“Worship” is sometimes narrowly understood as bowing down to some supposed deity. The etymology of the word, however, leads us to a far more significant activity. The root of “worship” is worthship, considering things of worth. “Religion” (religare) means to bind up, to reconnect, to get it all together. Worship is thus the central activity of religion because through worship we reconnect with worth. Worship is a compelling vision of life in its fullness. Its scope, diversity, coherence and power engender the fundamental meanings, values and relations for our lives. Worship centers us. It gives us a perspective that orders the Void, the chaos of unconnected fragments of experience. Through worship we find our connections and take our place in society and the cosmos. Here beholding and becoming are the same.

from An Abraxan Essay on Worship in The Abraxas Reader

Worship That Works: Theory and Practice for Unitarian Universalists

There are many resources for small group worship leaders:

UUA Worship Web includes Words for Worship, with openings, benedictions, prayers and meditations,  as well as many other resources.

Music, Community, and Identity “What we sing is who we are”

Songs from the hymnbooks, with links to videos and sound files, categories, and easiness scores.

More songs

Palomar UUF Worship Resources, including Powerpoint hymn lyrics

First Unitarian Church of San José has made over 200 of their small group ministry sessions available for other congregations to use.

Unitarian Universalist Best Practices

Here is an inspiring chapter from the Lutheran Leading the Church in Song: Technique (don’t be put off by the Christian bits; worship is worship.)

Silent Meeting

• Quaker Meeting for Worship (pamphlet)
• Video on Quaker Silent Meeting (30 minutes)

WFUU Google Drive (passworded and shared to worship leaders individually; if you are leading worship and do not yet have access, please request it by sending an email to WestforkUU@gmail.com)

Many song slides and accompaniments, many previous service slides and sermons are stored here, in addition to our standard service opening and the offering words.