Trinity Sunday honors the Trinity (God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). It takes place the Sunday after Pentecost on the liturgical calendar. You can use these Trinity Sunday prayer, call to worship, litany, and hymn ideas as you plan your Trinity Sunday worship service. The liturgy ideas offered here reflect the Scripture readings in the Revised Common Lectionary. (If you’re not familiar with the lectionary, it’s a three-year schedule for preaching from Scripture that some pastors follow.)
Trinity Sunday liturgical worship service plans
These liturgies include ideas for your Trinity Sunday prayer of confession, affirmation of faith, call to worship (or opening sentences), assurance of pardon, prayer for illumination, and music.
Sentences, adapted from the Athanasian Creed
O Lord, our Sovereign God,
You are neither made nor fashioned by anyone.
Wonderful beyond measure,
You are faithful Father, servant Son, and enlivening Spirit.
Holy Lord, beautiful and dynamic,
Intimately united as a society of love,
You are our Creator and cause,
You are our perfect Savior,
You are our Intercessor and giver of spiritual gifts.
The Lord of all has called us forth;
Our Triune God has made us good.
Hallelujah, bless the Lord.
Hallelujah, praise God’s holy name!
Call to Confession
Beloved of God,
We celebrate in faith the sacrifice of Jesus Christ once and for all
For the sins of the whole world.
God has reconciled us to himself and to one another;
God has covenanted with us by the presence of the Holy Spirit,
Who gathers us together and transforms us to new life.
Let us repent from our sins,
And may the mercies of the Lord inspire us to wholeness and grace.
Prayer of Confession, adapted from the Belhar Confession, sections 1 and 2
Triune God,
You gather, protect, and care for us, your beloved, through Word and Spirit.
This you have done from the beginning of the world and will do to the end.
Have mercy upon us and forgive us for sinning against you.
We have not loved one another as we should,
We have not sown the seeds of gospel hope,
We have not been present for worship.
Restore us, Lord.
May we give ourselves willingly and joyfully
To be of benefit and blessing to one another,
That we may truly share one faith, have one calling,
And be of one soul and one mind
For the sake of your son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon, from Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus has come to you and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Affirmation of Faith, from the Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
The Father, the Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
Of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
The only Son of God,
Eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
True God from true God,
Begotten, not made,
Of one being with the Father;
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
He came down from heaven;
Was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
And became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
In accordance with the Scriptures;
He ascended into heaven
And is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
And his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
Who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
Who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
And the life of the world to come. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination
Be still and know that God is here.
Be still and know that God is near.
Be still and know that God is here.
Hymns and Songs of Praise Suggestions
“I See the Lord”
“The Voice of the Lord Is Calling”
“In the Name of the Lord”
“The Power of Your Love”
“Gloria Patri”
Sentences, adapted from Psalm 29
Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor!
The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty!
The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness!
The voice of the Lord causes the earth to shake and in God’s temple, all shall say “Glory!”
The Lord sits enthroned as king forever. May the Lord give strength to us, the people of God!
May the Lord bless the whole world with peace!
Call to Confession
The Spirit of the God has brought the fullness of the Lord to the world once again. What began in God and was accomplished in Jesus Christ is now stirred to glory in the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord! For this reason, we come to God with pure hearts as we raise our anthem of confession.
Prayer of Confession
Merciful Lord, faithful Christ, and sending Spirit,
You have come to us during the night and when we least expect it.
You have made us whole time and again.
We have failed to love you, know you, and bear witness to your grace.
Forgive us, God, and celebrate your presence in our hearts once more.
Create for us works to do, people to love, and words to speak.
Remind us of your holy ministry to the lost and lonely, barren and broken.
And join us together as one holy and apostolic church
That we may truly acknowledge one baptism and
Also look forward to resurrection and new life in the world to come.
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon from John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Affirmation of Faith, adapted from Belgic Confession article 8
We believe in one God, who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties—namely Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Father is the cause, origin, and source of all things, visible as well as invisible.
The Son is the Word, the Wisdom, and the image of the father.
The Holy Spirit is the eternal power and might, proceeding from the Father and the Son.
There is neither a first nor a last, for all three are one in truth and power, in goodness and mercy.
Prayer for Illumination
Be still and know that God is here.
Be still and know that God is near.
Be still and know that God is here.
Hymns and Songs of Praise Suggestions
“I See the Lord”
“The Voice of the Lord Is Calling”
“In the Name of the Lord”
“Power of Your Love”
Written by Katherine Lee Baker
Sentences, adapted from Psalm 8
The Lord is majestic and sovereign over all the earth!
The glory of God is above the heavens!
Out of the mouths of babes and infants
You have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
A secure and safe place to silence the enemy and avenger.
When we look to the heavens, the work of your fingers,
The moon and the stars that you have established;
What are human beings that you are mindful of us?
Yet you have made us a little lower than God,
And crowned us with glory and honor.
O Lord, our Sovereign God, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Call to Confession
The Lord has called each of us by name even before our beginnings;
Our Creator God has listened to our hearts and inspired within our minds a life renewed
For the sake of his son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit who is at work within us.
Come now, let us confess before God and with one another the sins that are before us.
Prayer of Confession
Holy and triune God,
You alone live in perfect relationship,
One God in three persons,
Mutual and loving,
Ever seeking reconciliation and unity.
You have called us to live in your completion, yet
We confess that our relationships are imperfect and
We are incomplete without you.
We are selfish and greedy.
We are anxious and resenting.
We feel the shame of our foolish behavior and brokenness.
We have allowed sin to drive us apart from one another
And from you.
Forgive us and restore us,
Draw us close and bind us together in your mercy.
May we long for wholeness and peace,
May we strive toward gratitude and grace
In the saving name of your son, Jesus Christ,
By the working power of your Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon, from Romans 5:1-2
“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.”
Affirmation of Faith, from the Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Sung Response: “Holy, Holy, Holy”
Hymns and Songs of Praise Suggestions
“O Lord, Our Lord, How Majestic Is Your Name (in All the Earth)”
“Eternal Father, Strong to Save”
“God, Our Help in Ages Past”
Written by Katherine Lee Baker