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.
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The word liturgy is a fancy word meaning the formulation of a religious service. Its etymology tells us that it means “the work of the people.” In many Unitarian Universalist contexts, the verb worship is intransitive. We do not worship something or someone. We claim the act of worship as...Leader Resource | By Karen G. Johnston | January 5, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Grace, Leadership, Living Our Faith, Playfulness, Purpose, Teamwork, Unitarian Universalism -
This opening was written for two voices, as indicated below. 1: Welcome, who come in friendship who long for genuine community... 2: May you be graciously received here as your authentic self. 1: Welcome, who come in curiosity, full of questions or simply open... 2: May you embrace wonder and...Opening | By Shari Woodbury | January 5, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Beauty, Caring, Direct Experience, Hospitality, Humanism, Joy, Secular, Self-Care, Unitarian Universalism -
This ritual begins by lighting a candle from the chalice, and placing it in position. A list of supplies is at the end of this resource. One: Fire. Source of warmth and life for our ancestors; and for humans still today....Ritual | By Amy G. S. A. Brooks | January 3, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Climate Justice, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Earth, Fear, Grief, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism -
Reader 1: We come today to gather together as Unitarian Universalists. Reader 2: We come today to join in the spirit of love and the service of life. Reader 3: We come today to be part of the stream of this living tradition. All: In our gathering, may we be blessed. Reader 1: Our shared faith is...Responsive Reading | By Monica Jacobson-Tennessen | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Commitment, Direct Experience, God, Justice, Living Our Faith, Love, Ordinations, Service -
Many: This morning* and all mornings, we are called to pay attention. One. We are called to pay attention to our individual lives, to our delights and pains. We are called to understand and cherish ourselves, to take good care of ourselves, to know ourselves as loving and worthy of love....Responsive Reading | By Amanda Udis-Kessler | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Caring, Compassion, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Interdependence, Justice, Mindfulness, Presence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Respect, Unitarian Universalism -
In my chapel, redwing blackbird unravels her liquid song in the cattails.Poetry | By Jennifer Pratt-Walter | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Connections, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Environment, Imagination, Interdependence, Nature, Spirituality, Wonder -
In every person we meet, especially those who cause us discomfort, we find an opportunity for us to grow, to learn, to go further along the path of transformation that is our purpose in life. Every single one is our teacher. May the next week bring you many such moments of meeting that help you...Benediction | By Amy Zucker Morgenstern | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Challenge, Change, Growth, Humanism, Humility, Listening, Searching, Secular, Transformation -
Thresholds. We cross them every day. From room to room, from outside to inside, and back again, from here to there, from anywhere to everywhere, from age to age. Each threshold offers an opportunity for change, for renewal, for transformation, from what we were and what we are to what we can be....Opening | By Arlen Goff | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Beginnings, Change, Community, Direct Experience, Ending, Hope, Humanism, Progress, Secular, Transformation -
As we move deeper into the season, There are some things we know. Fall brings a growing darkness That we cannot escape. The nights become cooler And take on winter’s chill. The leaves on the trees and blades of grass Try on new suits of yellow, orange, red and brown....Responsive Reading | By Viola Abbitt | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Autumnal Equinox, Awe, Beauty, Earth, Earth-Centered, Humility, Letting Go, Nature, Transformation -
Spirit of Life, ancestor of the stars and the sun, you who embrace the vastness of space and us along with it, be with us today. Hold us in our worry, our exhaustion, our grief. Keep us close as we sit with our truth, whatever that may be....Prayer | By Lyn Cox | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Autumnal Equinox, Awe, Contemplation, Courage, Earth-Centered, Nature, Summer Solstice, Vernal Equinox, Vulnerability, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder -
One of my most treasured New Year’s traditions is coming up with a word for the year: a single word that I want to be the theme for my entire year. When I’m questioning what’s the right thing to do, I will look to my word of the year for guidance.Reflection | By Tim Atkins | January 1, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Beginnings, Direct Experience, Integrity, Letting Go, New Year, Purpose, Spiritual Practice, Vision -
In honor of the risk takers, those that hold the vision with clarity and charge forward with optimism even in the face of others doubts. You are our lamp lighters and our guides; may we never forget the courage it takes to lead the way forward. In honor of the cautious skeptics, those that gather...Affirmation | By Amanda Schuber | December 18, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Community, Direct Experience, Diversity, Interdependence, Journey, Leadership, Responsibility, Unitarian Universalism -
Every year, I tell the congregation not to worry about mistakes because there aren’t any; there is only us, telling an old story about love getting born into this aching world.Reflection | By Elea Kemler | December 18, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Love, Playfulness, Resilience, Tradition, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism -
It was disruptive and strange to know that someone had died to bring this hope, and to wonder how the donor’s family mourned at the same time we rejoiced.Reflection | By Elizabeth Bukey Saunter | December 11, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Direct Experience, Family, Fear, Interdependence, Mystery, Relationships, Vulnerability -
If this is your first time here or your one-hundred-and-first time; we are glad you are here. If you carry the weight of a weary world on your shoulders, or you entered through the doors with a song in your heart and a skip in your step; We are glad you are here....Welcome | By Amanda Schuber | December 9, 2019 | From WorshipWeb -
With a single generous gesture from my older child, her sister's belief in Santa stayed intact that year.Reflection | By Karen G. Johnston | December 4, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, Generosity, Parents, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Tradition -
The crisis was an opportunity to learn to be fully me and love it, inner turmoil and all. I learned that strength comes from authenticity, never from perfection.Reflection | By Tomo Hillbo | November 27, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Brokenness, Conscience, Direct Experience, Family, Grief, Healing, Love, Mothers, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Vulnerability -
This pageant was written by Rev. Tim Kutzmark and shaped over eighteen years by DREs, staff, and congregants at The Unitarian Universalist Church of Glen Allen, VA; The Unitarian Universalist Church of Reading, MA; and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, CA....Script | By Tim Kutzmark | November 23, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas -
Perhaps for a moment the typewriters will stop clicking, the wheels stop rolling the computers desist from computing, and a hush will fall over the city....Poetry | By Rebecca Ann Parker | November 21, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Interdependence, Love, Mystery, Sacred, Transcendence, Winter Solstice / Yule -
I was made this way, in this body and this skin. Like all beings, I have an inherent good that cannot be eclipsed.Reflection | By Katie Romano Griffin | November 20, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Courage, Direct Experience, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worth