Introducing ‘Worship Words’, the brand-new repository for worship resources

“Unitarians love to orate, debate, cantate, ideate, and annotate. In other words, we love, well… Words. Across our movement, we are constantly putting pen to paper and ink to page. If you so much as whisper your service title to a fellow Unitarian, be prepared to receive a list of recommendations for readings, hymns, prayers, poems, and meditations galore.

As a faith rich in writing, it’s important that others can treasure these words too – especially new and prospective worship leaders. Worship Words, the movement’s brand-new repository for worship resources, is the perfect place to start.

On 23^rd November 2022, Unitarians from across the country joined Lizzie Kingston Harrison, Congregational Connections Lead, for the launch of the Worship Words website. Worship Words is a collaborative online space to share written pieces from across the UK Unitarian community and beyond.

Initially conceptualised during the Pandemic, Worship Words was born from a series of online discussions and morphed into a dedicated taskforce of volunteers from across the movement. The website now includes 120 resources at the time of writing, featuring new work as well as much-loved favourites from the Lindsey Press.

“I’ve read so many beautiful and inspiring resources along the way,” said Lizzie. “It’s also been a pleasure because of the people. Both those things are about connection, and that’s why we’re here, to share ideas, energy, creativity, and inspiration, and strengthen the fabric of our movement.”

After thanking those who made the site possible, Lizzie invited Rev. Jane Blackall to light the chalice flame and deliver the opening words – “may this small flame be for us a sign of faith, hope, and love.” These opening words, authored by Jane, can be found in full on the Worship Words website.

Lizzie then called on Louise Reeve, one of the initial creators of the website along with Rev. Bob Janis-Dillon, to explain the thinking behind the new resource. There were two main goals – to support people leading worship at all levels, and develop a central resource showcasing the creativity and spiritual leadership of UK Unitarians.

“Many of us were inspired by the Unitarian Universalist Association’s WorshipWeb,” said Louise. “We wanted something to highlight the work of UK Unitarians and our needs as a spiritual community. We’re moving more towards a spectrum of ministry, where more people are encouraged to lead services. You never know, perhaps someone in your congregation might be considering leading worship.”

The result is a collection of inspiring, beautiful, meaningful resources accessible for all. To demonstrate the usability of the site, Lizzie gave a walkthrough of Worship Words while screen sharing on Zoom. Resources are organised into six categories: chalice lighting, opening words, prayer or meditations, closing words, hymn words, and readings. If users are unsure of the category they need, they can complete a keyword search. To demonstrate this in action, Lizzie typed the word ‘Universe’ into the keyword search bar.

One of the resources displayed was ‘A Unitarian Gloria’ by Rev. Kate Dean, written as an alternative to the Latin Mass for Palm Sunday services. Kate was invited to read the words, bringing an interactive element to the walkthrough while demonstrating the quality of the resources available. Users can also search for resources by author, or theme. Beginning as a helpful tool for website navigation, the themes function has evolved into a word bubble that captures the essence of what it means to be Unitarian. Prominent themes include light, mystery, love, gratitude, joy, friendship, peace, nature and – largest of all – community.

The website’s ‘simple view’ option ensures accessibility, and all resources are highly readable. Each resource is included with permission. To check if a piece can be edited, users can scroll to the bottom of the entry where one of three licences will be displayed. If the licence states ‘Public Domain’, the resource is editable and shareable. The ‘Worship Words’ licence enables users to copy, redistribute, and adapt the resource, but the title and author must be maintained. The ‘Worship Words – No adaptations’ licence means that the resource can only be shared in its original form.

Lizzie explained that there would be a movement-wide call out for resources happening in the coming months and encouraged contributors to share their work.  Contributors are encouraged to submit resources in other languages – ideally with a transcript, of course. During the walkthrough, Lizzie asked Melda Grantham to read ‘Now and Then’ in Welsh, written specifically for the anniversary service at the 2022 General Assembly meetings.

“This is wonderful and exciting – congratulations and thank you very much to all involved! As an evolving lay worship leader and also a member of the worship and programming team of a very small congregation this will be a useful and nourishing resource,” shared Tatiana Spencer at the end of the launch.

Lizzie concluded the meeting with heartfelt thanks and a brilliant reading by Chris Carr, President of the Yorkshire Unitarian Union, called ‘Let Us Give Thanks’. I’m sure you know where to find it.”

By Laura Cox