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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

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  • A trail through a redwood forest. The trees take up most of the image. There is a path through the trees, wet with recent rain, with ferns on either side. In the center of the photo, dwarfed by the trees, there is a man holding up a small camera or phone to take a picture.
    Drink Earth’s declaration of love with snowmelt, droplet and tide.…
    Poetry | By Jennifer Pratt-Walter | December 6, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Earth, Interdependence, Love, Nature, Self-Care, Worship
  • Closeup of the flower of an Iceland poppy against a black background. The four petals are deep orange and textured with gentle radial striations, and the stamens are bright yellow.
    In this circle, we honor the courage it takes to live openly, the softness that sustains us, and the joy and power that grow when we gather.
    Chalice Lighting | By Jami Yandle | December 6, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Change, Coming Out, Courage, Gender / Sex Change, Honesty, Joy, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, National Coming Out Day, Power, Pride Sunday, Resilience, Transformation, Truth, Worship
  • Seen from below, a flock of pigeons flies from the lower left to the upper right of the frame, against the white and pale blue background of a cloudy sky.
    We are bound for freedom, building on foundations laid before us.
    Opening, Reading | By Joan Javier-Duval | December 5, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Activism, Anti-Oppression, Character, Commitment, Courage, Freedom, Justice, Justice Sunday, Living Our Faith, Progress, Rights, Worship
  • An abstract photo showing reflections of orange and blue light in small droplets of water, giving the impression of fire and water combined.
    Fire lifts us up and invigorates us with purpose, while Water helps us settle down into being.
    Chalice Lighting | By Sage Phipps-Hinkle | December 3, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Change, Creativity, Nature, Water Communion, Worship
  • The cupped hand of a white person pours water on a seedling planted in muddy ground.
    May we know that love can heal us, all of us, if we act with compassion, if we offer grace.
    Prayer | December 3, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Compassion, Connections, Earth, Grace, Grief, Healing, Interdependence, Love, Worship
  • A whole mini carrot cake centered on a small white plate, all sitting on a black countertop with white speckles. The cake has nuts around the outside, white icing on top, and a marzipan carrot embedded in the icing.
    We don’t try to be the perfect thing for everyone, all the time, because that’s impossible. Instead, we try to be who we are: Unitarian Universalists, who put love at the center of all we do.
    Time for All Ages | By Christian Schmidt | December 3, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Balance, Caring, Diversity, Hospitality, Identity, Living Our Faith, Playfulness, Relationships, Worship
  • In a living room with a lit Christmas tree and gifts, a woman sits with closed eyes, slumped, with her hand on her forehead as if she's disappointed or frustrated.
    Help me feel the calm in the storm—even the ones of my own making.
    Reflection | By Kahla Childers | December 3, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Empathy, Failure, Family, Letting Go, Limitations, Responsibility, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship
  • Prehistoric stenciled outlines of many overlapping hands on the wall of a cave (the Cueva de las Manos in Argentina). Some hands show up as ochre on a white background, some are white on a black or ochre background.
    We sang, we loved, we gazed up at the mysterious stars. We tried to understand what had created us, why we were here, why we suffered and how to keep what was precious.
    Reading | By Lóre Stevens | December 1, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Beginnings, Connections, Earth, Generations, History, Journey, Nature, Reverence, Science, Worship
  • Against a dark blue sky, a sheet of strung lights is blurred, creating a golden, net-like appearance.
    Hope seeks out the forgotten places...
    Invocation | By Hannah Roberts Villnave | November 26, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hope, Worship
  • A wooden crate holding vegetables like carrots, peppers, and leeks is carried between two people: each person is holding one handle, outdoors, as they walk through a field or garden.
    My grandparents are now ancestors, but they taught me about creating a home of abundance.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | November 26, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Abundance, All Souls Day, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Family, Food, Friendship, Generations, Generosity, Gratitude, Humanism, Simplicity, Stewardship, Thanksgiving, Worship
  • A white woman with long reddish-brown hair holds an iPhone up to her face with two hands, perhaps taking a photo. The phone blocks most of her face from view, except for the corners of her sunglasses. Behind her, blurry, we see a mostly empty street or plaza.
    A call to worship is secretly a call to focus our attention. Choosing to focus our attention is countercultural.
    Opening | By Samantha Lynne Wilson | November 20, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Calling, Commitment, Community, Connections, Mindfulness, Presence, Sacred, Spiritual Practice, Worship
  • A low-angle shot of a wet gutter and curb in a city at nighttime. We see the colorful, out-of-focus lights of cars, traffic light, and building windows, as well as their reflections on the damp ground.
    The sacred does not hide from the world—it lives in it.
    Chalice Extinguishing | By Craig Rowland | November 19, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Interdependence, Reverence, Sacred, Worship
  • A low-angle shot of a wet gutter and curb in a city at nighttime. We see the colorful, out-of-focus lights of cars, traffic light, and building windows, as well as their reflections on the damp ground.
    Not every sanctuary has walls—some are stitched together from longing, kindness, and sheer survival.
    Chalice Lighting | By Craig Rowland | November 19, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Interdependence, Reverence, Sacred, Worship
  • A heart, carved into the light grey wood of a tree trunk, with its interior dyed pale red.
    You deserve a circle that sees your scars and your strength, your doubts and your radiance, and holds them all with care.
    Chalice Extinguishing | By Craig Rowland | November 19, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Community, Doubt, Empathy, Growth, Hope, Interdependence, Strength, Worship
  • A heart, carved into the light grey wood of a tree trunk, with its interior dyed pale red.
    You deserve a place that welcomes your becoming, that knows your fire is not too much, your silence not too little.
    Chalice Lighting | By Craig Rowland | November 19, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Community, Empathy, Grief, Growth, Healing, Hope, Interdependence, Vulnerability, Worship
  • A lecturer with graying hair speaks at a lectern, holding a page of notes, his back to the camera. In the background, blurred, is a bank of seats filled with audience members.
    Whether they walk, shuffle, or wheel themselves into my life, every person I interact with matters.
    Reflection | By JD Stillwater | November 19, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • A table covered with a red tablecloth and a purple tablecloth. The front is labeled with the word PRIDE, with each letter handwritten on a separate piece of letter paper. On the center of the table is a clear box filled with large serving spoons. The rest of the table is completely covered by many loose spoons. Among the spoons are many handwritten signs labeled with types of disabilities: “cognitive,” “developmental,” “sensory,” “hidden,” and so on.
    This two-part ritual, inspired by the disability justice concept of spoon theory, includes a litany of things that can “take spoons away” from people. Part of the WorshipWeb collection “Worth and Dignity of All Bodies.”
    Litany, Ritual | By Anna Tulou | November 17, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Body, Commitment, Disability, Human Rights, Identity, Inclusion, Respect, Rights, Solidarity, Worship
  • Indoors, in front of a sunny window and amid houseplants, a light-skinned Black sits cross-legged, eyes closed, as if meditating.
    I have a right to feel scared and hurt, and angry. Yet I refuse to let hate calcify my heart.
    Reflection | By Vanessa Titang | November 12, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: America, Anger, Anti-Oppression, Belief, Commitment, Identity, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Worship
  • Sitting on a couch, with only their torso and upper legs visible, a dark-skinned person wearing jeans and an olive T-shirt leans forward with their elbows on their knees. In one hand they dangle a military dog tag, and a similar tag is visible hanging from their neck outside of their T-shirt.
    As citizens of this democratic nation, we’re all complicit in its wars and conflicts.
    Reflection | By Rina Shere | November 5, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Accountability, America, Compassion, Conscience, Mental Health, Military, Politics, Veterans Day, Worship
  • An woman wearing an olive T-shirt and camo pants, suggesting a military veteran, leans forward in her chair, hands together, towards a counselor who's seated with a clipboard of notes on her lap.
    Just as you and I are more than our suffering, so too is each veteran more than their suffering.
    Reflection | By Rina Shere | October 29, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Military, Veterans Day, Worship