Kids on a swing, hanging from a mighty oak tree.

April 22. Unitarian Universalism’s seventh principle: “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part” makes this a day to celebrate religiously. Themes can include: earth-centered spirituality; connecting to the divine through nature; caretaking of the environment; the interdependent web. Another day to celebrate these themes is Arbor Day, the date of which varies from state to state.

Take Action

The Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth envisions a world in which reverence, gratitude, and care for the living Earth are central to the lives of all people. Their purpose is to inspire, facilitate, and support personal, congregational, and denominational practices that honor and sustain the Earth and all beings. They affirm and promote the seven principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association, including: "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."

a very bright and elongated meteor in the night sky, over a dark horizon

From Tapestry of Faith Curricula

Unitarian Universalist Perspectives

Young woman holds plastic earth ball at rally for environmental justice in Louisville, KY, June 2011.

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  • This hands-on ritual could be used to celebrate Earth Day, a Solstice, or an Equinox. Before the service begins, set up a table or two (or more) with several stations for people to plant seeds....
    Ritual | By Diana Smith | July 4, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Autumnal Equinox, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Food, Nature, Summer Solstice, Vernal Equinox, Water Communion
  • Leader: [if applicable: In addition to our own beloved dead], we take the time to acknowledge all those already lost as the world feels the effects of global warming and climate change. Thousands of people, as well as animals and plants, die every year from the effects of global climate change....
    Litany | By Erica Baron | October 19, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), All Souls Day, Anti-Oppression, Brokenness, Despair, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Humanism, Nature, Pain, Remembrance Day, Responsibility, Trauma, Climate Justice
  • Did you know that there are trillions of little tiny creatures living inside your bodies? They’re called microbiota, and they're SOOO tiny that to them, you and your body… are like a planet. To my microbiota I am Planet [your name]. You are Planet [name of child present]. You are Planet [name of...
    Time for All Ages | By Carolyn Fisher | August 10, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, Body, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Humanism, Nature, Responsibility, Secular, Climate Justice
  • I understand participation in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a spiritual practice or discipline. While the word discipline may want to make us run and hide, a spiritual practice or discipline is meant to help us find our center. Approaching my participation in the CSA as a spiritual...
    Reading | By Nicole Janelle | July 10, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Community, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Family, Food, Food Justice, Gratitude, Nature, Spiritual Practice, Summer Solstice, Table Grace, Wonder
  • Leader: Quick! Look about you! The snows of Winter are gone and the Earth has awoken once more! Congregation: Hail the Spring in all her green glory! L: The brave small flowers push up from the warming soil; birds return from their southerly homes; the first buds appear on the trees....
    Responsive Reading | By Lorelei Greenwood-Jones | May 13, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Hope, Nature, Spring, Vernal Equinox, Wonder, WorshipWeb
  • Leader: For the love of all began with the world. Congregation: All of Nature is sacred. L: Every creature is a thinking, feeling being. C: We are blessed with wondrous variety. L: We are part of nature and of every being on the planet. What we do to one affects the many. C: In this web of...
    Responsive Reading | By Lorelei Greenwood-Jones | May 13, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Awe, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Nature, Responsibility, Wonder, Climate Justice, WorshipWeb
  • EARTH, clay from which we are made and to which we will return. Soil, rich and aromatic, crumbling in my fingers, dark under my nails. This, cleansing dirt, the natural filter for aquifers, holds life....
    Meditation | By David Snedden | April 5, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Beginnings, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Environment, Humanism, Imagination, Imbolc / Brighid's Day / Candlemas, Interdependence, Nature, Spring, Summer Solstice, Vernal Equinox, Climate Justice
  • Early in the morning, before the children are awake and while the grass is still dewy, I like to walk in my garden. It’s “my” garden only because it shares the same small plot of land my family and I inhabit. The garden does not really belong to me; I belong to it—at least for the short time...
    Meditation | By David M. Horst | April 5, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Beauty, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, Grace, Mystery, Nature, Spiritual Practice, Summer Solstice, Vernal Equinox, Wonder
  • This Time for All Ages is greatly enhanced by visual elements. If you're able to create a slide show, it may be helpful to show the accompanying images, as well as diagrams of the geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system. We humans have always looked up at the stars, wondered about...
    Time for All Ages | By Erika Hewitt | March 21, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Awe, Earth Day, History, Identity, International, Living Our Faith, Partner Church Observation, Religion, Science, Secular, Wonder
  • As the first hint of green begins to peek through the barren ground As that little sprig grows into a healthy stem As that stem grows into a stalk and forms a bud As that bud slowly opens with each new day To form a yellow daffodil Let us be, like that first hint of green, renewed by the warm of ...
    Chalice Lighting | By Jennifer McGlothin | October 20, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Awe, Beauty, Beginnings, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Easter, Flower Communion, Growth, Health, Interdependence, Nature, Secular, Spring, Unitarian Universalism, Vernal Equinox