Resources to help you and your church engage with worship and spirituality in meaningful and relevant ways in your context.

Prayer

Bible

Spiritual nourishment

Retreats and quiet days

Walking the Way

Opportunities and Events

Links to the vivid spectrum of worship materials available from the United Reformed Church...

Here you will find prepared material ready-to-use in gathered worship and personal devotion. These sources are many, representing the variety of worship experiences in the United Reformed Church and our ecumenical partners.

Worship during the Covid19 pandemic

• Online worship services - a list of churches streaming acts of worship which you can join

• Walking the Way: Continuing to support each other (PDF) - advice and resources to help you and your community cope during the Covid-19 pandemic 

• Walking the Way News - includes ideas for worship and inspiring activities shared with us by local congregations

• Church information guides - a series of free guides with advice for churches and church organisations to help them stay in contact with and support their local community during and after lockdown

Materials for Sunday worship 

• URC Worship Book – the entire book is available online as PDF downloads

• 12 complete worship services from Open Table

• Children’s and youth work - complete online recorded services and children’s messages on the URC YouTube Channel – subscribe to it for notifications of new resources

• Scottish Bible Society – brilliantly illustrated Bible Stories on PowerPoints, free to download and use for on-line worship

Resources for study and reflection in worship preparation

• Text This Week - lectionary-based resources

• Sermons4Kids - stories, messages and art activities

• The Dollar Store - lectionary-based children’s sermons

• Working Preacher - lectionary-based interpretations and inspiration

Seasons of the Church - resources specific to a day or season in the church calendar

Advent

• URC Advent resources  - resources for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany

• 'Light in the darkness' - a complete Advent service from Open Table

• Words of Waiting (PDF) – URC Advent reflections for 11-14 year olds

Lent

• Lent resources (PDF) - URC worship resources for Shrove Tuesday and the Sundays of Lent

• Lent and Easter children’s ministry resources – ideas and links to more resources, from Wessex Synod URC

Holy Week and Easter

• URC Easter resources from Greenbelt (PDF)

• URC Easter resources - free printable booklets, service and activity posters and service sheet cover

Pentecost/Whitsunday

• Pentecost service Youtube video - songs and activities written by URC Youth for use in lockdown 2020, although most of the elements are timeless

• Prayer Stations for Pentecost (PDF) - including Martin Luther King’s speech, ‘I have a dream’ and related activities

• 'The Fire of Love' - two Pentecost celebrations produced by the Joint Liturgical Group in Great Britain are available for free download

• A complete Pentecost service from Open Table

Pentecost Season/Ordinary Time

• Eco-Church worship resources (PDF) to help your congregation focus on the environment in prayer and worship

•  A Creationtide series of URC Daily Devotions is available for download. You'll find them listed in the left margin of the website

Worship resources for the Sacraments 

Baptism

• Baptism (PDF) - the complete service from the URC Worship Book

• 'Recognising and celebrating the birth of your baby' - guidance describing baptism, dedication and blessing options for worship services from the URC

Communion

• Communion (PDF) - the complete communion services from the URC Worship Book 

• A complete ready-to-use communion service - from the Festival Communion service at Greenbelt 2016

Special days throughout the year

Harvest

• Harvest Sunday - a free printable poster, leaflet and service sheet cover from the URC

• 'Thank you to our farmers!' - a worship resource for harvest from the Arthur Rank Centre for Rural Christians

• 'Celebrating Abundance’ - a complete worship service for Harvest Sunday from Open Table 

Mothering Sunday

• ‘Names for God’ - a complete service for Mothering Sunday from Open Table

Remembrance Sunday

• ‘Building Peace’ - a complete service for Remembrance Sunday from Open Table
  
  

• 'Remembrance for whole-of-life disciple’ (PDF) - Walking the Way resources for remembering and peace-making: prayers, poems, photos, reflections and activities 

Walking the Way Sunday

• Celebrate your congregation’s commitment to Walking the Way any Sunday of the year (PDF - resource is at the bottom of the document) with this complete service and sermon notes created by South Linc URC Pastorate.

Funerals and memorial services

• Virtual funerals: liturgies and words for our digital world - also available as a downloadable PDF

Mission - worship resources supporting mission

• Council for World Mission Prayer Book - weekly prayers for our partners around the world 

• Commitment for Life worship resources from the URC

• Christian Aid worship resources - prayers responding to emergencies and disasters, worship resources for Climate Justice, resources for weekly worship including sermon pointers and prayers

• Global link worship resources - these are often available from your Synod and relate to international partners. For example, Wessex Synod shares a partnership with the Lusaka Presbytery of the United Church of Zambia and developed a collection worship resources 

Worship resources from our ecumenical partners

• Joint Liturgical Group of Great Britain has produced an Ecumenical Service of Baptism and Confirmation (PDF)

Children and young people

• Children and youth work resources – links to numerous creative and helpful URC resources for worship and faith development 

• Roots on the web - inspiring ideas and resources to use with toddlers to teens

• Families on Faith Adventure At Home - a free weekly URC resource to encourage playful and creative worship at home
  
  

• Diddy Disciples - worship and storytelling podcasts for young children from Southwark Diocese 

• Godly Play stories online 

• Same Boat music - snappy music videos and worship resources 

• URC Youth ‘Trialogue’ - YouTube broadcasts exploring a Bible passage and related themes

Personal devotion

Prayer

• URC's Prayer Toolkit has resources and suggestions to  help you in personal, group or church prayer 
  
  

• Walking the Way News - articles that explore spirituality in innovative and fresh ways

• URC Daily Devotions -  sign up for a daily devotion to arrive in your inbox or download A5 booklets of series of complete devotions

• Exploring prayer - explore prayer in innovative and fresh ways with the URC

Bible study

• Lectio Divina or ‘holy reading’ is a meditative and worshipful way of reading a passage of scripture

Spirituality

• Spiritual nourishment - explore spirituality in innovative and fresh ways with the URC