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 come together today in praise and thanksgivingfor the gift of life itself.Someone gave birth to us and some of us havegiven birth.All of us have been mothered in our time,All of us have mothered.Let our time today be one of recognition-- That we arrive from so many places,Joy and...Opening | By Mary J Harrington | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Mother's Day -
We come to this hour knowing that it is but an hour. Yet out of all the hours in the week this is one that is set apart: an hour that is saved, an hour that is savored. It is a time for us to recognize what gives life meaning. It is a time to honor what we value. It is a time to celebrate our lives.Opening | By Louise A Robeck | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Community, Purpose, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
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We shall overcome. When we can truly celebrate the diversity of contributions and talents offered by all people, we shall overcome hatred and prejudice and oppression. When we can truly extend our hands to one another in loving acceptance, we shall overcome the past that haunts us now. Living in...Benediction | By Jonalu Johnstone | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Change, Commitment, Juneteenth, Justice, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity
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We walk this earth but a brief moment in time. Amid our suffering and pain, however great or small, let us continue to learn how to celebrate life. Let us continue to grow in our capacity to love ourselves and each other. And let us continue to move toward the goal of a just world community....Closing | By Tim Haley | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Hope
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When all is quiet and we are small and the night is dark, may we hear the tender breathing of all who lie awake with us in fear, that together we may gather strength to live with love, and kindness, and confidence.Closing | By Jane Rzepka | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Compassion, Empathy, Fear
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When we say, "Go now in peace," we mean the peace that asks us to stop grasping after power over and the peace that demands that we live fully, that we love with a fierce love, that we hope with a bold hope, that we pray and sing and struggle....Closing | By Amy McKenzie | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Peace
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Who could do better than to be a singer on the high wind-swept hills of life, bringing songs to the soul, songs full of loveliness and hope for all people.Closing | By David A Johnson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Hope, Joy, Wonder
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For our community gathered here, for the spirit that called us together and drew us to this place: We give thanks this day....Opening | By Jane E Mauldin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Gratitude
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Everything begins on the verge of awareness. The dawn is not and then is. Sleep is and then is not. In between is the awakening. The passage of thin light, between, breaks open the day. The passage of thin sound, between, flows into the day. Too soon the numbing rumble of traffic swells, the day...Opening | By George Kimmich Beach | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Balance, Change
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Enter with me the sacred space. Bring with you what is yours— a burdened heart, a joyous song, a wearied spirit, a seeking mind. Bring the gift of yourself to the altar. It is an honorable gift.Opening | By Amarette Callaway | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Sacred, Searching, Wholeness
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To this house we come bringing our boldest dreams—seeking here the inspiration and strength to make them be! To this house we come hoping to bury broken dreams, to be sustained through their pain and to discover new ones amidst their tears. We come here lonely, isolated from meaningful human...Opening | By Lawrence E McGinty | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Connections, Purpose, Searching, Trust, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
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There are some heights to which we have not risen, and never will; there are some depths to which we have not fallen, and never will, we pray. Somewhere between there are places where we can reach up and reach out for the strength we need for our journey. This is such a place. Thus we pause for...Opening | By Paul H Bicknell | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Direct Experience, Gratitude
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We have come together to share our deepest concerns, speaking and singing words of inspiration and hope. We have committed ourselves to do what we can to ease the burdens of those who suffer, to stand for decency and compassion....Closing | By Robert F Kaufmann | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Anti-Oppression, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Unitarian Universalism
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We have gathered here today to feel the truth in the depth of our being and to think on all that is most righteous and holy. Let us go forth to act in concert with those thoughts and feelings. Blessed be.Closing | By Carol Ann Huston | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Reverence
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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
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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