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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We have reached the end of this time For the gathering of memory And for letting the imagination play with future possibilities. We have enjoyed magic moments and edified each other. Shall it be concluded, then? Or will this adventure, now commenced, continue?— Our separate paths converging,...Closing | By Michael A Schuler | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beginnings, Ending, Imagination, Searching -
The Quakers speak not of a "worship service" but of their Meeting -- hence this benediction: With faith in the creative powers of life, With hope for the future of life in this world, With love for all others who share this life with us, Let us go forward together in peace. Our meeting has ended;...Closing | By Lindsay Bates | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Service
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Worship need not cease. It can echo in our lives, in our words, in our deeds, in our moods, in our dreams. Carry worship with you wherever you may go. Be a blessing in your going out and your coming in.Closing | By Gordon B McKeeman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Sacred
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Spirit of life, come to us to break down barriers; to widen horizons; to make us less judgmental. Help us to see the larger picture and the kinder conclusion; to love and let live; to embrace and forgive; to sustain and care....Opening | By Rhys Williams | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Peace
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Spirit of life, be present with us this hour. Join us today as we gather in a wider search for truth and purpose. In this quest, may we greet one another with open hearts and minds; may we inspire each other to consider new questions and seek deeper meaning; and may we cultivate wisdom and...Opening | By Kathy A Huff | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Hospitality
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Here in this sanctuary of ancient dreams and wisdom and beauty we come to grow, to be healed, to stretch mind and heart, to be challenged, renewed; to be helped in our own continuing struggles for meaning and for love; to help build a world with more justice and mercy in it; to be counted among t...Opening | By Jack Mendelsohn | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Justice, Work
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We receive fragments of holiness, glimpses of eternity, brief moments of insight. Let us gather them up for the precious gifts that they are, and, renewed by their grace, move boldly into the unknown.Closing | By Sarah York | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Grace, Gratitude, Purpose
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From the power of our memory and history, With high hopes for the days that lie ahead, We gather to craft the destiny we share with one another. We gather with faith in the practice of democracy. We gather with hearts and minds open To the wisdom in every voice among us. In our gathering, May we...Opening | By Heather K Janules | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Work
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Do not leave your cares at the door. Do not leave there your pain, your sorrow or your joys. Bring them with you into this place of acceptance and forgiveness. Place them on the common altar of life and offer them to the possibility of your worship. Come then, and offer yourself to potential...Opening | By Norman V Naylor | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Forgiveness, Transformation
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Creator of all times and seasons, and of all the seasons of our lives, we gather in this place, thankful for the days that have been, even those that have tried our souls; and hopeful for the days that shall be, even those that shall demand of us the best that we have of faith and hope and courag...Opening | By Richard M Fewkes | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth-Centered, Patience, Transformation
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Come down off the ladder. Wash out that paintbrush. Shake the sand out of your shoes. Get up off your muddy knees, and give the garden a morning off. Fold up the newspaper. Turn off the coffeepot. Close up your calendar, already filled with dates, and times, and people, and places that claim you.Opening | By David S Blanchard | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Purpose, Self-Care, Spiritual Practice, Unitarian Universalism
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Come, all you who seek truth, abide in love, and honor peace, enter into this house with thanksgiving; come into these gates with praise. Enter into this sacred space, all you who hunger for righteousness. Through these doors, all footsteps lead to the source of our being, where we shall be filled.Opening | By Dorothy Boroush | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: God, Wonder
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As we gather together this morning, May we learn to recognize and affirm The pieces of possibility -- The bits of good -- we bring. May we encourage rather than control; Love rather than possess; Enable rather than envy....Opening | By Bets Wienecke | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Diversity
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Note: This call to worship was written to be preceded by the first three sentences of "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver (Singing the Living Tradition #490). As we enter into worship, put away the pressures of the world that ask us to perform, to take up masks, to put on brave fronts. Silence the voices...Opening | By Erika Hewitt | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Body, Inclusion, Love, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability
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Amid all the noise in our lives, we take this moment to sit in silence -- to give thanks for another day; to give thanks for all those in our lives who have brought us warmth and love; to give thanks for the gift of life. We know we are on our pilgrimage here but a brief moment in time....Opening | By Tim Haley | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Gratitude
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Prayer - Wayne Arnason O God, whom we know as love, we gather here this morning as seekers and finders, creators and destroyers, givers and receivers of love....Meditation | By Wayne B. Arnason | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: God, Love
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Come ye into this house of worship! Come in and find peace and rest, inspiration and aspiration, fellowship and love. Come in and find light for your darkness, a friend's touch for your loneliness, and music for your soul. Come in and let your heart sing for all the blessings that are yours this...Opening | By Elizabeth A Parish | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Friendship
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Come, let us worship together. Let us open our minds to the challenge of reason, open our hearts to the healing of love, open our lives to the calling of conscience, open our souls to the comfort of joy....Opening | By Lindsay Bates | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Gratitude, Unitarian Universalism
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Come into this house of worship. Come in bringing all of who you are. Rest and quiet your week-worn spirit, for you are here to touch again eternal springs of hope and renewal. Calm your hurried pace. For this hour let the cares, the fretfulness and worry be set aside. Forgive yourself—you are so...Opening | By Carolyn S Owen-Towle | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Caring, Community, Letting Go
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Come into this circle of community. Come into this sacred space. Be not tentative. Bring your whole self! Bring the joy that makes your heart sing. Bring your kindness and your compassion. Bring also your sorrow, your pain. Bring your brokenness and your disappointments....Opening | By Andrew Pakula | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Sacred