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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 green wooden door set in an ivy-covered wall. The door is locked with a padlock. On the upper part of the door, at about eye level, there is a small hole in the shape of a heart.
    Today in UU congregations all over the world, people will gather in an effort to live into, as best as we can, what we profess about placing love at the center of all we do.
    Affirmation | By David A Miller | January 30, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: America, Calling, Challenge, Faith, Living Our Faith, Love, Worship
  • A metal anchor rests on a patch of sand on a beach. Behind the anchor, a chain trails towards the incoming tide.
    Hope is challenging, if not impossible, to grasp alone.
    Reflection | By Oscar Sinclair | January 29, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • The trunks of a number of trees in a forest stand on the Olympic Peninsula. The brown trunks stand out against the pale green foliage behind them. The largest tree has a much smaller tree right next to it, some of whose roots are wrapped partway around the larger trunk.
    Hug the prayer before it leaves your body. Float it along like murmuring leaves.…
    Poetry | By Jennifer Pratt-Walter | January 28, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth, Nature, Spiritual Practice, Trust, Worship
  • A baby with brown skin looks directly with wide eyes at the camera while being held by a woman with brown skin and black hair, wearing a white sweater with two blue stripes around the upper arm. The woman is turned partly away from us, so that what is visible to us is her right shoulder, part of her back, and the right side of her face. Her eyes are closed and her mouth is in a gentle smile. The baby looks at us over her shoulder with an expression of excitement and curiosity.
    Beloved Child — May you know great love; may you feel deep joy; may you understand the work of justice and the light of truth.
    Prayer | By Karishma Gottfried | January 27, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Child Dedication, Community, Home, Joy, Justice, Love, Truth, Worship
  • A long-exposure photograph showing a trail of sparks in the shape of a heart, against a background that is mostly darkness. The person holding the sparkler is just barely visible as a reddish blur behind the sparkler’s trail, which repeats the heart shape four or five times in roughly the same location.
    Love begets love, and it is love that lights our chalice.
    Chalice Lighting | By anastasia birosh | January 27, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Freedom, Love, Worship
  • A close-up image of the splash formed by a single drop of water landing in a still pool of water, taken at high speed so that the shape of the splash is well-defined. We see the initial ripple spreading outwards from the place where the droplet fell, as well as a vertical column of water formed by the rebounding water. The rebound splash almost looks like a simplified human figure, with a droplet as the head. The pool of water reflects yellow and green light.
    May we become quiet enough and still enough to notice the call deep within us that lures us towards what matters most, this call that lures us towards freedom and purpose.
    Prayer | By Kate Steinberg | January 27, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Calling, Connections, Contemplation, Empathy, Freedom, Gratitude, Listening, Purpose, Worship
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    Liberation is the product of freedom.
    Reading | By Emilie M. Townes | January 22, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Christianity, Freedom, Religion, Transformation, Wholeness, Worship
  • A pair of white Gizeh Birkenstock sandals rests on a wooden fence or pallet. In the background, beachgrass and sand give way to water, and the sun is setting in the distance.
    Holy one, for you I will watch and wait.
    Reflection | By Susan Maginn | January 22, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Worship
  • In profile, and silhouetted by light coming in through a window, a person with long hair in a ponytail holds up both hands in anguish. Their face is tipped skyward and their mouth is open as though crying or shouting.
    Anger is not at all what people think it is. Anger has been kind and caring to me.
    Reflection | By Julie Yeeun Kim | January 15, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Activism, America, Anger, Christianity, Immigration, Politics, Race/Ethnicity, Resilience, Spirituality, Worship
  • A flurry of red sparks against the background of a black sky. The camera’s shutter speed was set so that each spark leaves a red trail along its path, so the image looks almost like many red pieces of straw in the air, all aligned more or less in the same direction.
    Yule is a time to rest and settle into the darkness.
    Meditation | By Cyndi Simpson | January 13, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Balance, Growth, Journey, Letting Go, Meaning, Nature, Silence, Spiritual Practice, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule, Worship
  • In a kitchen, a child sits on top of a counter, facing their mother who holds a coffee cup. She's bending towards the child to press her forehead and nose against theirs. They're both smiling affectionately.
    Joy arises like a gift, beyond my own deserving.
    Reflection | By DanaLee Simon | January 8, 2025 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Abundance, Acceptance, Aging, Anger, Balance, Choice, Imagination, Joy, Resilience, Worship
  • An aerial view of a public park in autumn. The main feature is a large circular area, perhaps hundreds of yards across, whose perimeter is marked by large trees. The circle is divided by walking paths into eight equal sections, meeting at a very large tree in the center of the circle.
    We join together in solidarity as a covenanted people, who are drawn together by the promise of connection and the mysterious pull of the unanswerable.
    Opening | By Bran Lennox | January 6, 2025 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Covenant, Love, Mystery, Solidarity, Wonder, Worship
  • A Black person, only partly visible due to framing, holds a lit match up to a white pillar candle. The candle is on a mantle, surrounded by greenery and two other unlit candles.
    The old story of the nativity speaks to us anew
    Responsive Reading | By Jane Blackall | December 20, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Worship
  • A group of five or six flowers drawn or painted against a black background. The flowers are realistic except for their colors. Each has five petals. The central flower has yellow, green, and purple petals, red in the center. The second most prominent flower has green petals, with red in the center.
    Blessings shall follow us all the days of our lives if we live in and return to right relationships, if we extend grace and forgiveness to ourselves and others, if we behold mercy as a spiritual superpower.
    Benediction | By Rebekah Savage | December 19, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Compassion, Forgiveness, Grace, Interdependence, Kindness, Love, Peace, Respect, Worship
  • The words “Justice & Equity” typeset in serifed small caps against a pale blue background. “Justice” is centered near the top, “Equity” is in the lower right, and the ampersand is in the lower left, typeset in an engraver’s font about three times larger than the words.
    Each day, every day, we are blessed to be the embodiment of what is possible, when Justice and Equity ground us in all that we do.
    Benediction | By Rebekah Savage | December 19, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Calling, Equity, Justice, Worship
  • The front cover of Tricia Hersey’s book “Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto”
    Let our rest be a resurrection. Let the veils be lifted so we can feel, see, taste, and smell the power of our rested selves.
    Affirmation | By Tricia Hersey | December 18, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Caring, Culture, Healing, Hope, Love, Revelation, Worship
  • A close-up, against a black background, of tea light made of red wax in a small heart-shaped container. The candle is lit. In the dim light, the sides of the heart-shaped container are just visible; they are decorated with geometric patterns in red, blue, and yellow.
    As we extinguish the flame of our chalice, may its lingering spark be carried in your heart until we are together again.
    Chalice Extinguishing | By Rebekah Savage | December 18, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Worship
  • The front cover of Tricia Hersey’s book “Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto”
    Rest isn’t a luxury, but an absolute necessity if we’re going to survive and thrive. Rest isn’t an afterthought, but a basic part of being human. Rest is a divine right. Rest is a human right.
    Reading | By Tricia Hersey | December 18, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Caring, Culture, Healing, Oppression, Rights, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Work, Worship
  • A young orange, brown, and white tabby cat lies on a bed with its eyes closed. The cat is on a light brown fleece blanket, and a pillow with a floral pillowcase is visible behind it. Sunlight rakes in at a low angle and illuminates part of the cat and the blanket.
    Sometimes we awake in the morning, and we’d rather go back to sleep… And then, the first sliver of sunshine may dance across our face.
    Meditation | By Rebekah Savage | December 18, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beauty, Beginnings, Body, Grace, Interdependence, Love, Nature, Worship
  • The front cover of Tricia Hersey’s book “Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto”
    Because we are in a constant state of unraveling from the lies and socialization of grind culture, we must be intentional about reimagining what we believe rest is and can be for our lives.
    Reading | By Tricia Hersey | December 18, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Caring, Culture, Healing, Oppression, Self-Care, Transformation, Work, Worship, Worth