Unitarian Universalists honor and celebrate a wide range of holidays and occasions over the course of a year. Unlike other faith traditions that use a single lectionary (a collection of scripture readings appointed for a given day or occasion), the topics and themes for Unitarian Universalist worship services are usually chosen independently by worship leaders in congregations. These include unique UU traditions, like the Flower Ceremony, as well as holidays from other faith traditions, such as Christmas or Beltane.
View and download the 2023-24 UUA Worship Calendar (PDF), which includes faith-based and secular holidays that UU congregations often celebrate. The calendar also includes monthly worship themes used in popular theme-based ministry programs. To download or print, follow the link and use the File menu, then select the Landscape layout option.
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This prayer was written to accompany the Advent hymn "People, Look East," #226 in Singing the Living Tradition. Spirit of the Living God, turn our faces to the East to look for your presence. Turn our faces in any and every direction from which you draw near to us....Prayer | By Fr. Austin Fleming | December 7, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Awe, Immanence, Transcendence, Wonder -
A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more. ~ Matthew 2:18 I read those words aloud from the pulpit once a year, on Christmas Eve: a night when we celebrate the birth of hope and possibility and...Meditation | By Lisa Doege | December 3, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Advent, Birth, Brokenness, Children, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hope, Judaism, Parents, Peace, Violence -
Spirit of Life, Source of all, to this beautiful place to this hallowed time and in the midst of this kindred company we bring hearts broken yet again by senseless violence....Prayer | By Kristin Grassel Schmidt | December 1, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Brokenness, Despair, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Grace, Hope, Terrorism, Unitarian Universalism -
Sheet music (PDF). Kindle candles one by one; night by night, the light it grows. Lights of freedom miracle of faith! Shining out for all to see. We give thanks for miracles. Ancestors who fought for faith. They were brave beyond all hope! Strong, courageous Maccabees. Blessed is the Holy One who...Music | By Suzelle Lynch | November 27, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Courage, Freedom, Generations, Hanukkah, Judaism, Tradition -
If you came to this place expecting a tame story, you came to the wrong place. If you came for a story that does not threaten you, you came for a different story than the one we tell. If you came to hear of the coming of a God who only showed up so that you could have a nice day with your loved...Opening | By Quinn G. Caldwell | November 24, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Integrity, Justice, Love, Power, Transformation -
Spirit of Life and Love, Shaken by sorrow We wonder why We wonder how Humans can find it within themselves To destroy life That exists also within them. Together we grieve the injustice Of lives cut short by hate Of survivors touched by terror And we stand firm in life Knowing that only love can...Prayer | By Jennifer Gracen | November 24, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Despair, Grief, Hope, Interdependence, International, Love, Mourning, Unitarian Universalism
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Introduction The Cornbread and Cider Communion is a tradition in some of our congregations. With gratitude for our freedom and for our abundance, let us celebrate this ritual today mindful of Syrian and other refugees who are unable to go home, those for whom we pray safe passage and a welcoming...Ritual | By Dawn Skjei Cooley | November 24, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: America, Body, Communion (Christian), Food, Gratitude, Immigration, Interdependence, International, Solidarity, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism -
December twenty-fourth, The Flaming Chalice (1965). The Unitarian Service Committee adopted the flaming chalice as their logo in 1941. Years later, in 1965, at the West Shore Church in Cleveland, OH the youth led a Christmas service opened by ritually lighting a chalice....Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Identity, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December twenty-third, “O Holy Night” (1855). The first English translation of "O Holy Night" was by Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, who tweaked the original French author's socialist themes and images to advance Dwight's own abolitionist cause. Not only was the French author a...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, International, Unitarianism, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December twenty-second, The First Unitarian Church Founded in Transylvania (1557). Despite recognition under the 1557 Act of Religious Toleration and receiving the king's patronage, the Unitarian church in Transylvania has faced frequent persecution....Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, International, Unitarianism, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December twenty-first, the Winter Solstice. (The point along the Earth’s annual solar orbit when the northern hemisphere is at its furthest point from the sun). The last harvest of the year is celebrated shortly before the Winter Solstice. In ancient times people would feast knowing the months...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Death, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December twentieth, first of Elliot’s Ariel Poems, “The Journey of the Magi” (1927). "Magi" is Unitarian T. S. Eliot’s first of 5 Christmas poems published after his ambivalent choice to join the Anglican church. Many believe that Eliot's feelings about his new church are reflected by the...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December nineteenth, "The Many Moods of Christmas” (1963). Robert Shaw was best known as the conductor of his namesake Chorale. In its day, "Many Moods of Christmas" was the quintessential sound of the season. Even today, the album sells well around the holidays and choirs continue to perform it...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Unitarianism, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December eighteenth, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" (1962). Amid the anxiety of the Cuban missile crisis, Unitarian Noel Regney wrote the text for “Do You Hear What I Hear?” as a protest song. The music was composed by his then-wife, Gloria Shayne Baker. The song's allusions to the Bible stories of...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Peace, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarianism, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December Seventeenth, Rod Serling’s Christmas Specials (1963). Though Jewish, Rod Serling always loved Christmas (maybe because his birthday was December twenty-fifth). He became a Unitarian Universalist while in college and later joined the Unitarian Community Church of Santa Monica. He wrote...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Science, Secular, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December sixteenth, Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales (1835). When the man he loved married a woman, Danish Unitarian Hans Christian Andersen wrote one of his first and most beloved fairy tales of a mermaid's tragically unrequited love. His timeless tales include several Christmas classics...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarianism, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December fifteenth, the First American Christmas Tree (1832). Unitarian Minister Charles Follen delighted his son and party guests with a Christmas tree as he had growing up in Germany. They had postponed the festivities until New Years so that British author and Unitarian Harriet Martineau could...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Unitarianism, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December fourteenth, “I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day” (1865). Unitarian Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Wrote "Christmas Bells" (a poem later set to music and renamed "I Head the Bells On Christmas Day") just months before the end of the Civil War. The poem captures the despair felt by the...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Unitarianism, War, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December thirteenth, first department store Santa (1890). Department storeowner James Edgar delighted customers’ children by walking about the store on weekends dressed in a Santa costume. Edgar aspired to broad-mindedness in his religion, and though not a member he attended the Unitarian church...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Secular, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December twelfth, Christmas Day is Clara Barton’s Birthday (1821). Clara Barton, Universalist and founder of the American Red Cross, is a hero of our liberal religious faith. We remember her around the holidays season since she was born Christmas Day, 1821. But in the season when we recall the...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Healing, Health, International, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Secular, Universalism, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule