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.
Search Words for Worship Services
Displaying 2941 – 2960 of 3322
Changing a filter will refresh results (and remaining options) immediately. Searching by keyword requires use of the "Search" button.
-
Spirit of all blessing, be with us in the ordinariness of our days. May hope’s light guard us and keep cynicism from our hearts. May the energy of laughter build endurance for the dark times of our lives. May creativity’s vision grant the possibility of seeing old relationships with new eyes.Prayer | By Maureen Killoran | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Hope, Humility, Searching, Strength -
O God, we give thanks this day and every day for all you have made known to us through the life of Jesus. Glory to you throughout the ages. We give thanks for all the knowledge, faith and hope that is implanted in our hearts by the teachings of Jesus, whom you sent to us, and spiritually remains...Ritual | By Kenneth Claus | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Christianity, Communion (Christian), Connections, Direct Experience, God, Immanence, Nature, Revelation, Reverence, Tradition, Transformation -
We give you thanks, O God, for all that is good and kind and just. For all the wonders of nature that speak of your continuing divine presence: the sunrise and sunset, the rainbow, the waterfall, the roaring ocean and the quiet stream, the majestic mountain peak and the serene desert. We give you...Ritual | By Kenneth Claus | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Christianity, Communion (Christian), Direct Experience, Grace, Gratitude, Nature, Revelation, Spiritual Practice, Tradition, Transformation
-
O One, for whom words to describe are always inadequate, we give thanks that you may be often found in the most common, the most basic of human experience. Particularly we give thanks for the common meal: that which has sustained us as individuals, as families and as faith communities. Among the...Ritual | By Kenneth Claus | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Christianity, Communion (Christian), Community, God, Solidarity, Tradition, Transformation, Unity
-
Wage peace with your breath. Breathe in firefighters and rubble, breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds. Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields. Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees. Breathe in the fallen and breathe out...Meditation | By Judyth Hill | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Body, Brokenness, Spiritual Practice
-
Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness....Reading | By Naomi Shihab Nye | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Contemplation, Kindness, Sorrow
-
May you be at peace, May your heart remain open. May you awaken to the light of your own true nature. May you be healed, May you be a source of healing for all beings. — Ancient...Prayer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Buddhism, Healing
-
Holy One, We are on our knees In awe and supplication For we have remembered the incomprehensible value Of every human life. We have heard the thrum of helicopter blades And wailing sirens. We have smelled the ash and smoke....Prayer | By Sue Phillips | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Compassion, Death, Despair, Disaster, Disaster or Crisis, Good, Kindness, Suffering
-
Great God, who has told us “Vengeance is mine,” save us from ourselves, save us from the vengeance in our hearts and the acid in our souls. Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt, to punish as we have been punished, to terrorize as we have been terrorized. Give us the strength it...Prayer | By Sister Joan Chittister | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Commitment, Forgiveness, Peace, Self-Respect, Wholeness
-
Poem Try to Praise the Mutilated World , by Adam Zagajewski (translated from the Polish) Try to praise the mutilated world. Remember June's long days, and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew. The nettles that methodically overgrow the abandoned homesteads of exiles. You must praise the...Homily | By Kathleen Hepler | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Beauty, Direct Experience, Judaism, Responsibility, Spirituality, Unity, Wonder, Yom Kippur
-
Nor do I absolve my own self of blame; the human soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His mercy. Surah Yusuf (Arabic: يوسف) is the 12th sura (chapter) of the Quran.Quote | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: God, Humility, Islam, Responsibility
-
God, make me a channel of thy peace, that where there is hatred, I may sow love; where there is wrong, the spirit of forgiveness; where there is discord, harmony; where there is error, truth; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there are shadows, light; where there is...Prayer | By St. Francis of Assisi | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Christianity, Forgiveness, God, Peace, Responsibility, Service
-
Name Beyond All Names, Spirit of Love and Life, Eternal Presence, Great Mystery, Dear God......Prayer | By Sarah Gibb Millspaugh, John Gibb Millspaugh | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
-
Service Leader: In our religious tradition, it is not just ministers and religious professionals who have power to bless. Each of us has the power to bless another, and to bless the world. Therefore I invite everyone here to participate in this blessing....Blessing | By John Gibb Millspaugh, Sarah Gibb Millspaugh | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Body, Caring, Creativity, Earth, Health, Hinduism, Joy, Love, Power, Relationships, Strength, Unitarian Universalism
-
For if they are evil and we are not, if that's how we see things, then we are committing the same kind of error which led to this tragedy. That's the problem of evil. Not so much that it exists — in that it's really just a fact of life, or a force of nature. The problem of evil, as I see it, is...Sermon | By Erik Walker Wikstrom | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
-
A child I know, when asked this week whether she would answer the call of her elementary school principal to wear red, white and blue clothes on Thursday, was in a quandary. She put down the crayon with which she was painstakingly trying to squeeze the words Peace is Possible onto the white bars...Sermon | By Victoria Safford | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Brokenness, Democracy, Nonviolence, Terrorism, War
-
“I wondered about what I espoused as a pacifist and as a lover of life. As a Unitarian Universalist I dug for answers. But I had no answers. I still felt scared, horrified, hurt, angry, and shocked.”— Tom Capo How has this attack on our safe and secure country affected us? When a catastrophe...Sermon | By Tom Capo | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
-
Once or twice a generation comes a tragedy so immense that our whole nation comes to a stop and some new day of infamy becomes ingrained upon our memory and calendars. Such a date now becomes September 11th. We fixate on the horror; and then fear, anger, and a kind of helpless despair follow, but...Sermon | By Peter S. Raible | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
-
Conquer anger by love. —Dhammapada 223 The Dhammapada is an anthology of 423 verses uttered by Gauthama Buddha.Quote | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anger, Buddhism, Healing, Letting Go, Love, Wisdom
-
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.Quote | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, God, Hope, Justice, Peace, Religion