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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Displaying 901 - 950 of 1061
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When we scale, at last, the walls...Reading | By Jeffrey B Symynkywicz | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas
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Let us join our hearts and minds together in the spirit of meditation and prayer. May these moments of quiet lead us to the heart of the season, which is peace. May we breathedeeply of peace in this quiet place, relax into its warmth, know we are safe here, and let us open our hearts to the...Meditation | By Christine Robinson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas
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Not gold, nor myrrh, nor even frankincense would I have for you this season, but simple gifts, the ones that are hardest to find, the ones that are perfect, even for those who have everything (if such there be). I would (if I could) have for you the gift of courage, the strength to face the...Meditation | By Maureen Killoran | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Challenge, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Connections, Courage, Generosity, Hope, Presence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Simplicity, Strength, Winter Solstice / Yule
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In this small flame dwell: the beacon light of lanterns guiding travelers home; the warmth of hearth fires tended through the generations; the transforming energy of furnaces and the power and life of our sun. May these blessings -- warmth and light and life-giving energy -- be kindled in each of...Chalice Lighting | By Jean L Wahlstrom | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Community, Family, Friendship, Generations, Home, Journey, Love, Power, Transformation, Winter Solstice / Yule -
Great Rainbow Arch your bright light your seven colours your cool dew link sky and earth above the Christmas stable. Hold us all in your encompassing arms. Forgive our exclusion of others earth and life and child. So may we too forgive those who have excluded us. Save us from the darkness of deep...Meditation | By Andrew M Hill | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Earth, Earth-Centered, Forgiveness, Nature, Presence, Transcendence, Winter Solstice / Yule -
Ritual | By Liz Benjamin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth-Centered, Paganism, Winter Solstice / Yule
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Let us join our hearts and minds together in the spirit of prayer: O Holy One, that unites all who are estranged and challenges all who preach division and exclusion, We see that unity so often in the eyes of a child, who sees neither race or creed in any eyes that look back, but only whether tho...Prayer | By Kathleen Rolenz | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Connections, Generations, God, Memorial Day, Military Service, Peace, Veterans Day, Violence, War
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Holy One, known by many names -- Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer -- you make your presence known to us in the sunshine of winter, in the dance of the flame, and in the lingering embrace of a trusted one. Fill us this day with your warmth, your power, your strength. Help us to see our lives with a...Prayer | By Marta Flanagan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Freedom, Gratitude, Letting Go, Purpose, Sacred, Winter Solstice / Yule
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Eternal God, Source of All Creation, we would give substance to our thankfulness by resolving to make right use of the gifts we have received from thy bounty. With thy gift of the senses we would fashion and preserve a world of beauty for all....Meditation | By Robert Walsh | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Beauty, Compassion, Discernment, Gratitude, Justice, Peace, Responsibility, Searching, Thanksgiving, Truth
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God of the Autumn, help us to live with the grace of falling leaves the enthusiasm of the flaming Aspens with the serenity of the old trees, whose roots reach deep into the earth. God of the Autumn, help us to know that living and dying are one that life is precious, and beautiful, and limited....Meditation | By Christine Robinson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Autumnal Equinox, Fall, Nature, Reverence
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Please join with me in the spirit of meditation and prayer. We know the leaves are dying. We know that their blaze of beauty is a preparation for death. It is a time when we appreciate the effort of nature to rise above the ordinariness of life and death. It is a time when we visibly comprehend...Meditation | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Autumnal Equinox, Awe, Death, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature -
We join our hearts and minds together in a time of meditation or prayer; spoken, silent, sung, and shared....Meditation | By Christine Robinson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Paganism, Winter Solstice / Yule
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Divine Spirit of our comings and goings, bless those who go forth, andbless those who stay....Meditation | By Christine Robinson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Education, Ending, Graduation Recognition
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We are in the midst of the season of celebration. Celebrations: Of the birth of new hope, Of the festival of lights, Of the triumph of freedom. The darkness of the year is lifting and the time of light grows longer. We have gathered with an anticipation of hope for peace on earth and in our homes.Meditation | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Ending, Hanukkah, Hope, Letting Go, New Year, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule -
We give thanks for the earth and its creatures and are grateful from A to Z: For alligators, apricots, acorns and apple trees; For bumblebees, bananas, blueberries and beagles; Coconuts, crawdads, cornfields and coffee; Daisies, elephants, and flying fish; For groundhog, glaciers and grasslands;...Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animal Blessing, Animals, Children, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Environment, Nature, Secular -
Palm Sunday is found: whenever we are serving a noble and unpopular cause with selfless devotion, holding to the ideals of truth and justice; whenever we are seeking to uplift the fallen, to comfort the brokenhearted, to strengthen and encourage the weak and hopeless; whenever we are working brav...Meditation | By David O. Rankin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Palm Sunday -
Once upon a time there was an old man who lived alone with his grandson in a dirty hovel. Everything around them was filthy (you can imagine!) One day a stranger appeared and gave the young child a beautiful lily. The boy took it home and placed it on a windowsill in his house....Story | By Thomas Rhodes | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Easter, Service, Transformation
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On Mother's Day, one expects to read about the wonder and glory of motherhood....Reading | By Jane Rzepka | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Children, Direct Experience, Generations, Mother's Day, Mothers, Parents, Relationships
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We listen to the wisdom of our inner hearts and minds as we join in meditation.Meditation | By Anne E Treadwell | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Easter, Judaism, Passover (Pesach)
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Quiet yourself and listen to the rhythm of your breath, your heart . . .Listen to the silence . . .Meditation | By Stephen W Dick | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Contemplation, Direct Experience, Meditation Practices, Self-Care, Silence, Spiritual Practice -
Let us be together in silence. Let our hearts listen. Let this house be quiet. For a moment, stretch back in memory to the first time you joined a meeting of this church. It may have been in this building or in a rented space or a home. What was happening then? Were you comfortable, anxious,...Meditation | By Jacqueline A Collins | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Building/Space Dedication, Connections, Friendship, History, Purpose, Strength, Unitarian Universalism
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Somewhere across the world,...Meditation | By Kathleen Rolenz | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Easter, Peace
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As today we have received these children into the congregation and committed ourselves to their nurture, let us now receive into our hearts all children. Let us remember the children we once were and who still live within us. Let us love them now, in this quiet moment....Meditation | By Connie P Sternberg | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Child Dedication, Conscience, Justice
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Let us rejoice for the families who have gathered this Thanksgiving to express their thanks and to celebrate the bounty of their lives. Let us join together in support of those whose families are far away, with distances in many forms. Let us hold one another in gentle reverence this holiday of...Meditation | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Death, Family, Gratitude, Illness, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism
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Let us praise those fathers who have striven to balance the demands of work, marriage, and children with an honest awareness of both joy and sacrifice. Let us praise those fathers who, lacking a good model for a father, have worked to become a good father. Let us praise those fathers who by their...Meditation | By Kirk D Loadman-Copeland | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Children, Family, Father's Day, Fathers, Gratitude, Healing, Love, Parents, Relationships, Sacrifice -
I do not know if the seasons remember their history or if the days and nights by which we count time remember their own passing. I do not know if the oak tree remembers its planting or if the pine remembers its slow climb toward sun and stars. I do not know if the squirrel remembers last fall's...Meditation | By Burton D. Carley | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Autumnal Equinox, Earth, Earth-Centered, Growth, Meaning, Nature, Reverence, Salvation, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism
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In this time of anticipated spring let us allow ourselves to extend the anticipation—to value the time of budding before blooming, of seeding before sprouting. This is a time of revelation: the revealing of that which is eternal, which we see every year, but still need to be reminded to see it in...Meditation | By Terasa Cooley | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Birth, Earth, Hope, Imbolc / Brighid's Day / Candlemas, Listening, Nature, Unitarian Universalism, Vernal Equinox
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Enter into the communion of flowers with joyful hearts. Enter with reverent thoughts. It has taken long months beneath cold ground for these flowers to prepare their blooming. It has taken each of us long times of growth through sorrow and joy to prepare for our living now. The blooming season is...Meditation | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beauty, Earth, Flower Communion, Limitations, Nature, Transcendence -
It is a good morning to be together! When winter's darkness spreads across the land, and cold seeps through our thickest coats, we hurry here, drawn by the warmth of faces familiar and new, to the welcoming walls of this house. Here, for this hour, we open ourselves to new understanding,...Opening | By Barbara Cheatham | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Challenge, Community, Connections, Earth, Meaning, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Winter Solstice / Yule
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Gracious and loving Lord, in perfect assurance of Your presence here we pray your fulfillment of these blessings upon this minister who has been called from among these people to assume the office of pastor, preacher, prophet and servant. God, we pray that you will utterly possess N. in all of...Prayer | By Victoria Weinstein | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: God, Ministry, Ordinations
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Eternal spirit, we witness bringing green growth throwing out tiny tendrils seeking support; sprouting thin twigs reaching for the bright golden sun; guiding new tubers seeking water in dark, sandy soil, Be in and amongst us this Easter morning. We gather this morning to celebrate the triumph of...Meditation | By Sam Trumbore | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Courage, Earth, Easter, Faith, Fear, Hope, Unitarian Universalism
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I invite you to join me in a special ingathering ritual in which we will gather in energy and love from all directions. Your responsive call is the “Gathered Here” chant. Some of you will participate perhaps in a more metaphysical sense and for others your participation may be more metaphorical;...Opening | By Jane Altman Page | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth-Centered, Homecoming / Ingathering, Paganism, Water Communion
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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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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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Minister: Today, we welcome into our community these new members, who have chosen to make a commitment to this congregation by signing our Membership Book....Ritual | By Laura Randall | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Commitment, Community, Covenant, Identity, Living Our Faith, New Member Ceremony, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
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Opening Prayer As we draw together this evening, let us pause for moment to remember the faces of the many women who have gathered in this space to build a house for <name>....Blessing | By Carie J Johnsen | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Building/Space Dedication, Community, Family, Grace, Gratitude, Home, Interdependence, Love, New Home, Sacred, Strength, Unitarian Universalism
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There was a Mystery. She was a great Mystery. And nobody understood or appreciated her mainly because there was no one else around to appreciate or understand much of anything.Story | By Thomas Rhodes | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth Day, God, Mystery, Playfulness
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In this religious community we reach back into the past to honor those who came before us and those who have given much so that we may be here today. And we reach forward with hands of welcome to embrace those who have newly joined our Fellowship....Closing | By Thomas Rhodes | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Connections, Direct Experience, Generations, Gratitude, New Member Ceremony, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
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How clearly I remember it. My husband, Dan, and our daughter, Sarah, had spent the night in Taos, New Mexico. The next morning we set out for the pueblo, an ancient village inhabited by indigenous people known as the Pueblo. Clearly tourists, easily identified as European Americans, we were...Sermon | By Jan Carlsson-Bull | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), America, Anti-Oppression, Healing, History, Indigenous American, Indigenous Peoples Day, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Anti-Oppression
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Every day we experience hunger and yearning: for food, for approval, for respect, for love, for meaningful work, for any and enough work, for home, for family, for friends, for health, for healing, for hope, for the departed, for the newly arrived, for the green trees, for the cool clean waters, ...Meditation | By Naomi King | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Connections, Gratitude, Healing, Health, Humanism, Love, Meaning, Purpose, Relationships, Secular, Spirituality, Thanksgiving, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism -
Let us join hands and hearts in gratitude on this wondrous day, where we have the abundance of our lives before us. We remember, on this day of bounty, all those who do not have enough, who are afraid, who are lonely, and who suffer....Meditation | By Naomi King | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged 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, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism -
Single Set of Cremains Whispering Breath of Mystery, rattling the windows of our spirits with tears and sorrow, draw us back to the wonderful, the loving, the beautiful times we had with name, whose ashes we now hold. Recall to us his/her / this one’s inspirational actions, caring, and commitment.Ritual | By Naomi King | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Animal Memorial, Death, Generations, Grief, Memorial Services, Reverence, Transformation -
How to discuss the truth that some men love men, and some women, women, and some, both, with the children in the church school and church home? Nonchalantly. Without drum-rolls. Without tip-toe preparations. Without calculating and predicting to the nth degree. With candor. With open ears. With...Reading | By Mark Belletini | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Anti-Oppression, Gender, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Love, Pride Sunday -
George: This is Angel Gabriel of KGOD airwaves, coming to you live from the downtown mall in Bethlehem. The air is positively solar as frenzied shoppers scurry from store to store, their camels and donkeys weighted down with purchases. The beasts bawl. There are only, count ‘em and weep shoppers,...Story | By Lois Van Leer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Hanukkah, Judaism, Kwanzaa, Multiculturalism, Paganism, Winter Solstice / Yule, Multiculturalism
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Overview: New Year Ritual or Transition Ritual Theme or Background: Burn an effigy to welcome the new year, or any major transition....Complete Service | By Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, Young Adult Group | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth-Centered, Letting Go, Life Transition, Regret, Transformation, Youth/Teens
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Introduction As we continue to seek out the stories of hope in our world in the new year, there are also some things we would very much like to put behind us from the old year. The ushers have given you scraps of paper on which to inscribe those things from which we would seek to unburden ourselves.Ritual | By Victoria Weinstein | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Change, Direct Experience, Ending, Fire Communion, Healing, Letting Go, New Year, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Transformation
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Overview: Like the maypole tradition this worship involves a circle dance that weaves a fabric of many colors. We just leave out the pole! Theme or Background: Fun, dancing, interdependent web, different colors make the weave. Materials Involved: An 8 foot non-elastic ribbon for each participant.Complete Service | By Alex Rollin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: May Day / Beltane
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Please join me in a spirit of prayer or meditation as you are moved. Blessed and holy night, silent night, full of truths too awesome to bend into words, we sit in the glow of ages, wound round stories that teach us some of what it means to be human, and some of what it means to see God. The...Meditation | By Anya Sammler-Michael | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas -
While most of us have heard the term, Winter Solstice, we don't necessarily know what it means. Many years ago, when I first started celebrating the solstice, a scientist explained it to me in a way that made sense. Learning from him, I wrote a reflection on the solstice that gives his scientific...Meditation | By Barbara Wells ten Hove | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Winter Solstice / Yule
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We pause now on the edge of the New Year— An artificial beginning to be sure—but still a time to reflect. Like Janus, the god for whom January was named, we glance back at past joys and sorrows That what has past can guide us Toward what is yet to be. Let us reflect for a moment on some of the...Ritual | By Joan Kahn-Schneider | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Letting Go, Life Transition