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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The following meditation will begin and end with the sound of the mindfulness bell. breathing in i am aware of my pain. breathing out i am aware that i am not my pain. breathing in i am aware of my past. breathing out i am aware that i am not my past. breathing in i am aware of my anger....Meditation | By Nathan C. Walker | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Body, Buddhism, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Discernment, Healing, Health, Kindness, Mindfulness, Peace, Presence -
Many of the past generation and many of today have found three abiding values in prayer: the quiet meditation on life, the reaching out toward the universal and the infinite, and the courageous facing of one's profoundest wishes....Meditation | By Sophia Lyon Fahs | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Children
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If you woke this morning with a sorrow so heavy that you need the help of this community to carry it; or if you woke with a joy so great that it simply must be shared, now is the time for you to speak....Ritual | By Judy Welles | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Joy, Listening, Presence, Sorrow, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability
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Come we now out of the darkness of our unknowing and the dusk of our dreaming; Come we now from far places. Come we now into the twilight of our awakening and the reflection of our gathering. Come we now all together. We bring, unilluminated, our dark caves of doubting; We seek, unbedazzled, the...Chalice Lighting | By Annie Foerster | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Despair, Earth-Centered, Hope, Hospitality, Nature, Shadow, Spirituality, Transformation, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
We light this chalice to celebrate the inherent worth and dignity of every person; To reaffirm the historic pledge of liberal religion to seek that justice which transcends mere legality and moves toward the resolution of true equality; And to share that love which is ultimately beyond even our...Chalice Lighting | By Steve Stock | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Community, Dignity, Equity, Justice, Love, Mystery, Purpose, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Worth -
Take from life its coals, not its ashes. Fan the flames of love and justice; join hands and hearts in common endeavor; and there will be no limit to what we can achieve together.Chalice Lighting | By Laurel S Sheridan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Activism, Challenge, Commitment, Connections, Justice, Love, Purpose, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Unity -
Leader: Spring, the triumph of light over darkness, Response: Victory of newness and growth, and warmth vanquishing cold, Leader: We, too, know coldness and darkness within us, as it is in our world....Reading | By Charles F Flagg | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Vernal Equinox
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Our prophets died for the freedom of faith; We are here in their spirit. We are here to practice and sustain our living tradition; To light a chalice, Claiming for justice The heat and power of fire....Chalice Lighting | By Heather K Janules | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Commitment, Community, Connections, Faith, Freedom, History, Love, Sacred, Tradition, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism -
O light of life, Be kindled again in our hearts As we meet together this morning To celebrate the joy of human community Seeking a wholeness that extends beyond ourselves.Chalice Lighting | By Sam Trumbore | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Commitment, Community, Connections, Faith, Gratitude, Inclusion, Joy, Sacred, Strength, Wholeness -
Leader: Every endeavor begins with a first step, and encounters darkness and difficulty along the way. Response: We know the darkness of ignorance, of fear, and of tyranny. Leader: Yet we know the dawning of the light, the beginnings of hope, and the renewal of life....Chalice Lighting | By Charles F Flagg | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beginnings, Challenge, Courage, Discernment, Doubt, Faith, Fear, Hope, Journey, Palm Sunday, Power -
Fill your heart like a vessel with the Christmas spirit. Take the time to let your vision clear and your concern deepen. Allow your heart to overflow with all the authentic gifts that this season has to offer....Meditation | By Donna Morrison-Reed | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas -
We’ve begun a new ritual around our dinner table in which each member of the family takes a minute or two to name what he or she has been grateful for. No matter how yucky our day has been, we try to offer our gratitude in the spirit of kindness and real thankfulness. Often, the ritual’s nicest...Reading | By Jane E Mauldin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Forgiveness, Gratitude
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I hate goodbyes. I hate everything about them. It bothers me that “goodbye” isn’t really what I think we most often want to say. When those I love leave me, or I leave them, goodbye isn’t what I want to say. I want to tell them that their warm hand on my cheek, which caught my desperate...Reading | By Kaaren Solveig Anderson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Change, Ending, Letting Go
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Ministry is a quality of relationship between and among human beings that beckons forth hidden possibilities; inviting people into deeper, more constant, more reverent relationship with the world and with one another; carrying forward a long heritage of hope and liberation that has dignified and...Reading | By Gordon B McKeeman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Compassion, Healing, Installations, Leadership, Ordinations, Presence, Service, Teacher Dedication, Unitarian Universalism
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I love to pray, to go deep down into the silence: To strip myself of all pride, selfishness, and coldness of heart; To peel off thought after thought, passion after passion, till I reach the genuine depths of all; To remember how short a time ago I was nothing,and in how short a time again I will...Meditation | By David O. Rankin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: God, Immanence, Presence
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What can we say about Rudolph? He was excluded by other reindeer. They did not let him play with them. We may feel confident that they made fun of him and his red nose. It is possible that they hurt poor Rudolph. He was on the outside. The other reindeer had a special relationship with Santa Claus.Story | By Edward Harris | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Diversity
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The Woman Who Outshone the SunThe Legend of Lucia Zenteno Characters Narrator Lucia Zenteno (older child or adult) Iguana (small child) Water (several) Fish (several) Otters (several) Townspeople-elders and children (several) Props Long, flowing, bright skirt with pinned on flowers and butterflie...Story | By Nancy Jilk | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Diversity, Earth Day, Forgiveness
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In the presence of these flowers,These representatives of Creation's profound beauty:Diverse and Unique, but Related and Interdependent,These flowers which come to us as gifts from we know not whereAnd which we, in turn, choose to bring to our shared and common altarAs gifts to one anotherIn thei...Meditation | By William G. Sinkford | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Flower Communion
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Welcome all you saints! Yes! You are saints, all of you are saints, for it is not by perfection that we are sainted, rather it is by our actions. It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our presence. It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our giving....Meditation | By Susan Brown | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: All Saints Day, Halloween, Samhain -
We pray for the peace not past understanding: The peace of children laughing and students quietly studying, Of young women dancing and men flirting beneath the stars. The peace not past understanding: Where no gunfire disrupts the night, Where girls can walk downtown and not be afraid, Where boys...Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Peace