -- Mary Harrington

We gather around this flame that symbolizes the truth
Chalice Lighting -- Ray Nasemann

      Back to the top

We gather here as individual people
Call to Worship -- Barbara Hamilton-Holway

We gather here this weekend
Opening Words -- Gina Whitaker

We gather here to worship: To seek the truth, to grow
Opening Words -- Gary Kowalski

We gather in community to rest from our labors
Opening Words - Invocation -- Paul L'Herrou

We gather on this Sabbath morn to worship
Opening Words -- Burton D. Carley

We gather to seek in the midst of our fragmented selves
Opening Words -- John H. Robinson

We gather together to affirm our liberal religious values
Opening Words -- Roger Fritts

"We gather together": familiar words to many of us
Opening Words -- Libbie D. Stoddard

We gather together in this space to honor
Opening Words -- Judith G. Mannheim

We gather together to face ourselves honestly
Opening Words -- Philip Larson

We have come into this room of hope
Opening Words -- Libbie D. Stoddard

      Back to the top

We kindle this flame as a symbol of the light
Chalice Lighting -- Philip Randall Giles

We light our flaming chalice to illuminate the world
Chalice Lighting -- Elizabeth McMaster

We light the flame of knowledge; may understanding
Chalice Lighting -- Edwin C. Lynn

We light this chalice, a sign of community
Chalice Lighting -- Mark Belletini

We light this chalice as a symbol of the creativity
Chalice Lighting -- William J. Gardiner

We light this chalice in honor of our living tradition.
Chalice Lighting -- Jean Ott

We light this chalice in memory of persistent seekers
Chalice Lighting -- Emmy Lou Belcher

We light this chalice in the service of the truth
Chalice Lighting -- Elwood R. Sturtevant

We light this chalice to affirm that new light
Chalice Lighting -- Charles A. Howe

      Back to the top

We are here that we might have life
Opening Words -- John Morgan

We light this chalice to celebrate the inherent worth
Chalice Lighting -- Steve Stock

We summon ourselves from the demands and delights
Opening Words -- Gordon B. McKeeman

Welcome to this common, sacred space
Opening Words -- Amy McKenzie Quinn

Welcome to this place of possibility! This is love's hearth
Opening Words -- Marianne Hachten Cotter

What life have we, if we have not life together
Opening Words -- Charles A. Howe

Whatever the need that brings you to this special place
Opening Words -- Albert F. Ciarcia

When evil darkens our world, give us light
Chalice Lighting -- David A. Johnson

When winter's darkness spreads across the land
Opening Words -- Barbara Cheatham

Whether you have come here with heart full or heart empty
Opening Words -- Krista Taves

Whoever you are, whatever you bring
Opening Words -- UU Partner Church Council

      Back to the top

WorshipWeb Home · UUA Home · Contact UUA