An unlit chalice on a church altar

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.

LEADER RESOURCE 2 Rituals to Welcome a New Child
a medieval window from the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, Scotland, depicting the Nativity
Islamic prayer beads or Subha inside the Süleymaniye Moque (Istanbul).
An altar filled with candles, photos, and flowers

Search Words for Worship Services

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Displaying 1001 - 1050 of 1057

  • Spirit who is all things to us; Presence in which we live and move and breathe and have our being: What a gift to be here together, sharing our food, our spirit, ourselves! We ask no blessing upon this food, nor upon ourselves, because the blessing is always here, if we but pay attention....
    Prayer | By Elizabeth L Greene | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Food, Friendship, Gratitude, Table Grace
  • Spirit of life, You've been a father and mother to us all We enter into this time of silence and reflection With mixed emotions. This is mother's day—a day set aside to honor, celebrate, and in some cases, simply to reflect on those women who gave us birth. Some of us come to this day with joy,...
    Meditation | By Kathleen Rolenz | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Mother's Day
  • We gather this morning in celebration and appreciation. We rejoice in those true treasures and gifts of life that are beyond any price. We rejoice especially in the children of our church, for their music and their words, for their laughter and their song, and for the bright joy of their very...
    Meditation | By Sheldon W Bennett | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children's / Religious Education Sunday, Flower Communion
  • Trees of Earth let bud your leaves let them open wide let them gently fall in annual cycle. Let fallen leaves make soft bed for Jesus at his birth and may leafy humus make renewal of our humanity....
    Meditation | By Andrew M Hill | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas
  • Spirit of Justice,God who befriends those who stand upon the constant edges of decision,-- crucial and aloneWe are grateful to be together this morning.We gather especially to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr....
    Meditation | By Kathleen Rolenz | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday
  • Dear God, hear and bless Your beasts and singing birds; And guard with tenderness Small things that have no words...
    Prayer | By Anonymous | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Animals, Awe, Children's Sabbath, Compassion, God, Nature
  • Now is the moment of magic, when the whole, round earth turns again toward the sun....
    Meditation | By Victoria Safford | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, Earth-Centered, Gratitude, Hanukkah, IllUUmination, Kwanzaa, Love, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder
  • Let us bless the Earth, And all that is steady and firm. Let us bless the Sky, And all that is open and filled with light. Let us bless their union, Holy and without ceasing. Let us bless their children, The bounty of field and forest, Stones, plants, animals, and all living things....
    Prayer | By Eric Williams | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Healing, Imbolc / Brighid's Day / Candlemas, Lammas, Nature, Paganism, Relationships, Summer Solstice, Vernal Equinox
  • Holy Spirit, God of Ages and so many names, we gather once again to rejoice in the light offered to the world by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His walk on this earth was a gift to generations, and today we give thanks for that gift. We know that we are called together today not simply to...
    Prayer | By Audette Fulbright Fulson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), 6th Principle (World Community), Activism, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Caring, History, Human Rights, Justice, Kindness, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Anti-Oppression
  • Overview: Harvest, Balance, and Mulching for Spring Theme or Background: Equinox/Harvest Time Materials involved: Apples for folks to share, paper leaf cutouts, pens, bowl of water, bell or gong Details: Opening Words: Robert T....
    Complete Service | By Austin Putman | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Autumnal Equinox, Balance, Contemplation, Earth, Earth-Centered, Food, Nature, Paganism, Samhain
  • Dear God, May I be kind, Strong and brave, Joyful, useful, loving, Honest and healthy.
    Prayer | By Meg Barnhouse | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Children's / Religious Education Sunday, Children's Sabbath, Courage, God, Health, Kindness, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Strength
  • Loving Spirit, Be our guest, Dine with us, Share our bread, That our table Might be blessed And our souls be fed.
    Blessing | By Gary Kowalski | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Food, Generosity, Gratitude, Home, Hospitality, Presence, Reverence, Sacred, Spirituality, Table Grace
  • For food in a world where many walk in hunger For faith in a world where many walk in fear For friends in a world where many walk alone We give you thanks, O God. Amen.
    Prayer | By Anonymous | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Abundance, Children's Sabbath, Food, Friendship, God, Gratitude, Table Grace
  • We ask to have clarity of Spirit come forth into our lives with the power of a mighty wind
    Prayer | By Tamara Lebak | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christianity, Commitment, Compassion, Courage, Direct Experience, Love, Pentecost, Purpose
  • O God, we give thanks this day and every day for all you have made known to us through the life of Jesus. Glory to you throughout the ages. We give thanks for all the knowledge, faith and hope that is implanted in our hearts by the teachings of Jesus, whom you sent to us, and spiritually remains...
    Ritual | By Kenneth Claus | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Christianity, Communion (Christian), Connections, Direct Experience, God, Immanence, Nature, Revelation, Reverence, Tradition, Transformation
  • We give you thanks, O God, for all that is good and kind and just. For all the wonders of nature that speak of your continuing divine presence: the sunrise and sunset, the rainbow, the waterfall, the roaring ocean and the quiet stream, the majestic mountain peak and the serene desert. We give you...
    Ritual | By Kenneth Claus | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Christianity, Communion (Christian), Direct Experience, Grace, Gratitude, Nature, Revelation, Spiritual Practice, Tradition, Transformation
  • O One, for whom words to describe are always inadequate, we give thanks that you may be often found in the most common, the most basic of human experience. Particularly we give thanks for the common meal: that which has sustained us as individuals, as families and as faith communities. Among the...
    Ritual | By Kenneth Claus | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Christianity, Communion (Christian), Community, God, Solidarity, Tradition, Transformation, Unity
  • Holy One, We are on our knees In awe and supplication For we have remembered the incomprehensible value Of every human life. We have heard the thrum of helicopter blades And wailing sirens. We have smelled the ash and smoke....
    Prayer | By Sue Phillips | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Compassion, Death, Despair, Disaster, Disaster or Crisis, Good, Kindness, Suffering
  • Poem Try to Praise the Mutilated World , by Adam Zagajewski (translated from the Polish) Try to praise the mutilated world. Remember June's long days, and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew. The nettles that methodically overgrow the abandoned homesteads of exiles. You must praise the...
    Homily | By Kathleen Hepler | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Awe, Beauty, Direct Experience, Judaism, Responsibility, Spirituality, Unity, Wonder, Yom Kippur
  • My heart is moved by all I cannot save: so much has been destroyed I have to cast my lot with those who age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world. #463, Singing the Living Tradition Original source: From Dream of a Common Language (1978)...
    Reading | By Adrienne Rich | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Disaster, Disaster or Crisis, Healing, Limitations, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Responsibility, Salvation, Solidarity, Stewardship, Transformation
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth-Centered, Homecoming / Ingathering, Paganism, Water Communion
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Balance, Beauty, Earth, Presence, Searching, Summer Solstice
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Child Dedication, Children, Community, International, Joy, Parents, Responsibility, Unitarian Universalism
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Commitment, Community, Covenant, Identity, Living Our Faith, New Member Ceremony, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Abundance, Building/Space Dedication, Community, Family, Grace, Gratitude, Home, Interdependence, Love, New Home, Sacred, Strength, Unitarian Universalism
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth Day, God, Mystery, Playfulness
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Connections, Direct Experience, Generations, Gratitude, New Member Ceremony, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged 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
  • 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged 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 WorshipWeb
    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, 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christianity, Hanukkah, Judaism, Kwanzaa, Multiculturalism, Paganism, Winter Solstice / Yule, Multiculturalism
  • What you choose to eat is important to both parts of how you live out the mission of our congregation—transforming your life and caring for the earth. ...How many of you have heard that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away?” Apples (and other fresh fruits) are healthy foods, and eating them...
    Homily | By Duane H. Fickeisen | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Direct Experience, Earth, Food, Food Justice, Justice Sunday, Responsibility
  • We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. There are some things in our social system to which all of us ought to be maladjusted....
    Reading | By Martin Luther King, Jr. | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Interdependence, Juneteenth, Justice Sunday, Love, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Multiculturalism, Peace, Power
  • The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish truth....
    Reading | By Martin Luther King, Jr. | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Christianity, Commitment, Dignity, Justice, Justice Sunday, Love, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Seven Principles, Unitarian Universalism, Violence
  • Seeds, scattered on fertile ground, are warmed by the sun and fed by the soil. They sprout and grow, producing great fields of grain. The grain is harvested and ground into flour and shipped across the nation....
    Ritual | By Michael J. Tino | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Abundance, Body, Christianity, Community, Food, Gratitude, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism
  • I have a story for you. It's a tale of two heads of lettuce. This one (hold up head of lettuce and maybe even move around the sanctuary as you speak) was grown in Salinas Valley, CA. It was grown according to conventional, industrial farming methods by a multi-national corporation. They used...
    Time for All Ages | By Melissa Carvill-Ziemer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Economy, Food, Living Our Faith, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Responsibility
  • It’s really complicated honey. I’m only now understanding it myself. We weren’t really thinking about it like you and your friends do. It’s not that we didn’t care about how it would impact you; we weren’t really thinking about you at all. Oh that’s sounds terrible, I’ll say. I...
    Sermon | By Scott Tayler | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Environment, Generations, Healing, Responsibility, Unitarian Universalism
  • I [do not] mean to present myself as some kind of bodhisattva of compassion. However, in my better moments—at least in my more conscious moments—while I’m eating, I do try to imagine the lives and even the deaths of the creatures who nourish me. I try to think of the freedom and exhilaration...
    Reading | By Lillian Nye | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, Animals, Body, Earth Day, Ethics, Food, Food Justice, Nature, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism, Work
  • "Humans are part of the web of life. What we do to the planet, what we do to other species, and what we do to other people, we end up doing to ourselves."...
    Quote | By John Robbins | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Interdependence, Nature, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Responsibility
  • A person is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred, that of plants and animals as that of other men and women, and when one devotes oneself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.
    Quote | By Albert Schweitzer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animal Blessing, Animals, Connections, Earth, Earth Day, Humanism, Interdependence, Sacred
  • Source of Life who is known by many names; Over-turner and illuminator of hearts; We gather with gratitude for the earth and all who journey in it. We give thanks for the interconnectedness of all creation....
    Prayer | By Jessica Vazquez Torres | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Christianity, Dignity, Immigration, Interdependence, Islam, Justice, Justice Sunday, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism
  • As the year winds down to its close And we are submerged once again In the seasonal darkness we have come to know so well, We have reason to think back upon the year that was, If only because it will soon be gone....
    Meditation | By Mark Stringer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Forgiveness, Honesty, Letting Go, New Year, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'Thank You,' it will be enough" — Meister Eckhart Today we have set aside time to publicly say thank you to our siblings who have served in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy and Marines; to say 'Thank You' to all who served, whatev...
    Meditation | By Wren Bellavance-Grace | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Democracy, Healing, Service, Veterans Day, War
  • Each of us is a flower, with a delicate beauty uniquely our own. We may be like sunflowers, turning always towards the light. May our lives bloom like the flowers. We may be like night-blooming cereus, only displaying our fragrant petals when it is dark and we think no one can see. May our lives...
    Meditation | By Amy Zucker Morgenstern | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beauty, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, Individualism, Nature
  • We know the story: an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds. The glory of the Lord shone around them. A great light descends on dark fields, happy angels and cherubim sing for joy, play their lutes, and dance about to defy the gravity of earthly cares....
    Meditation | By Teresa Schwartz | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Courage, God, Goddess, Mystery, Searching, Wonder
  • President: We at ______ welcome you as new members of our community this morning. You have come to worship, play, work and grow among us. Ours is a free fellowship; we have no creeds and you are free to bring your ideas and beliefs to this fellowship to share with others....
    Ritual | By Sarah C Stewart | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Children, Commitment, Community, Family, Inclusion, New Member Ceremony, Unitarian Universalism
  • All violence is framed by blood. Our scars are the red line reminders— for the survivors, and all who follow later. See them, and do not turn away from the violence that drew them. Feel the scars you know, and hear the ones whispered about— They are guides. They are pathways, as much as they are...
    Meditation | By Kathleen McTigue, Eric Cherry | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Authority, Conscience, Courage, Disaster or Crisis, Discernment, Healing, Oppression, Politics, Responsibility, Violence, Wisdom
  • Every year, the same conundrum: How do we find our way into Easter when, for us, the most important part about Jesus of Nazareth is his teachings, rather than his death? Like many traditional holidays, it must have some meaning to us beyond its commercial trappings. But what is that meaning,...
    Reading | By Ellen Cooper | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christianity, Death, Easter, Transformation