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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 group of thirty or so yellow tulips in bloom, seen from ground level, reaching up into a blue sky with some white clouds.
    Alleluia to love that is stronger than death—to love that is stronger than empire. Alleluia to love that will never end.
    Opening | By Rachael Hayes | August 13, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Easter, Fear, Generosity, Grief, Joy, Love, Mystery, Resilience, Worship
  • The dome of the Pantheon in Rome, seen from below and lit from bright sunlight coming through the dome’s open top. The photo is in black and white, overexposed and with high contrast, so the shadows of the architectural elements form a pattern reminiscent of the seeds of a sunflower.
    we gather now / in the wake of their efforts to erase / as a sign / that we are not so easy to erase / and knowing that we are / literally love becoming
    Affirmation | By Kimi Floyd Reisch | August 13, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: America, Family, History, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Living Our Faith, Love, National Coming Out Day, Pride Sunday, Sacred, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Worship
  • Against a dark flat landscape with the sun low on the horizon, a river winds dramatically into the distance. It stretches across the image from right to left and back again four or five times before disappearing into the horizon.
    In the beginning, the Earth spoke.… And water, ever flowing, taught that life is movement and change.
    Affirmation | By Kimi Floyd Reisch | August 12, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Change, Commitment, Connections, Earth, Justice, Water Communion, Wisdom, Worship
  • A patch of asphalt with a crack running through it, and a beige-colored bandage applied over one piece of the crack.
    May you find peace even though I cannot be its source.
    Blessing | By Rumni Saha | August 10, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Compassion, Forgiveness, Healing, Humility, Imagination, Letting Go, Psychology, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship
  • A close up of a carpet of dried, rust-colored leaves on the ground.
    We’re going to let go of what we don’t need for this season of our lives.
    Ritual | By Alessandra Nysether-Santos | July 23, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth, Imagination, Letting Go, Limitations, Nature, New Year
  • A close-up of braided rope.
    This is a reunion. We’re re-membering.
    Affirmation | By Alessandra Nysether-Santos | July 23, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Connections, Diversity, Inclusion, Interdependence, Living Our Faith
  • A low-angle view of the gray paving stones on a street. The stones are foreshortened vertically, so we see two dozen or so rows of them, each row containing three or four stones. The stones are rough-hewn and of varying shades of gray.
    ...we don’t know, can’t anticipate...the paths, unexpected, that open before us.
    Opening | By Linda Hart | July 23, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Conscience, Discernment, Humility, Letting Go, Limitations, Listening, Mindfulness
  • A silhouette of a person’s face in profile, looking to our left. The background is black, and most of the face is in shadow, so all we see is a line of white light at the very edge of the face.
    Our financial offerings today help sustain this congregation as a place where truth can be spoken without fear....
    Offering | By Jo VonRue | July 23, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Conscience, Courage, Generosity, Responsibility, Stewardship
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    ... the fullness of our shapes and sizes are countless as stars in an infinite universe.
    Affirmation | By Amy G. S. A. Brooks | July 23, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Body, Empathy, Fat Liberation, Identity, Inclusion
  • A hand with some dirt smudges on it holds a compass. The background in blurred.
    I trust that my heart knows the way
    Affirmation | By Kari Kopnick | July 23, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Patience, Peace, Searching, Self-Respect, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Transcendence, Trust, Worship
  • A view of wooden church pews, and the church narthex, from the pulpit. The pulpit holds a piece of sheet music and a microphone.
    an online sermon-writing experience for laypeople
    July 9, 2025 | From WorshipLab
    Tagged as: Worship Tips
  • Two photos in wood frames are propped in front of a row of books. Both photos are in sepia tones, and obviously very old. The first photo, of Rev. Samuel Longfellow, is a close-up of a white man with short parted hair, a mustache, bushy beard, and a bow tie. The second photo, of Rev. Samuel Johnson, is set back slightly, showing a white man with longer dark hair, and a longer beard. He is wearing a suit and bow tie, as well, and his name appears in calligraphy under the portrait.
    The love that brought The Sams into partnership ripples outward from their lives.
    Reflection | By Norman Allen | June 25, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • In the foreground, a small candle is lit inside of a glass jar. It's setting on the back of a wooden church pew, in the dark. In the background, the chancel of the sanctuary is visible, an altar filled with lit candles, and strings of white lights draped across the vaulted ceiling. It's a cozy vibe.
    “The Sams,” as they were known in Transcendentalist circles, revised time-worn lyrics to move beyond dogma and creed.
    Reflection | By Norman Allen | June 18, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • A dark-skinned person, wearing headphones and with closed eyes, as if caught up in the joy of music. The background is stylized with paint-like splashes of color, musical notation, and other artistic elements.
    Art heals.
    Reflection | By Jolie Rocke | June 11, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • Taken from behind and between two people, a woman sitting at a piano uses her hands to position the hands of a young child next to her, as if the child is having trouble striking the correct keys.
    May I always seek the wisdom, beauty, and whimsy in the grace notes of life.
    Reflection | By Sarah Dutton | June 4, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • Against a black background, puffs of glittery smoke appear in a span of teal, blue, violet, lavender, red, orangey-yellow, lime, and green.
    Unitarian Universalism “queers” the idea of theology itself.
    Reflection | By Karishma Gottfried | May 28, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Freedom, Identity, Imagination, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • From behind, a dark-skinned person wearing jeans and a hoodie holds the hand of a small child. They're standing on a beach, looking at the waves. Next to them, a looming metal border wall, with one tarnished panel, stretches far into the ocean.
    It is a profoundly simple thing to put love at the center.
    Reflection | By Zeb Green | May 21, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • Two leaf-strewn paths diverging in a wooded area with a light dusting of snow on the ground.
    The moral component of history, the most necessary component, is simply a single question, asked over and over again: When it mattered, who sided with justice and who sided with power?
    Quote | By Omar El Akkad | May 19, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Ethics, History, Integrity, Justice, Power, Worship
  • Swirls of red, orange, and yellow light against a black background, giving an impression of fire.
    Guide us all to a Wild and Holy vision of our shared humanity.
    Chalice Lighting | By Shawn Gibson | May 19, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Change, Growth, Sacred, Transformation, Worship
  • Five young multicultural adults are seated at two adjoining desks in a glass-walled room suggesting a library. Two students are looking down at open books, while the other three appear to be chatting with one another.
    I need the balance of accountability and support that comes only from being in deep relationship with others.
    Reflection | By Takiyah Nur Amin | May 14, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Accountability, Challenge, Change, Direct Experience, Humanism, Humility, Listening, Relationships, Responsibility, Trust, Truth, Unitarian Universalism, Worship