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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Once, two frogs were hopping through the forest when they accidently hopped into a big churn of cream. The sides of the churn were so slick and slippery that there was no place to hold on to, so the frogs had to swim in circles to stay afloat. After a long time one frog said, “There is no hope.Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Courage, Hope, Strength, Stress -
Once there was a little girl who was queen of an island. One day an advisor said to her, “Your majesty, the people on this island are good, but we must beware of the people on the next island for they are our enemies.” “Our enemies?” responded the queen, “How terrible!” “Yes, it is...Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Conflict, Division, Friendship, Peace
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Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Olympia who had a dream. She dreamed that one day she would grow up to be a minister. But during the 1800s, only men were ministers, so it didn’t seem likely that Olympia’s dream would come true. Olympia, however, continued to dream. Time passed,...Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Commitment, History, Judaism, Purpose, Universalism, Women
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Noah was an old man who loved to dance and sing and to make things with his hands. He especially loved to make mud pies. Noah loved to do these things because he felt closest to the Creator when he was being creative himself. All the people in Noah’s village thought he was a fool. “Why do you...Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Joy, Purpose, Service, Unitarian Universalism
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Once upon a time there was a very greedy king who had lots and lots of gold. But he wanted even more gold, so he decided he would order his army to attack the neighboring kingdom and steal all their gold. The king called all his soldiers into his courtyard and told them his plan....Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Power, Truth
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Once there was a little girl who worried about a very big problem—world hunger. She read in the newspaper about children all over the world who did not have enough to eat. She wanted to do something about it, but she was only a little girl and this was a giant problem. What could she possibly do...Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Generosity, Power, Service, Stewardship, Strength
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Once upon a time, there was a village with a road that went straight through the center of town. One day, something strange happened. God walked down the road . . . and she was beautiful! She wore a long flowing robe and on top of her head there was a wonderful hat....Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Conflict, Direct Experience, Diversity, Division, God, Relationships, Truth
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Once upon a time there was a little girl named Rosa, who loved to read her Bible. One of her favorite stories was the story of Moses, and how he helped the Hebrew slaves gain freedom. Moses was a young man who lived in Egypt. He knew it wasn’t right for the Hebrew people to be the slaves of the...Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday
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There once was a beautiful and powerful tiger. One day she was captured by a mean and cruel man who put her into a cage. The man kept the cage in the jungle not far from his house. Everyday he would bring out a bowl of water and some food for the lonely tiger....Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beauty, Freedom, Friendship, Power, Strength
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Once upon a time there was a drop of water named Higgins. Higgins was no ordinary drop of water. He was a drop with a dream. Higgins lived in a valley where it had not rained in a very long time, so all the lovely green grass was turning brown, all the beautiful flowers were wilting, and all the...Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Community, Earth, Power, Purpose, Service, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion
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The Resurrection is to me the most difficult story in the Bible. John 20:31: Jesus said unto Thomas, "Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." To elaborate on this, I look at three characters in the story. Mary Magdalene, a woman...Reading | By Ricardo Williams | April 13, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Commitment, Doubt, Easter, Faith, Presence
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May our lives be reflections of the beauty, peace, and joy that is possible in the world, and may the love we find in this place sustain us as we go our separate ways.Closing | By Chris Rothbauer | April 9, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Beauty, Interdependence, Love, Peace
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This can be read by a single voice, or the congregation can be invited to speak, responsively, the phrase "Jesus is resurrected." Jesus is resurrected— because his message of love, justice, healing, and liberation transcends time and space. Jesus is resurrected— because in his story we hear our...Litany | By Kimberley Debus | April 9, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Easter, Faith, Hope
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Let us contemplate the Spirit together: Spirit of Life and Love, Justice and Peace: Six weeks ago our Christian neighbors held their rite of ashes, and this past week they scattered palms from which next year’s ashes will be made, and commemorated the death of the ancient leader whose ministry...Prayer | By Paul R Beedle | April 9, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Connections, Easter, Hope, Interdependence
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Let us contemplate the Spirit together: Spirit of Life and Love, Justice and Peace: Day in and day out wait weary tasks, burdens we lift again, worn paths we wear some more, Want, and means worn thin, and fatigue— Pain and grief, coldness of heart, bitter and weary days&mdash Where we know...Prayer | By Paul R Beedle | April 9, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Balance, Easter, Healing, Health, Hope, Strength
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We do not know the woman’s name. Jesus tells those with him not to scold her for anointing his head: “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not...Reading | By Paul R Beedle | April 9, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Connections, Easter, Faith, Relationships, Unity
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In all sacred literature, the hearts of the storytellers are revealed in the stories, their breath is felt in the words on the page, and we may be touched or moved or stirred by their ancient art. And maybe we can glimpse a truth that they saw, if we read closely and reflect on what we have read.Reading | By Paul R Beedle | April 9, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Christianity, Contemplation, Easter, Mystery
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Please join me for a body prayer of caring. We bring our hands over our hearts to express respect for ourselves. We expand our hands into a small circle to express respect for others. We expand our hands out wide to express our respect for our church. [repeat 3 times] Amen and may it be so.Prayer | By Annie Scott | April 3, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Body, Direct Experience, Healing, Health, Silence, Spiritual Practice, Worship Tips -
It's important is to take time to be quiet, to be still, so we can be in touch with the deepest and best part of ourselves—our inner voice— often called prayer or meditation. I invite you to join in a body prayer. I will show you the motions— then invite you to move through it with me once,...Prayer | By Annie Scott | April 3, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Direct Experience, Healing, Health, Silence, Spiritual Practice, Worship Tips
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“I believe that if, on every Sunday morning before going to church, we could be lifted to a mountain-peak and see a horizon line of six hundred miles enfolding the copious splendor of the light on such a varied expanse; or if we could look upon a square mile of flowers representing all the specie...Quote | By Thomas Starr King | March 31, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Climate Justice, Earth, Earth Day, Nature, Reverence, Unitarianism, Universalism, Wonder