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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According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a commissioning is "the act of granting certain powers or authority to carry out a particular task or duty." In many churches there is a common misconception that the leaders of the church run things—that the Board or the Council of Chairs has all...Ritual | By Erik Walker Wikstrom | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Governance, History, Stewardship, Unitarian Universalism -
Every June, representatives of the congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association gather for the annual General Assembly. Each year as we do so, we try to shed some light on a local issue of justice, and we invite people of all faiths to join us in working to make our world a better place.Sermon | By Michael J. Tino | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Anti-Oppression, Anti-Oppression, Caring, Immigration, Immigration, Justice, Secular, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism
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Once more the year's turned round. We've come full circle on this small planet, Spinning down the grooves of change, Another revolution completed around the sun. Another year older ... Another set of rings on the tree ... As seasons parade in endless procession The people's troubles and prayers...Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hope, Immanence, Revelation, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder
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We are five days away from what is has come to be traditionally celebrated as the birth of Jesus of Nazareth....Sermon | By David A Miller | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Generosity, Grace, New Child, Revelation, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism
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It was not a city. It was not a large town. But it was not a small town. It was—just average, you might say. Except for one thing. There was a Storyteller in the town. That’s Storyteller with a capital S. The Storyteller had arrived one day without advance notice (or as some people would put it,...Story | By Orlanda R Brugnola | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Imagination, Mystery, Revelation, Tradition, Wonder
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Once upon a time, there were these two pirates name of Calico Caesar and Barnacle Betty, and their parrots Flag and Sail. It was actually the parrots, which the pirates carried for good luck, who introduced these two pirates to one another. Because one day in Cayo Hueso (Key West), sitting on the...Story | By Naomi King | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Democracy, Generosity, Governance
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Many of us have stories about God. A college student once told me how he asked questions about God in his childhood church and the leaders did not know how to answer. He decided that God must not be real....Sermon | By Susan Maginn | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Agnosticism, Atheism, God, Love, Religion, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Worth
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Please speak the response when you hear: "...this season brings forth many feelings" Response: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together All around us are bright lights and merry messages Yet in our heart not all is joyful There is grief with the loss of...Reading | By Debra Faulk | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Despair, Grief, Pain, Peace, Sorrow -
Since the time human beings became conscious of their existence, of the reality that they will die, and of the awareness that birth creates new life, they have wondered where they came from, why they were there and what happened to them when they died. They regarded these happenings with awe and...Sermon | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Humanism, Reason, Science
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Thursday marks the bicentennial of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Different though they and their influences were, both contributed to a tectonic shift in ideas. Neither arrived at his culminating treatise: Darwin’s 1859 The Origin of Species and Lincoln’s 1865 Emancipation...Sermon | By Leaf Seligman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Humanism, Marriage, Race/Ethnicity, Relationships
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We exist within this interstitial surfacetensed between past and future,this violet veilundulating between health and illness,this filmy membranepolished between body and spiritthis alert eardrumreverberating between human and divine, We are sunrise with a remembrance of dusk,We are soul with pat...Meditation | By Tess Baumberger | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance
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We are in the midst of the season of celebration. Celebrations: Of the birth of new hope, Of the festival of lights, Of the triumph of freedom. The darkness of the year is lifting and the time of light grows longer. We have gathered with an anticipation of hope for peace on earth and in our homes.Meditation | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Ending, Hanukkah, Hope, Letting Go, New Year, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule -
Let us join in the spirit of prayer and meditation. We are each different. Some of us are bigger and others are smaller. Some of us are taller and others are shorter. Our hair is different colors and our eyes are different shapes....Meditation | By Axel H Gehrmann | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Children, Diversity, Multiculturalism, Multiculturalism
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Please join with me in the spirit of meditation and prayer.We have returned again to the time of Atonement, the time to look back over our lives this past year and face the realities of when we have fallen short of the aims set forth in "Moments of high resolve."We have the opportunity, if we cho...Meditation | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Judaism, Redemption, Responsibility
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Day by day, month by month, year by year we are confronted with all that we do not know, that we do not understand, that we do not grasp....Meditation | By Susan L Suchocki | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Direct Experience, Growth, Humility, Mystery, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Searching -
To the God above God we turn our thoughts in meditation.Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: God, Reverence
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To escape the trap of public acclaim, an authentic church should advertise as follows:...Meditation | By David O. Rankin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Love, Religion
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Let there be a quiet time among us. Spirit of life, in us and around us, here is our chance—once again—to live like we wish the world would live. May we find within ourselves the courage to be who we are. May we know when it is time to listen and when it is time to speak. May we trust ourselves...Meditation | By Barbara Hamilton-Holway | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Discernment, Hope, Integrity, Limitations, Power, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism
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Somewhere across the world,...Meditation | By Kathleen Rolenz | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Easter, Peace
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Some days dark tremors sweep across our lives. Troubling events accost us. We have grown accustomed to such things, and often we have fenced off our natural sympathies with the thought: this belongs to somebody else....Meditation | By George Kimmich Beach | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Hope, Self-Care, Suffering