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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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  • Against the background of a sunset sky, we see the silhouettes of three children leaping into the air, with their arms raised and their legs bent.
    Today, we honor a journey that some of our youth have been on to mindfully enter the next phase of their lives… this is ultimately a time when we have invited them to think specifically about their own path.
    Ritual | By Kharma Amos | June 27, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Character, Children, Coming of Age, Coming-of-Age, Community, Growth, Identity, Resilience, Worship, Youth/Teens
  • The first slide of a slide deck. The main text, in a green box, says “A Blessing for Queer Youth of Faith,” and the author’s name, Rev. Cathy Rion Starr, appears below the box. On the right side there is a graphic of a purple tulip-like flower, intertwined with a six-color Pride rainbow banner. At the bottom right are the words “Side with Love” next to the Side with Love heart logo, in Pride colors.
    Bless you, for who you are, right now, right here. Bless you in your queerness, your genderfabulousness, your questioning, wondering, exploring, declaring. Bless you in the words you create and evolve and claim for yourself.
    Blessing | By Cathy Rion Starr | June 27, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #LGBTQ, #Pride, #SideWithLove, Community, Connections, Faith, Gender, Identity, Interdependence, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, National Coming Out Day, Pride Sunday, Wholeness, Worship, Youth/Teens
  • Through a heart-shaped window in the door of a light blue metal box, we see a glowing candle and its reflection.
    We gather in covenant to celebrate the reality that love is at the core of our beings and that love will guide us if we open ourselves to the challenges which love requires of us.
    Affirmation, Opening, Poetry | By Esther Hurlburt | June 26, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Covenant, Living Our Faith, Love, Worship
  • A single dandelion inflorescence held up against the background of an out-of-focus horizon and sky.
    The flames did not show the whole path, but by their light we saw each other and knew we did not travel alone.
    Responsive Reading | By Karin Fuog | June 26, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Community, Covenant, Ending, Gratitude, Journey, Letting Go, Worship
  • In a dark room, several taper candles and smaller candles in red, cut-glass holders are all alit.
    This is a year in which hard, brave choices will be required of all of us.
    Reflection | By Martha Durkee-Neuman | June 26, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Choice, Courage, Creativity, Direct Experience, Discernment, Imagination, Integrity, Interdependence, Journey, Secular, Worship
  • A small rainbow flag, on a small stick, is held by the outstretched arms of two different people of color.
    “Queer” challenges the status quo; it dares me to be authentically myself.
    Reflection | By Vanessa Titang | June 19, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #Pride, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Humanism, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Pride Sunday, Searching, Self-Respect, Sexuality, Transformation, Worship
  • Two middle-aged people, seen from the shoulders up, press their faces together intimately and smile broadly. A Pride flag is wrapped around their shoulders.
    May everyone feel safe and free to love as they choose.
    Reflection | By Lynette Yetter | June 12, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #Pride, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Brokenness, Community, Despair, Direct Experience, Fear, Friendship, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Oppression, Pain, Pride Sunday, Searching, Women, Worship
  • An irregular spider web with beads of water on it, in front of a yellow-orange background.
    Each of us, imperfect and vulnerable bodyspirits that we are, is connected to a vast web of love which holds us and will not let us go.
    Quote | By Meg Riley | June 6, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Generations, Interdependence, Love, Universalism
  • A black-and-white photograph of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911), standing with her two hands resting on the back of a chair.
    Justice, simple justice, is the right, not simply of the strong and powerful, but of the weakest and feeblest of all God’s children.
    Quote | By Frances Ellen Watkins Harper | June 6, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: America, Compassion, Human Rights, Justice, Worship
  • chalice at St. Cloud UU Fellowship
    May we be kind in our speaking, thoughtful in our deliberating, and never stray from the love that binds us together.
    Opening | By Linda Hart | June 6, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Business Meetings, Community, Covenant, Democracy, Governance, Interdependence, Leadership, Service, Teamwork, Work, Worship
  • A black-and-white “Black Lives Matter” flag flying on a short flagpole being carried by a Black person with glasses and a procedure mask, in a march. The flag is the central part of the image, with the person's head, blurry, just visible in the lower left as they pass by the viewer.
    This ritual is written for a congregation to bless a Black Lives Matter banner and raise it on their church building. It could easily be adapted for rededication of a banner, or for other banners that a congregation might display on their building to declare their values.
    Ritual | By Allison Palm | June 6, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Community, Conscience, Human Rights, Inclusion, Juneteenth, Justice, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Power, Pride Sunday, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity, Worship
  • A nonbinary teen--white, with freckles and shoulder-length brown hair--holds a camera up, partially obscuring their face, as they look at the photographer.
    Being nonbinary has finally brought me home to myself.
    Reflection | By Mare Martell | June 5, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #LGBTQ, #Pride, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Coming-of-Age, Direct Experience, Discernment, Gender, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Searching, Self-Respect, Transformation, Wholeness, Worship
  • A black and white photo of eight hands of various ages and colors resting on top of one another.
    A universalist God for a tragic era is not a gauzy, hymn-singing force of personal devotion that draws us endlessly toward itself, but a fierce and compelling power that grips us by the collar amid our rebellious descent and calls us to choose the will to mutuality…
    Quote | By Nancy McDonald Ladd | May 31, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Conscience, God, Interdependence, Love, Universalism, Worship
  • A woman with long hair, mostly in silhouette, holds a sparkler near the camera. The camera is focused mostly on the bright red and yellow sparks, with the woman behind them slightly blurred.
    The essence that is you—that spark of life, is in your body; is of your body; and it is—you are—divine.
    Opening | By Gwen Matthews | May 30, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Humanism, Sacred, Worship
  • A fabric rainbow tote bag dangles from someone's hand. They're standing on a sidewalk, wearing trousers, visible only from the hip down.
    My queerness is about mindset and attitude and intention.
    Reflection | By Paige Getty | May 29, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #Pride, Worship
  • Close up of person resting their chin on their hands and looking off into the distance to our left. The scene is lit in black light, which makes glitter makeup on the person’s head and neck fluoresce in yellows and reds.
    This glitter that we share with each other today is a reminder that each of us is beautiful in our sacred imperfection, our ever-changing selves, our glorious plurality.
    Ritual | By Hannah Roberts Villnave, Kayla Parker, Caitlin Cotter Coillberg | May 23, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Gender, Identity, Inclusion, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Love, Playfulness, Pride Sunday, Respect, Sexuality, Wholeness, Worship
  • In profile, a person prays: their eyes are closed, and their forehead rests on their clasped hands.
    I have often felt the divine most present when I feel dissolved into a holy community.
    Reflection | By Julie Yeeun Kim | May 22, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • An elderly woman wearing a paing-spattered apron sits in front of an easel, smiling, as she paints a beautiful landscape.
    It takes a community to remember someone in all of their many facets.
    Reflection | By Aaron Stockwell Wisman | May 15, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • An infant, lying on a bed and swaddled in a blanket, has their hand held by an adult. Their hands and part of their torso are all we see.
    Dear world, how does love right now move me to action?
    Reflection | By Sarah Pirtle | May 8, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Children, Direct Experience, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Parents, Patience, Worry, Worship
  • An adult’s hands gently resting on the bare feet of a child, on a clean white sheet. The adult and child have brown skin, and the adult’s nails are painted coral.
    We come into consciousness in the middle of the story...
    Prayer | By Linda Hart | May 3, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Birth, Compassion, Family, Generations, Grace, Gratitude, Grief, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Parents, Worship