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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  • Worship is relational and even transformational, but it's not informational.
    Leader Resource | August 4, 2022 | From WorshipLab
    Tagged as: Worship Tips
  • Once, during my ministerial internship, a woman I’ll call Clara came up to me during the hustle and bustle before the Sunday service. I knew that Clara struggled with anxiety; now, in great distress, she told me how anxious she was and that she didn’t know what to do. She was frantic, and I...
    Reading | By Barbara F. Meyers | July 27, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Caring, Listening, Mental Health, Presence
  • People of faith are experts in human kindness.
    Reading | By Barbara F. Meyers | July 27, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Addiction/Recovery, Caring, Community, Healing, Hope, Kindness, Mental Health
  • People find hope in the faith that they're held by something larger than themselves.
    Reading | By Barbara F. Meyers | July 27, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Addiction/Recovery, Faith, Healing, Mental Health, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality
  • Mental illness is a spiritual problem as well as a psychiatric one.
    Reading | By Barbara F. Meyers | July 27, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Health, Searching, Spirituality
  • Mental illnesses are sometimes called “no-casserole diseases.” People don’t bring casseroles to homes where someone is hospitalized for mental problems.
    Reading | By Barbara F. Meyers | July 27, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Caring, Compassion, Mental Health, Worship
  • We are all called to serve, to grow, and to love as we continue this journey of transformation.
    Benediction | By Kent McKusick | July 27, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Growth, Love, Service, Worship
  • May you feel the freedom to stretch fully into your most true self.
    Ritual | By Kim Wildszewski | July 20, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Gender, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Self-Respect, Transformation, Worship
  • I never heard the word abortion in church when I was a child.
    Poetry | By Eileen Casey-Campbell | June 30, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Direct Experience, Freedom, Politics, Reproductive Justice, Truth, Worship
  • We must choose each other again and again, though conflict and through plenty.
    Reflection | By Abbey Tennis | June 29, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Conflict, Discernment, Love, Reconciliation, Relationships, Worship
  • We are learning to regroup and remember perfection was never the point.
    Opening | By Gretchen Haley | June 27, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Grace, Growth, Healing, Progress, Relationships, Resilience, Self-Respect, Vulnerability, Worship
  • We have to keep finding ways to widen the circle of care and concern.
    Reflection | By JeKaren Olaoya | June 22, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Hospitality, Identity, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • We gather here, around this flame; seeking, believing, and being, together.
    Chalice Lighting | June 17, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Generations, Worship
  • We have a holy obligation to bring about paradise on this earth; each generation helps us do that.
    Reflection | By Nathan Ryan | June 15, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Children, Father's Day, Fathers, Generations, Hope, Mothers, Parents, Purpose, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • We bless today all the masculinities with us and within us.
    Blessing | By Kye Flannery | June 9, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Father's Day, Fathers, Freedom, Gender, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Men, Transformation, Worship
  • Your minister is not, cannot be, your friend.
    Sermon | By Dawn Skjei Cooley | June 8, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Friendship, Leadership, Limitations, Ministry, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • To be queer is to know the ways of holding all that shimmers to the light.
    Reflection | By Laura Solomon | June 8, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • Your contributions are a tangible commitment to the mission and vision of this congregation.
    Offering | By Elizabeth Murphy | June 2, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Stewardship
  • We are that, says a little acorn pointing toward an oak tree.
    Prayer | By Arif Mamdani | June 2, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Abundance, Generations, God, Love, Transcendence, Transformation, Worship
  • We are an angry and beautiful people.
    Reflection | By Laura Solomon | June 1, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Connections, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Fear, Humanism, Love, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism, Worship