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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Image | By Melissa Gibson | June 14, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Diversity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Pride Sunday, Solidarity -
Image | By Melissa Gibson | June 14, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Diversity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Pride Sunday, Solidarity -
Image | By Melissa Gibson | June 14, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Diversity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Pride Sunday, Solidarity -
Image | By Melissa Gibson | June 14, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Hospitality, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday -
Imagine this. On the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, every fall, every year, the people make their peace with anyone they have wronged or slighted or injured or in any way neglected in the past twelve months....Meditation | By Victoria Safford | June 13, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Brokenness, Forgiveness, Healing, Judaism, Relationships, Wholeness, Yom Kippur -
Laura Evonne Steinman created this coloring page (PDF) for children to use on Flower Ceremony Sunday.Image | By Laura Evonne Steinman | June 13, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth, Flower Communion, Nature, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism -
People ask me sometimes, “Is this a gay church?” It is a privilege to answer: “Ours is absolutely, gladly, hopefully and humbly, gaily, a gay church, a gay tradition, where everyone, including heterosexual members and friends, is welcome, where everyone is needed, where everyone’s experience...Meditation | By Victoria Safford | June 9, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Hospitality, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Love, Pride Sunday, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness -
Sister Goose swam in the pond, happy as could be. Now and then, she ducked her head down to nibble a little bit here, and nibble a little bit there. She took no more than her fill of those succulent underwater plants, for she knew that the pond belonged to everyone....Story | By Faye Mogensen | June 8, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), America, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Division, Identity, Justice, Race/Ethnicity -
Six weeks into the church year, I have realized that I am the minister of a church where things usually go wrong. This morning the copy machine jams repeatedly. The bulletin describing the order of worship has been copied with the second page first and also upside down....Meditation | By Elea Kemler | June 7, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Direct Experience, Failure, God, Grace, Humility, Limitations, Living Our Faith, Playfulness, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
When you heard that voice and knew finally it called for you and what it was saying—where were you? Were you in the shower, wet and soapy, or chopping cabbage late for dinner? Were you planting radish seeds or seeking one lost sock? Maybe wiping handprints off a window or coaxing words into a...Meditation | By Nancy Shaffer | June 5, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Beginnings, Calling, Direct Experience, Purpose, Service, Transcendence, Transformation, Wonder -
May each one among us have skin that longs to touch other skin: fingertips that long for other fingertips or whole hands and even arms; bodies that want to stand next to other bodies, not alone, while singing and bending, stirring soup. May ones whose skin doesn’t cry out for other skin wish it...Meditation | By Nancy Shaffer | June 5, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Building/Space Dedication, Community, Hospitality, Inclusion, Purpose, Relationships, Teamwork, Unity -
"Marriage isn’t meant to make you happy; marriage is there so that it gives you a life in which you find happiness."...Quote | By Esther Perel | June 5, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Happiness, Intimacy, Marriage, Relationships, Weddings and Commitment Ceremonies -
"The power of transgression is the archetypal foundational story of the Bible because we transgress; because we want to break our own codes, sometimes of morality, sometimes of ethics, sometimes of the power structures… because there is freedom in transgression, and there is power in...Quote | By Esther Perel | June 5, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Blame, Brokenness, Commitment, Failure, Freedom, Power
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[Names], as you step forward into your next chapter, we send with you our fondest hopes and blessings. May life bring enough challenge to fuel your dreams, enough affirmation to honor your gifts and enough nurture to give your spirit peace. Believe in your vision. Follow your dreams....Blessing | By Maureen Killoran | June 3, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Beginnings, Bridging, Bridging Ceremony, Coming of Age, Community, Generations, Growth, Home, Hope, Humanism, Love, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Young Adults
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This piece can be read as a meditation, or used as a litany, in which the congregation responds to each line (in unison), "We ask a blessing on this day." In one way or another, each of you was born of a mother. Because we are human, it's likely that your relationship with that mother is, was, or...Litany | By Maureen Killoran | June 3, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Brokenness, Children, Compassion, Conflict, Family, Forgiveness, Healing, Hope, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Unitarian Universalism, Universalism -
Blessed is this ground on which we stand. Holy is this place. Holy are the places of memory, the places which have formed us, where we store the icons of success and shattered dreams and gather threads and pieces of what we would become. . . Holy are the places of memory....Meditation | By Maureen Killoran | June 3, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Change, Direct Experience, Faith, Gratitude, Home, Journey, Purpose, Spirituality, Trust, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Wholeness
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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." This quote, attributed to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., is likely a paraphrase of original language that was slightly different. The closest statement your WorshipWeb Curator could find is this excerpt from Rev. King's...Quote | By Martin Luther King, Jr. | June 1, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Anti-Oppression, Character, Commitment, Courage, Democracy, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Self-Respect, Seven Principles -
“We want to give you an update on our progress,” the captain said over the PA. A silent groan went through the passengers: the word “update” meant the problem wasn’t fixed. I was on a plane sitting on the tarmac trying to get to the East coast where I was officiating at my nephew’s...Meditation | By Doug Kraft | June 1, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Balance, Buddhism, Compassion, Contemplation, Empathy, Mindfulness, Pain, Patience, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality -
When I was a kid I liked to skip stones on lakes. If I threw a flat stone at the correct angle and with enough speed and energy it would kiss the surface and leap into the air again and again. If we have too much stuff in our lives, our attention skips from one object to another without really...Reading | By Doug Kraft | June 1, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Balance, Buddhism, Compromise, Direct Experience, Mindfulness, Patience, Playfulness, Self-Care, Simplicity -
For this blessing, the youth were invited to sit in a semi-circle on the chancel, around the chalice, and then come forward one at a time. The minister/leader may put their hand on the youth's shoulder as they face the congregation: (full name of youth), we bless you today....Ritual | By Julia Hamilton | June 1, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Bridging Ceremony, Growth, Journey, Transformation, Young Adults, Youth/Teens