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 holiday season is upon us But this year many of us Move toward it with leaden feet. It has been such a year....Meditation | By Tess Baumberger | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Despair, Healing -
I lean against wise woman redwood, press my cheek to her scaly side and cry, whisper how I wish to be a tree, so I would no longer have to see what humans do to one another. Her wooden reedy voice replies, "Yes, but then you'd listen to earth lament what humans do to her."...Meditation | By Tess Baumberger | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth, Nature, Pain
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Let us make this earth a heaven, right here, right now. Who knows what existences death will bring? Let us create a heaven here on earth where love and truth and justice reign....Meditation | By Tess Baumberger | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Multiculturalism, Multiculturalism, Redemption, Unity, Vision
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Innocence does not die at once, in that first raptured thrust. It dies in each small seduction, in every subsequent acquiescence....Meditation | By Tess Baumberger | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, History, Oppression, Race/Ethnicity, Terrorism
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Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, "Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. "Our sons shall not be...Reading | By Julia Ward Howe | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Children, Mother's Day, Parents, Peace
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By Jan Gartner, adapted from the story, A Unitarian King, in A Lamp in Every Corner: A Unitarian Universalist Storybook, by Janeen K Grohsmeyer. Written as a no-rehearsal skit for middle-elementary worship or classroom use. NARRATOR Our story takes place in the mid-1500's, in the country of Hungary.Story | By Jan Gartner | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: History, Unitarianism
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On April 25, the Supreme Court of the United States began hearing oral arguments about the constitutionality of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 law, a law that broadly targets undocumented immigrants. Many across the country, including Unitarian Universalists and other people of faith, anxiously awaited the...Meditation | By Marta I. Valentín | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Compassion, Courage, Democracy, Freedom, Hope, Humanism, Immigration, Immigration, Justice, Living Our Faith, Responsibility, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism
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To rise, to rise each morning with the faint glow of starlight on our backs as we head into the joys, the surprises, the challenges of each day sometimes with awe and wonder, perhaps expectation, perhaps dread… To rise, to rise each day peering over waterlines, sandbags, walls, garbage, bunkers…...Meditation | By Marta I. Valentín | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Anti-Oppression, Anti-Oppression, Connections, Gratitude, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
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The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Stewardship and Development staff is pleased to announce that The Reverend James C....Sermon | By James (Jay) C Leach | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Connections, Generosity, Individualism, Unity
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If you have been paying attention lately, you have been exposed to a mountain of information about the status of immigrants and aliens in the United States. You have heard some of the heart-wrenching stories about separated families and exploited workers, about thousands of deaths as a result of...Sermon | By Kendyl L. R. Gibbons | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Connections, Immigration, Immigration, Justice, Politics, Seven Principles, Unitarian Universalism
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Step One: Invoke an external and internal threat. Pose it as a threat to civilization itself. Create a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of any traditional solution. Insist that the leader’s superior instinct and access to privileged knowledge are more reliable than universal...Sermon | By Victoria Safford | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: America, Anti-Oppression, Fear, Freedom, Inclusion, Oppression, Politics
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Today we are recognizing those in the congregation who have recently retired or are about to retire. The transition from an active work life to retirement is an important life transition....Ritual | By Carol Hepokoski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Aging, Direct Experience, Ending, Letting Go, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Respect, Work -
In a world filled with the darkness of ignorance, let us bring the light of reason In a world filled with the darkness of despair, may we share the light of hope In a world filled with the darkness of hate, let us shine the light of love...Chalice Lighting | By Douglas John Traversa | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Compassion, Despair, Faith, Fear, Growth, Healing, Hope, Inclusion, Love, Reason -
As we gather to celebrate In this time of beginnings In the season of birth and rebirth, We hear the heart beat of Mother Earth With the spring time comes the blossoming of the plants A time of exploration and creation And the emerging patterns of life We hear the heart beat of Mother Earth Let u...Reading | By Addae Ama Kraba | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
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We come together this morning as celebrants, as seekers and companions. We enter into this, the longest day, joyfully, allowing ourselves the beauty of this time together in which we may rest our cares and sorrows, and allow our hearts and spirits to be uplifted....Opening | By B Leslie Koons | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Balance, Beauty, Earth, Presence, Searching, Summer Solstice
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"Few of their children in the country learn English Unless the stream of their importation could be turned they will soon so outnumber us that all the advantages we have will not be able to preserve our Language, and even our Government will become precarious." Does this sound familiar? This...Sermon | By James (Jay) C Leach | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Globalism, Immigration, Immigration, Oppression, Privilege
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Every third Tuesday, I am a Buddhist I empty my mind and lighten my heart And try to let go of attachments Every other Friday, I am a Christian. I look for the least of these And try to love God and my neighbor The full moon of the month finds me Wiccan; I honor the dual nature of God And find my...Reading | By Joanna Fontaine Crawford | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Buddhism, Freedom, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Unitarian Universalism
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The children being dedicated will take a walk around the sanctuary. Different church members and older children present in the pews will offer objects that will become a part of the child throughout the poem....Ritual | By Kate Howard | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Child Dedication, Children, Community, International, Joy, Parents, Responsibility, Unitarian Universalism
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To those of you who are visitors here for the first time, thank you again for being with us. If you are lonely, here you will find a warm companionship....Welcome | By David R Chapman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Connections, Direct Experience, Friendship, Home, Secular, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
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Good Friend, your soul is within me now, And I hallow your spirit with my love. Our peace will come and goodwill shall be done, And we will learn that our Earth is our Heaven. This day and all days, I offer you My bread, my hand and my heart....Meditation | By David R Chapman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Relationships, Reverence