The Worship Section of Your Congregation's Website Using the UUA WordPress Theme
Part of Documentation
Two subpages in the Worship section are automated using the UUA Services plugin, which displays the services pages that you create. The rest of the pages, including the Worship landing page, are regular pages that should explain how worship works in your congregations.
Worship Landing Page
Include a photo of worship in your congregation with some brief and inviting words about worship. Example language:
We gather together in spiritual community because we need constant reminders of what matters most in life. In a world of heartbreak and dehumanization, our congregations and communities call us to our better selves. We learn to live with more wisdom, more connection, and more compassion.
Our Worship Services are weekly reflections that weave together our own thoughts and experiences with music, beauty, poetry, and words that both comfort and challenge. Our programs for all ages inspire us, and awaken us to our capacities to make a difference in our own lives and in the world.
We are inspired not just by religious sources but by the people with whom we journey: the diverse and spirited Unitarian Universalists.
Connect with us to join in.
Worship Subpages
Past Worship Services and Upcoming Worship Services
More information about these pages are at Past Worship Services and Upcoming Worship Services. They list the worship services you enter as Service pages.
What to Expect in Worship
Include photo of worship. Include information about your regular practices and rituals, including chalice lighting, time for all ages, joys & concerns, meditation/prayer, etc. if applicable. Build on this example from the demo site.
Music and Choir
Include photos of the congregation’s musicians or the congregation singing. See content at the UUA.org Music in UU Worship page for ideas. Include information on when the choir rehearses and how to join.
Child Dedications
Include information about what child dedications are, and how people can get their children dedicated by the congregation. You may also wish to indicate how they can arrange for a private in-home child dedication/blessing if your minister or religious educator offers those services. Search data on UUA.org tell us that it is wise to use the word “baptism” somewhere on this page, because people new to Unitarian Universalism don’t know the words “child dedication” and instead search for “baptism.” See example language at the UUA.org Child Dedications page.
Holidays and Traditions
Include photos from holidays and traditions you celebrate. Many newcomers are curious about how UUs celebrate holidays, why many of our congregations emphasize Christmas and Easter, etc. You can model your page after the UUA.org Holidays in UUism page. If you have annual traditions like a Coming of Age ceremony, a candle-lit Christmas pageant, or an interfaith Passover seder, mention them here.
Memorial Services and Funerals
Include information about what makes UU memorial services and funerals special. See the UUA.org Memorial Services and Funerals page. Include specific information about how someone arranges for a memorial service or funeral in your congregation and/or with your minister. You may wish to list a fee structure. You may emphasize that UU congregations and ministers honor the deceased with a highly personalized service based in their individual personality and beliefs.
Weddings
Include information about what UU weddings and what makes them special. See the UUA.org Weddings page. Include specific information about how someone arranges for a wedding in your congregation and/or with your minister(s). You may wish to list a fee structure. Be sure to emphasize that your weddings are for same-sex couples as well as other-sex couples, and that you create meaningful ceremonies for interfaith and “no faith” couples as well as Unitarian Universalists. Photos of weddings in your congregation or with your minister would be excellent on this page.