Celebrating Thanksgiving

Photo by Dea Brayden.

Sunday before Thanksgiving. Themes can include gratitude to God, gratitude for loved ones, gathering the family together, breaking bread together, Native American perspective on the holiday, Puritans, remembering those less fortunate.

From Tapestry of Faith Curricula

Unitarian Universalist Perspectives

Guest at Your Table

Guest at Your Table is an annual tradition in which congregation members take home a box featuring people that the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) has worked with recently. These people are your 'guests,' and you are asked to share your blessings with them each meal by putting your spare change in the box. As you give to your guests, you can learn about them by reading the Stories of Hope booklet. UUSC uses the funds raised through this program to support their human-rights work in the United States and around the world!

Most congregations begin their Guest at Your Table celebration on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, but please check your congregational calendar for your opening date.

Some congregations celebrate bread communion at this service. This ritual can include the breaking and passing around of bread throughout the congregation. Congregants eat the bread, or feed it to one another, while being led in a reflection about gratitude, sharing and being together in community.

Search Words for Worship Services

Displaying 1 - 10 of 35.

Blessing

  • All That We Share Is Sacred (WorshipWeb)
    By Andrée Mol
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Abundance, Compassion, Courage, Direct Experience, Gratitude, Hospitality, Justice, Listening, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Sacrifice, Salvation, Unitarianism
  • Blessing of Gratitude, Celebration, and Support (WorshipWeb)
    By Gwen Matthews
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Abundance, Caring, Community, Family, Gratitude, Grief, Humanism, Love, Oppression, Sacred, Secular, Sorrow, Unitarian Universalism

Chalice Lighting

  • T is for Turkey and Tofu (WorshipWeb)
    By Maureen Killoran
    Tagged as: Abundance, Community, Fall, Food, Gratitude, Happiness, Integrity, Playfulness, Relationships, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism
  • The Abundance of Our Lives Together (WorshipWeb)
    By Katie Gelfand
    Tagged as: Abundance, Christianity, Community, Generosity, Grace, Gratitude, Stewardship, Strength, Unitarian Universalism

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Meditation

  • A Prayer Addressing All Hungers (WorshipWeb)
    By Debra Smith
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Christianity, Democracy, Direct Experience, Food, Food Justice, Generosity, Human Rights, Humanism, Justice, Poverty, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Spiritual Practice, Transcendence, Transformation, WorshipWeb
  • A Thanksgiving Blessing (WorshipWeb)
    By Naomi King
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Abundance, Commitment, Compassion, Connections, Fall, Food, Generosity, Gratitude, Poverty, Secular, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism
  • A Thanksgiving Meditation (WorshipWeb)
    By Naomi King
    Tagged as: Connections, Gratitude, Healing, Health, Humanism, Love, Meaning, Purpose, Relationships, Secular, Spirituality, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism
  • A Thanksgiving Prayer (WorshipWeb)
    By Robert Walsh
    Tagged as: Abundance, Beauty, Compassion, Discernment, Gratitude, Justice, Peace, Responsibility, Searching, Truth
  • Spirit of the Harvest (WorshipWeb)
    By Gary Kowalski
    Tagged as: America, Family, Food, Generations, Gratitude, Secular