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.
Search Words for Worship Services
Displaying 2801 – 2820 of 3344
Changing a filter will refresh results (and remaining options) immediately. Searching by keyword requires use of the "Search" button.
-
We light this chalice to honor the memory of those who have come before us, kindling flames of wisdom in dark times, willing to challenge orthodoxy even at great personal risk, giving us a legacy of freedom and a love of truth, A legacy that warms our hearts and lights our paths.Chalice Lighting | By Paul Sprecher | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Challenge, Commitment, Courage, Freedom, Generations, History, Journey, Love, Truth, Wisdom -
Religious Education Director: Today, we celebrate you as you take the next step on your journey, moving from childhood to adolescence. This is a wonderful time in your life, full of hope and expectation and wonder. As you begin to explore more about who you are, you are like a kite....Ritual | By Dana Poss | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Bridging -
"Can faith equal faith? Do gods of one faith take care of the believers of other faiths? Who will protect my god when he falters and his faith fails? Do the gods of one faith take care of the gods of other faiths?" These questions all come from the poem "Faith," by Justin Chin. In the poem, the...Sermon | By Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), God, Identity, Psychology, Searching
-
One day, a rabbit set out from the woods, carrying a question to all the other creatures that it met. The rabbit came first to a butterfly fluttering in an open field, and asked, "Friend butterfly, what can you tell me about the thing called 'god’?" The butterfly thought for a moment, and said,...Story | By Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Direct Experience, God
-
Leader: We believe and trust that all people are equal in humanity: Black or White; Rich or Poor; Gay or Straight. Congregation: All people are equal in humanity. Leader: Our prayer today is that the Government in Uganda will listen to the cry of its people. May they find wisdom and recognize the...Chalice Lighting | By Anonymous | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Change, Equity, Evil, Freedom, Human Rights, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Multiculturalism, Worth -
The world is a slippery sort of thing. It can be hard, very hard, to hold on to all the many pieces of life. In our days on this earth, we may try new ideas, new plans, new relationships, careers or places to live. No matter how many or how few sorts of things we devote our living to, we can be...Sermon | By Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Commitment, Letting Go, Unitarian Universalism
-
There was once a crow who was very hungry. Flying over the tops of the trees, it spotted a large, tasty-looking walnut growing from one of the tallest branches below. Seeing the makings of a fine supper, the crow swooped down and plucked the dangling walnut and held it triumphantly in its beak....Story | By Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Conflict, Greed, Letting Go, Playfulness
-
Does the match love the wick? Does the wick love the wax or the air it consumes? “Yes, without question.” To melt together, To burn together, To change together, The pieces of the candle must love each other. Though not necessarily wisely, and not necessarily well.Chalice Lighting | By Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Commitment, Grace, Growth, Interdependence, Mystery, Transformation -
Dear God, Dear Love, hold the people of Uganda in your heart. May you grant courage and safety to our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender siblings who are in danger this day, In Kampala and Entebbe, along the shores of Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga, among the kingdoms of Toro, Ankole, Busoga,...Meditation | By Sarah Lammert | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Globalism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Multiculturalism
-
There was an elderly man in England named Arthur Flowerdew. He’d lived his whole life in the seaside town of Norfolk, and had left England only once, to journey to the French coast. All his life, however, Arthur Flowerdew had been plagued by vivid mental pictures of a great city surrounded by...Sermon | By Wayne B. Arnason | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Buddhism, Death, Growth
-
The gospels are full of stories about Jesus healing. The healing stories represent some of the most moving images in Scripture. They are the most important miracle stories that were used to convince the world that Jesus was the Son of God during the first five centuries of the Common Era....Sermon | By Wayne B. Arnason | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Body, Healing, Health, Humanism, Illness
-
How can we begin to understand what hope and healing mean in the face of a deadly illness with no known cure? We have many sources of hope and healing in our lives—singing, praying, thinking, communicating, acting, giving, and remembering. Dr. Richard Cabot tells the story of a young theological...Reading | By Jay E Abernathy, Jr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Body, Healing, Illness, Suffering
-
Let us seek the quiet and the calm Let us lay aside our loud calling Let us lay aside our struggle Speak softly: let us listen to the melodies that recall other proportions Our moments tarry not with us Let us then seek the dimension that endures beyond all nowness and hereness beyond all...Opening | By Jay E Abernathy, Jr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Contemplation, Peace, Silence
-
I feel sorry for the kids today who are taking geography in school for the first time. When I was in school, unless you got really interested in the history of Iraqi Kurdistan, there was a chance you could get all the way through geography class without ever having to know learn to spell Sulaymania.Sermon | By Wayne B. Arnason | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Dissent, Inclusion, International, Multiculturalism, Multiculturalism, Politics, Universalism
-
Let us be humble, for the worst thing in the world is of the same stuff as we are. Let us be confident, for we too are composed of the same stuff as the stars. Amen.Closing | By Jay E Abernathy, Jr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Humility
-
We pause this hour to honor the spirit and to accept ourselves as fragile humans, equally full of nobility and strength. We gather, weary of life’s trials, yet cheered by infinite possibilities for love’s grace. We meet with smiles and glad voices for old friends and new—every stranger a gift...Reading | By Bruce Southworth | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Grace, Gratitude
-
Ten years ago, I was asked to present a paper to a new ministers’ study group that was forming at Cedar Hill, a small conference center near Boston. The group had chosen a perennial topic for UU clergy study groups: "Science and Religion." My job was to review one of the books we’d read in...Sermon | By Wayne B. Arnason | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Growth, Psychology, Self-Care, Spirituality
-
As must be obvious to every one of you, these are times of great tension and conflict in America. Much of this turmoil in our nation is focused on what many observers have called The Culture Wars...the very vocal and visible battles that are occurring on many fronts to determine whose values,...Sermon | By Scott W. Alexander | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Culture, Grace, History, Salvation, Tradition, Universalism
-
We believe there is a place at God’s table for each and every child of earth Hey, ain’t that good news! We believe the giver of life has been given many names and loves the givers of all of them Hey, ain’t that good news! We are more interested in getting heaven into people now than getting...Reading | By John Corrado | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Belief, Good, Identity, Revelation, Unitarian Universalism
-
I am a man and I am a woman; I am a boy and I am a girl. And I am a Unitarian Universalist I am young and I am old and I am middle-aged. And I am a Unitarian Universalist...Reading | By John Corrado | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Diversity, Humanism, Multiculturalism, Multiculturalism, Unitarian Universalism