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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This is a story of in-the-middle for those wondering how their story ends.Reflection | By Robin Tanner | August 29, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Choice, Direct Experience, Fear, Hope, Humanism, Illness, Limitations, Parents, Psychology, Searching, Secular, Solidarity, Worry -
Be it real or metaphor, whatever is in your backpack, or your briefcase, or your purse that you’ve brought into this sanctuary that is weighing you down: leave it behind. Whatever you are carrying that is keeping you distracted, or caught up in shame, or guilt, or hopelessness: leave it behind....Opening | By Nathan Ryan | August 28, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Backpack Blessing, Community, Hope, Humanism, Integrity, Letting Go, Presence, Purpose, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
Black people are so accustomed to being ignored and invisible that a simple acknowledgement—a simple I see you—from a peer goes a long way.Reflection | By DeReau K. Farrar | August 22, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), America, Direct Experience, Fathers, Friendship, Identity, Parents, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity -
Water unites us. All water is one water, shape-shifting as it goes on and on in its unending cycle. The stream we gather by unites us with all the waters of the world, for all of life depends on water. That's why this common, everyday element on which our very lives depend is sacred. In our...Affirmation | By Mel Hoover, Rose Edington | August 21, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Body, Climate Justice, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Gratitude, Interdependence, Nature, Responsibility, Stewardship, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion -
Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not, God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is...Quote | By Frederick Buechner | August 21, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Awe, Body, Conscience, Contemplation, Direct Experience, God, Mystery, Presence, Truth, Vulnerability, Wonder -
May we find unexpected ways to remember where we came from and imagine where we may go next. May we find touchstones of our pasts, and may they become a foundation for the future.Reflection | By Alex Haider-Winnett | August 15, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Change, Direct Experience, Earth, Home, Nature, Sadness, Searching, Secular -
If a friend were in my situation, I would have seen their failings as human. So why hold someone to an unforgiving standard just because that someone is me?Reflection | By Kat Liu | August 8, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Character, Children, Compassion, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Friendship, Humility, Kindness, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Self-Care, Self-Respect -
Leader: In this sacred space People: Let us be still in the quiet. Leader: In this sacred space People: Let our hearts open as a butterfly’s wings. Leader: In this sacred space People: May the glow of this light shine within us.Chalice Lighting | By Cheryl Block | August 6, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Belief, Community, Compassion, Contemplation, Faith, Unitarian Universalism -
God of our hearts, God of our understandings, God who gives us hope and inspires us to commitment, God who commands us to remember: We come together today with hearts contrite and broken; We come together with minds awake, comprehension striving against incomprehension; We come together in hope...Prayer | By Paul Oakley | August 3, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Death, God, Holocaust Remembrance / Yom Ha'Shoah, Judaism, Solidarity, Suffering -
Let this banner be a symbol of hope, A blanket of protection for those who need it, And a cape of power for those who must be empowered. Let this flag be a standard of our conviction to embody all of these things, And to be the change we will upon the world. Let the will we weave to empower and...Blessing | By Alex Swift | August 3, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Activism, Commitment, Compassion, Courage, Healing, Hope, Humanism, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Love, Power, Pride Sunday, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
As the child leaves the doorstep, the parent prays: Please, keep my child safe, And give me the courage to let them go out to explore the world. The child prays, Watch over my parents while I’m gone, And help them believe that I really do know what I’m doing. The grandparent prays, Thank you for...Prayer | By Aoife Barrington-Haber | August 3, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Bridging Ceremony, Coming of Age, Direct Experience, Family, Freedom, Generations, Parents, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Youth/Teens -
We light our chalice this morning in the spirit of gratitude, Thankful for years of ministerial service to this church, For celebrations of life and death, dedications, and communions, For leading worship, grounding our congregation in spiritual practice, Helping us to navigate the wonders and...Chalice Lighting | By Nick Wilbourn | August 3, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Ending, Gratitude, Leadership, Ministerial Transition, Ministry, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism -
For all the mothers and mother figures The grandmothers, aunts, and extended family members who mother The soon-to-be mothers, the wish-they-were mothers, the never-wanted-to-be mothers, the “it’s complicated” mothers The birth mothers, foster mothers, adoptive mothers, stepmothers The “used...Blessing | By Lindasusan Ulrich | August 3, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Children, Community, Direct Experience, Earth, Family, Fathers, Generations, Humanism, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Parents, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Secular -
It is my only memory of a lesson from Kindergarten Sunday School class. Maybe it’s the only one that counts.Reflection | By Misha Sanders | August 1, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Children, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, God, Grace, Imagination, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism -
Editor's note: This sermon was prepared for a white congregation, and thus speaks to those who identify as white, centering the dismantling of white supremacy from a white perspective....Sermon | By Amanda Udis-Kessler | July 27, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Race/Ethnicity -
Leader: Ours is a world alive and aloud with the presence of creatures and critters. Animals abound, interwoven in our human lives and wholly independent. This is the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part....Responsive Reading | By Karen G. Johnston | July 17, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animal Blessing, Animals, Awe, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Nature, Relationships, Responsibility -
This is a prayer for when words fail, for when they are not big enough or small enough to slip into the little cracks left in our hearts by life’s unbearable pressures....Prayer | By Leslie Takahashi | July 17, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Challenge, Community, Disaster or Crisis, Fear, Hope, Power, Suffering, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism, Unity -
“If your love for me requires that I hide parts of who I am, then you don't love me. Love is never a request for silence.”...Quote | By DeRay Mckesson | July 16, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Direct Experience, Humanism, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Secular, Silence, Wholeness -
You do not have to wear the dress. You do not have to have a party. You do not have to dance the waltz con tu papa. You do not have to accept the gift of your last doll. You can break those traditions. You have right of passage into adulthood simply for being you. We are thankful that you...Blessing | By Raquel V. Reyes | July 16, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Change, Children, Coming-of-Age, Community, Family, Identity, Integrity, International, Quinceañera, Transformation, Youth/Teens -
Welcome. Bienvenidos. Today we celebrate in community an important rite of passage for a Latina(x) child. We are honored and grateful to share in their dance from childhood into adulthood. ¡Feliz Quinceañera!Opening | By Raquel V. Reyes | July 16, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Quinceañera, Transformation, Young Adults