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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Let us bless and keep one another. Let kindness rule in our hearts and compassion in our lives, until we meet again. Amen.Closing | By John C Morgan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Meaning, Purpose, Service, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism -
Keeping faith, our faithfulness keeps us. Go in faith.Closing | By Raymond R Nasemann | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Faith, Hope, Tradition
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With what benediction shall I leave you? This: In your life, may you know the holy meaning, the mystery that breaks into it every moment. May you live at peace with your world and at peace with yourself. And may the love of truth guide you in your every day. Amen.Benediction | By Mark Mosher DeWolfe | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Love, Meaning, Mystery, Peace, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism
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Invite the congregation to join hands. The hand in yours belongs to a person whose heart is sometimes tender, whose skin is sometimes thin, whose eyes sometimes fill with tears, and whose laughter is a beautiful sound....Closing | By Erika Hewitt | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Body, Connections, Direct Experience, Relationships, Trust, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
Go in peace, speak the truth, give thanks each day. Respect the earth and her creatures, for they are alive like you. Care for your body; it is a wondrous gift. Live simply. Be of service. Be guided by your faith and not your fear. Go lightly on your path. Walk in a sacred manner. Amen.Closing | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Body, Earth, Faith, Service, Unitarian Universalism
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O God, we beseech you, by your great goodness defend us from all perils and dangers of this night, for the love of the world over which you watch....Prayer | By Anne E Treadwell | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Faith, God, Peace, Presence, Sacred
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Cheered by our community, blessed by our covenant, uplifted in mind, and renewed in spirit, go forth with courage and in peace to meet the days to come. Amen.Closing | By Burton D. Carley | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Commitment, Community, Meaning, Purpose, Service, Unitarian Universalism
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Once upon a time God said, "I'm bored because I don't have anything to do. I want to play with my friends." And because God is God, as soon as the words were spoken, God's friends were there. When God saw them all gathered, God said, "I've been bored because I haven't had anything to do....Reading | By Mary Ann Moore | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, God, Mystery
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Once upon a time there was a drop of water named Higgins. Higgins was no ordinary drop of water. He was a drop with a dream. Higgins lived in a valley where it had not rained in a very long time, so all the lovely green grass was turning brown, all the beautiful flowers were wilting, and all the...Story | By Christopher Buice | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Anti-Oppression, Solidarity, Teamwork
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Once upon a time, a girl named Ramona and a boy named Roberto had a wonderful dog. They named the dog Feliz because he was so happy when they came home from school each day. He bounded toward them, barking and tail wagging madly. His sandy brown coat was sort of wavy around the shoulders but...Reading | By Heather Lynn Hanson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Easter, Good Friday, Grief, Love
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It is easy to pray when the sun shines And we are grateful for another glorious day of being. It is hard to pray when wind and rain and thunder Plague our every step and spoil our every plan. It is easy to be virtuous when life goes well And our existence is a journey from bliss to beauty and back.Reading | By Richard S. Gilbert | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Spiritual Practice
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The other day I was driving on an expressway. These days expressway driving seems a frantic enterprise. Near one of the exit ramps, one of the highway denizens, a behemoth "semi" had pulled over onto the berm. The driver had emerged and was gathering some wild plants along the side of the road.Reading | By Gordon B McKeeman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Solidarity
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Blackmail, blacklist, black mark. Black Monday, black mood, black-hearted. Black plague, black mass, black market. Good guys wear white, bad guys wear black. We fear black cats, and the Dark Continent. But it's okay to tell a white lie, lily-white hands are coveted, it's great to be pure as the...Reading | By Jacqui James | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Psychology, Race/Ethnicity
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I wasn't flattered when one of my daughters confided that she had thought of me as "The Big There-There" when she was three years old. If I remember correctly, I was in the middle of a phase where I was hoping to reassure myself that I still had a fertile mind as well as a welcoming bosom. Now,...Reading | By Barbara Rohde | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Caring
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Awesome and gracious God -- you who are the power that brings us to life and the spirit that sustains us -- forgive us for being less than we might be. Guide us to become what is in our power to become, in your service....Closing | By Polly Leland-Mayer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Direct Experience, Faith, God, Healing, Service, Wholeness -
By our presence here with one another, Hearing the harmony that is the music of the spheres, May some of the harshness and discord of our human lives Be transmuted into music....Closing | By Richard S. Gilbert | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Arts & Music, Awe, Community, Presence, Unitarian Universalism, Unity -
And now may the blessings of life be upon us and upon this congregation. May the memories we gather here give us hope for the future. May the love that we share bring strength and joy to our hearts, and the peace of this community be with us until we meet again.Closing | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, History, Relationships, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
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Many Unitarian Universalist churches and fellowships start their worship service on Sunday morning by lighting a flame inside a chalice. This flaming chalice is a symbol for Unitarian Universalists just as the cross and the Star of David are symbols for other religious groups....Reading | By Noreen Kimball | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: History, Unitarian Universalism
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Many years ago in the land of Transylvania, in a mountain valley watered by quick rushing streams and shadowed by great forests of beech trees, there was a village of small wooden houses with dark-shingled roofs....Reading | By Janeen K Grohsmeyer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Faith, Grace, Love
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Most of us look for love in only the most obvious places, and as a result, most of us come away disappointed. Its as if we are still grade school kids, counting valentines as a measure of what matters. The love that matters is not typically the subject of sonnets or love songs....Reading | By David S Blanchard | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Love