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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Last summer at General Assembly, I walked out of the sanctuary we had made from the convention center space. As tired as I was, I returned more and more to my deeply introverted default of self, and I passed a woman who had to stop to talk with me....Reflection | By Glen Thomas Rideout | May 10, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Direct Experience, History, Humanism, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Respect, Responsibility, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism -
”If we don’t find a way to transform our pain, we will always transmit it to those around us or turn it against ourselves… If your religion is not teaching you how to recognize, hold, and transform suffering, it is junk religion.” —Fr. Richard Rohr People are in pain all around us, all of...Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | May 10, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Brokenness, Buddhism, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Healing, Mystery, Pain, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism -
"My dear friends, please try to understand that whiteness is limitless possibility. It is universal and invisible. That’s why many of you are offended by any reference to race. You believe you are acting and thinking neutrally, objectively, without preference for one group or the next, including...Quote | By Michael Eric Dyson | May 3, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: America, Anti-Oppression, Identity, Race/Ethnicity -
I long for progressive religious communities that are confessing communities—places where we admit our wrongdoings, are held accountable, and called back into covenant.Reflection | By Robin Tanner | May 3, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Character, Christianity, Community, Conscience, Direct Experience, Honesty, Humility -
My stomach turned when I first heard the term "white supremacy" used to describe the culture of Unitarian Universalism and our institutions. But I've reconsidered that response. I understand the pushback: we’ve been trained to see white supremacy as an overt expression of racism, replete with...Reflection | By Krista Taves | April 28, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Activism, Anti-Oppression, Courage, Direct Experience, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
We have an absurd amount to learn, or unlearn, about race in this country. America allowed slavery to exist by seeking out personal and regional salvation at the expense of universal salvation. Our country felt better about itself because with the South as the identified patient, it never had to...Reflection | By Nathan Ryan | April 27, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), America, Anti-Oppression, History, Living Our Faith, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarianism, Universalism -
I do not know where we go when we die; And I do not know what the soul is Or what death is or when or why. What I know is that The song once sung cannot be unsung, And the life once lived cannot be unlived, And the love once loved cannot be unloved.Closing | By Kenneth W. Collier | April 27, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Agnosticism, Animal Memorial, Death, Direct Experience, Faith, Humanism, Memorial Services, Purpose
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What's my favorite weather? When the wind whips your face, you're alive, and you can think what you will.Reflection | By Jake Morrill | April 26, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Diversity, Humanism, Individualism, Integrity, Purpose, Searching, Secular, Work -
When my 85-year-old parents moved into their retirement home five years ago, my Dad found a comfortable role schlepping mats, blocks, and straps into the room where the Sunday yoga class was held. He was the only male, but it didn’t take him long to be an active member of the class instead of...Reflection | By Mary Howard | April 25, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Aging, Body, Children, Direct Experience, Family, Humanism, Letting Go, Listening, Parents, Secular -
This hymn (sheet music is available) was written as a Celtic-style harvest song. Come as the summer turns t'ward autumn; Come as the long-night stars climb high'r. Come as time's unceasing turning Wheels us 'round 'round the harvest fire. Chorus: So we go From daylight toward the night. So we go,...Music | By Patrick DeSimio | April 25, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Autumnal Equinox, Earth, Earth-Centered, Fall, Nature, Wisdom -
We have come to share the loss we have felt in (Name) passing and some examples of the joy we carry from her/his/their* life. This we have done. But before we extinguish this chalice, let us acknowledge that we will not – that we cannot – extinguish the love she/he/they showed us; or the memory...Chalice Extinguishing | By Greg Ward | April 25, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Interdependence, Love, Memorial Services -
If we are lucky, we will all get a chance during our life to know someone who becomes for us an exemplar of living. And if we are really lucky, we will recognize how they ended up passing on some of their goodness to us. If we are lucky. But one thing is certain. No one – not one of us –...Chalice Lighting | By Greg Ward | April 25, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Death, Grief, Living Our Faith, Memorial Services, Unitarian Universalism -
Our grief is a holy thing. It is that proof that another life touched ours in a profound way. It is the mark of love, the mark of connection, and the mark of a life well lived. We will mourn, we will cry, we will miss (Name)....Closing | By Tracie Barrett | April 25, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Death, Grief, Memorial Services, Relationships, Sacred -
We kindle this flame with love for mothers and foremothers past, present, and future; We kindle this flame in celebration of community and its generations. We kindle this flame with respect and support for the greater circle of life of which we are all part.Chalice Lighting | By Selena Fox | April 24, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Earth-Centered, Generations, Humanism, Mother's Day, Mothers, Secular, Tradition, Women -
The 7 Jobs Capitalism Asks of All of Us: 1. Measure Self Worth by Work: Don’t believe in the inherent goodness of people. Instead decide that everyone’s worth is only as much as they achieve. 2. Accept that Oppression is the Norm: This starts with adultism the moment we are born and conditions...Reading | By Talia Cooper | April 20, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Arts & Music, Character, Direct Experience, Healing, Integrity, Relationships, Secular, Self-Respect -
For a long time now, I haven’t believed in a god with a will, intentionality, or consciousness. I don’t put all my eggs in the basket of a god who will save and transform me. Rather, I look to humans, to my relationships with people. Transcendence with life, with the holy, comes through my human...Reading | By Kaaren Solveig Anderson | April 20, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Humanism, Relationships, Transcendence, Transformation -
Those of us who call ourselves religious Humanists have a strong reverence for life. Many of us experience a deep sense of awe before the mystery of life and death, those powers greater than ourselves. We share a respect for science and reason, and we are willing to live with ambiguity to live...Reading | By Carol Hepokoski | April 20, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Climate Justice, Earth, Earth-Centered, Environment, Humanism, Nature, Reverence, Wonder -
Reason is an important tool, sure — an essential arbiter of truth claims about the world. But religion is grounded someplace deeper, where we experience the joy of living and are connected intimately with all that is....Reading | By Mark Ward | April 20, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Humanism, Purpose, Reason, Religion, Reverence -
Humanism… is primarily about who we are connected to, what we think about each other, and how we work for justice in the world. No matter what else they believe, Humanists insist on the inherent worth of every person....Reading | By Amanda Poppei | April 20, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Belief, Humanism, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Unity -
For all the talk about reason and science, Humanism is really about a passionate love affair. It is a love affair with life, not a mythical hereafter. Humanism is a love affair with a progressive vision of civilization in which each of us can add to our growing library of wisdom, our evolving...Reading | By Michael Werner | April 20, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Humanism, Meaning, Progress, Reason