Fulwood Old Chapel

Service on Worship led by Rev June Pettitt April 6 2003

What is Worship?

Worship is……………………

"Worship is giving expression to the music that lies within us. The music of worship comes with many voices. When we Unitarians worship freely together, we are not like a choir singing the same words in parallel harmonies; we are more like an orchestra. Each instrument has its own kind of sound, its own melody. One plays and then another; sometimes different instruments play together; their individual melodies interweaving. For each there are periods of silent waiting. Together, these separate and fragmented airs make up a symphony. Yet when we worship formally, alone or together, it is less a concert than a practice session. We are working toward the goal of making our whole lives a hymn of worship, as we practise the presence of God" Rev Joy Croft

"Worship is a gathering with friends and loved ones, opening ourselves to each other and to an inner, restorative and regenerative mystery - the Eternal Holy Spirit of Life. The great problem is how to bring into our worship those things which promote our intention and avoid those things which hinder it. We do not always make it to the moon - but when we do it is a passion, an ecstasy; amongst the most beautiful and worthwhile experiences human beings may share. Good worship binds us together as a community; and individually it nurtures and confirms our faith"
Rev David Doel

"Worship is elusive - impossible to define, impossible to predict. It happens as if by chance, often in the silences that follow the words which may transform, too deep for words yet created by them. No one can make worship happen - there is no formula, no guarantee; there is always an element of the unexpected. We have traditions and practices in places where generations have come to seek to know the deepest that is in them and between them and around them, but worship can never be taken for granted. Like Thoreau, I would come to worship with an 'infinite expectation of the dawn, in the hope, even sometimes the faith, that chance will favour the mind and heart that is prepared, so that a sense of the God that is in us may be known, and a sense of the God that is with us may enter in." Rev Keith Gilley

Some statements made by Unitarians about worship......

Worship for me is having my spiritual batteries recharged
Worship is fellowship, sharing ourselves with God and with each other'
Worship is humility in the presence of something more powerful than you
Worship is to contact God
Worship is touching depths in community
Worship is participation, prayer, peace, fellowship. Saying 'thank-you' for this day, for my children, for a view, for sharing.

What is worship for you?

Following the service, a discussion was held


Fulwood Old Chapel > Services > Archive > April 6 2003
Welcome News Services - - Our Worship - - Rites of passage - - Archive Services Diary - - Photo gallery Junior Chapel How to find us Chapel history Library Unitarianism Contact us	Service on Worship led by Rev June Pettitt April 6 2003 What is Worship? Worship is…………………… "Worship is giving expression to the music that lies within us. The music of worship comes with many voices. When we Unitarians worship freely together, we are not like a choir singing the same words in parallel harmonies; we are more like an orchestra. Each instrument has its own kind of sound, its own melody. One plays and then another; sometimes different instruments play together; their individual melodies interweaving. For each there are periods of silent waiting. Together, these separate and fragmented airs make up a symphony. Yet when we worship formally, alone or together, it is less a concert than a practice session. We are working toward the goal of making our whole lives a hymn of worship, as we practise the presence of God" Rev Joy Croft "Worship is a gathering with friends and loved ones, opening ourselves to each other and to an inner, restorative and regenerative mystery - the Eternal Holy Spirit of Life. The great problem is how to bring into our worship those things which promote our intention and avoid those things which hinder it. We do not always make it to the moon - but when we do it is a passion, an ecstasy; amongst the most beautiful and worthwhile experiences human beings may share. Good worship binds us together as a community; and individually it nurtures and confirms our faith" Rev David Doel "Worship is elusive - impossible to define, impossible to predict. It happens as if by chance, often in the silences that follow the words which may transform, too deep for words yet created by them. No one can make worship happen - there is no formula, no guarantee; there is always an element of the unexpected. We have traditions and practices in places where generations have come to seek to know the deepest that is in them and between them and around them, but worship can never be taken for granted. Like Thoreau, I would come to worship with an 'infinite expectation of the dawn, in the hope, even sometimes the faith, that chance will favour the mind and heart that is prepared, so that a sense of the God that is in us may be known, and a sense of the God that is with us may enter in." Rev Keith Gilley Some statements made by Unitarians about worship...... Worship for me is having my spiritual batteries recharged Worship is fellowship, sharing ourselves with God and with each other' Worship is humility in the presence of something more powerful than you Worship is to contact God Worship is touching depths in community Worship is participation, prayer, peace, fellowship. Saying 'thank-you' for this day, for my children, for a view, for sharing. What is worship for you? Following the service, a discussion was held
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