Welcome to Worship
What does a non-creedal church worship? We can’t all say we are worshipping God, because some of us don’t believe in God. In Unitarian Universalist congregations, we have even been suspicious of the word “worship” because it seems to imply bowing down to an all-powerful authority.
Actually, to understand how we worship, you need to go back to original roots meanings of the word “worship”. The old English roots of “worship” simply mean “considering things of worth”. That’s what we do in worship at West Shore.
Our worship services are the central spiritual practice our members hold in common. Our worship services need to speak to the variety of beliefs held among us. Our services need to touch both the heart and the head. They need to speak to how a liberal religious community can transform one’s life and give it greater meaning and purpose.
One way our ministers understand worship is that it is a weekly exercise reminding us of all the rich opportunities for spiritual practice, insight and appreciation throughout the week. On Sunday mornings, we hear great music and thoughtful reflection on life issues; we enjoy elegantly composed poetry and prose; we sit together in silence, engaging in prayer or in meditation; we are invited to be generous with our money, our time and our talents. These are all building blocks in any given week that can help create a liberal religious life.
Our worship services are rooted in Protestant traditions, which values excellence in sermonic presentations, but we also have the freedom to experiment with rituals, forms, and music from any tradition or culture. We take care to both educate and honor the cultural traditions not widely known or understood among our members, seeking to be conscious of and to avoid cultural misappropriation.
West Shore is continually exploring and expanding its worship opportunities. During the fall of 2007 we are studying whether to begin a contemporary service in one of our smaller and more flexible meeting spaces sometime in 2008.