An unlit chalice on a church altar

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.

LEADER RESOURCE 2 Rituals to Welcome a New Child
a medieval window from the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, Scotland, depicting the Nativity
Islamic prayer beads or Subha inside the Süleymaniye Moque (Istanbul).
An altar filled with candles, photos, and flowers

Search Words for Worship Services

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  • "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America..." "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!..." 1 "Sisters are we, Spurs always true, our hearts ring out for the yellow and blue..." "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both..." 2 A...
    Sermon | By Leslie Becknell | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Faith, Spiritual Practice, Unitarian Universalism
  • A Sermon for First UU Church of New Orleans and Community Church of New Orleans Sunday, August 27, 2006 First Presbyterian Church The clouds gather and the rumbling is enough to unsettle anyone....
    Sermon | By Marta I. Valentín | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Diversity, Generosity
  • Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere; its temple, all space; its shrine, the good heart; its creed, all truth; its ritual, works of love; its profession of faith, divine living.
    Reading | By Theodore Parker | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Faith, Unitarian Universalism
  • A few summers ago my wife Suzanne and I took our son Christopher gem mining in the mountains of North Carolina. We mounded a pile of mud and dirt, got a sifter, and began sifting through the soil in search of treasure. Liberal religious education is like gem mining. In a Unitarian Universalist...
    Meditation | By Christopher Buice | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children, Children's Sabbath, Education, Teacher Dedication
  • Adapted from Flower Sunday, 1969 On a day such as this may a great change come upon us. The sounds we have been hearing have been discordant; the sights we have been seeing have been violent; the words we have been reading have been hateful. All this has been wearying, discouraging and distracting.
    Meditation | By William B Rice | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Flower Communion
  • First, let me bring you greetings from the larger family of faith of which you are a part. The Unitarian Universalist Association is the coming together of, now, 1055 free, liberal religious congregations in North America....
    Sermon | By William G. Sinkford | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Class, Race/Ethnicity, Reconciliation
  • God of our hearts, that which enlightens and ennobles us, we come together in a unity of spirit to celebrate a personal commitment of these young men and women. We join in thanksgiving....
    Meditation | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Coming of Age
  • For any of the components, below, you might insert other options from WorshipWeb's resources -- or write your own!...
    Complete Service | By Anonymous | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Aging, Children, Coming of Age, Faith, Family, Generations, Growth, History, Parents, Unitarian Universalism
  • We are here today to recognize the completion of your program of study for this Coming of Age ceremony and to celebrate with you the faith you have come to accept through this year of questioning and investigating. Some of you were brought to a Unitarian Universalist church to be Dedicated and...
    Opening | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Coming of Age
  • Two women, thin, one small, one gray-haired, sit side by side on a high-backed bench. The smaller one leans against the other, lays her head atop the other’s shoulder, wraps her arm around the other. The one wrapped around, leaned against and onto, sits upright. The smaller one sits up also, but...
    Meditation | By Nancy Shaffer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children's / Religious Education Sunday
  • Now, go forth into the world in peace. Be of good courage. Prove all things and hold fast that which is good. Amen.
    Closing | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Coming of Age
  • We are never complete. We are never finished. We are always yet to be. May we always allow others to be, and help and enable each other to grow toward all that we are capable of becoming. Amen...
    Closing | By Anonymous | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Coming of Age
  • Parents Once you were infants dependent upon our love and the wisdom of others.Youth Now we are young persons entering an adult world with increasing responsibilities for our own decision making.Parents Once you belonged to an environment of faith and values outside your ability to alter or reject.
    Reading | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Coming of Age
  • Sitting on the ground, with the huge universe of sky and space all around, may we let our eyes be open to the miracle of life in every person whom we see. May our hearts and minds not be numb or unaware or unconcerned. The vibrancy of life is all around. The power of love and nurture is ours to...
    Reading | By Linda Olson Peebles | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children, Stewardship, Wholeness
  • This is the kind of God I could worship: a heavenly Mother who prefers imitation to adoration, and who sees in all Creation the indivisible smiles of Her children. Our Mother, Holy Wisdom, draws one breath and even we who are miles away are warmed by the glory of Her inspiration. Our Mother, Holy...
    Meditation | By Jeffrey B Symynkywicz | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Mother's Day
  • In the hours before the birds stream airborne with chiming voice, a silent breath rests in the pines, and upholds the surface of the lake as if it were a fragile bubble in the very hand of God. And I think, this is how we are called....
    Meditation | By Kimberly Beyer-Nelson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Calling, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Nature, Transcendence, Wonder
  • Squirrel: tch tch tch Sparrow: cheep cheep Mouse/mice: squeak squeak Frogs: ribbit needeep Tadpoles: ribribrib Grass: oooohhhh Pond: plip plop Peepers: peep peep peep Nighthawk: scree scree Daffodils: nodding head/trumpet sound It wasn't a particularly hard winter that year, but it was long and...
    Reading | By Kirsty Johnson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Animals, Earth-Centered, Easter, Vernal Equinox
  • God of life and beauty: We pray for the quietness of snowflakes, knowing that love is quiet. We pray for the kindness of small acts, knowing gentleness is fragile....
    Prayer | By Lucinda S Duncan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Compassion, God, Kindness, Living Our Faith, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • We seek life’s meaning in the wonder of morning In the freshness of springtime, And in each others hearts and minds. Yet still we hope for something more, A break in the ordinary, An infusion of the unexpected, An explosion of glory, A miracle, Revealing more than we hope to understand.
    Opening | By Charles F Flagg | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Easter, Mystery
  • When I was a child, the world felt safe and whole and meaningful to me. It reached out and embraced me in a comfortable, welcoming, protective way. I felt "at home in the world," to borrow from the title we use for one of our Church School curricula....
    Sermon | By Jeanne Harrison Nieuwejaar | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children, Education, Spiritual Practice, Unitarian Universalism