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.
Search Words for Worship Services
Toggle to filter resultsAvailable filters:
Changing a filter will refresh results (and remaining options) immediately. Searching by keyword or changing the number of items per page requires use of the "Search" button.
- Advent (18)
- All Souls Day (2)
- Animal Memorial (1)
- Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb (3)
- Bridging Ceremony (2)
- Child Dedication (3)
- Christmas Eve / Christmas (16)
- Coming of Age (2)
- Coming Out (6)
- Día de los Muertos (2)
- Disaster or Crisis (8)
- Earth Day (3)
- Easter (4)
- Father's Day (3)
- Good Friday (1)
- Homecoming / Ingathering (1)
- Indigenous Peoples Day (1)
- July 4th (1)
- Juneteenth (1)
- Labor Day (1)
- Lent (4)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday (1)
- Memorial Day (1)
- Memorial Services (2)
- Mother's Day (4)
- Music Sunday (1)
- National Coming Out Day (2)
- New Year (4)
- Pride Sunday (10)
- Remembrance Day (2)
- Summer Solstice (2)
- Thanksgiving (3)
- Twelfth Night / Epiphany (1)
- Vernal Equinox (1)
- Water Communion (1)
- Winter Solstice / Yule (3)
- Abundance (1)
- Acceptance (5)
- Activism (5)
- Aging (1)
- America (8)
- Anger (1)
- Animals (6)
- Anti-Oppression (17)
- Arts & Music (3)
- Awe (5)
- Balance (2)
- Beauty (3)
- Beginnings (5)
- Birth (1)
- Body (3)
- Brokenness (4)
- Calling (2)
- Caring (5)
- Challenge (1)
- Change (2)
- Children (16)
- Choice (7)
- Coming-of-Age (2)
- Commitment (1)
- Community (10)
- Compassion (3)
- Conflict (1)
- Connections (2)
- Contemplation (3)
- Courage (7)
- Creativity (2)
- Death (7)
- Democracy (2)
- Despair (3)
- Dignity (1)
- Disaster (1)
- Discernment (5)
- Diversity (1)
- Doubt (1)
- Earth (5)
- Environment (1)
- Evil (1)
- Faith (1)
- Family (10)
- Fathers (4)
- Fear (6)
- Food (2)
- Forgiveness (3)
- Freedom (1)
- Friendship (3)
- Gender (2)
- Generations (10)
- Generosity (1)
- Globalism (1)
- God (7)
- Goddess (1)
- Grace (2)
- Grief (6)
- Growth (2)
- Healing (3)
- History (7)
- Hope (11)
- Hospitality (1)
- Human Rights (1)
- Humility (1)
- Identity (9)
- Illness (1)
- Imagination (2)
- Immanence (1)
- Inclusion (3)
- Integrity (4)
- Interdependence (4)
- Journey (3)
- Joy (2)
- Justice (5)
- Leadership (1)
- Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer (14)
- Letting Go (3)
- Limitations (1)
- Living Our Faith (2)
- Love (16)
- Marriage (1)
- Military (1)
- Mothers (5)
- Multiculturalism (2)
- Mystery (3)
- Nature (8)
- Oppression (2)
- Pain (2)
- Parents (11)
- Patience (4)
- Playfulness (2)
- Power (4)
- Presence (4)
- Privilege (3)
- Progress (1)
- Psychology (1)
- Purpose (5)
- Race/Ethnicity (5)
- Redemption (1)
- Relationships (9)
- Respect (1)
- Responsibility (6)
- Sacred (3)
- Sacrifice (1)
- Sadness (1)
- Salvation (1)
- Searching (6)
- Self-Care (5)
- Self-Respect (5)
- Service (1)
- Sexuality (1)
- Shame (1)
- Simplicity (1)
- Solidarity (3)
- Sorrow (1)
- Spirituality (1)
- Spiritual Practice (9)
- Spring (1)
- Stewardship (2)
- Strength (1)
- Suffering (1)
- Tradition (4)
- Transcendence (1)
- Transformation (4)
- Trauma (1)
- Trust (3)
- Truth (2)
- Violence (3)
- Vision (2)
- Vulnerability (3)
- Wholeness (1)
- Winter (2)
- Women (1)
- Wonder (3)
- Work (1)
- Adrian L. H. Graham (1)
- Aisha Ansano (1)
- Alex Haider-Winnett (1)
- Amanda Poppei (1)
- Becky Brooks (2)
- Chris Rothbauer (1)
- Christine Slocum (1)
- Connie Simon (1)
- cristy cardinal (1)
- Daniel Gregoire (2)
- David Glasgow (1)
- DeEtte Waleed (1)
- Elea Kemler (3)
- Elizabeth Harding (1)
- Elizabeth Stevens (1)
- Erica Shadowsong (2)
- Erika Hewitt (2)
- Erin Powers (1)
- Evin Carvill Ziemer (1)
- George A Tyger (1)
- Glen Thomas Rideout (1)
- Heather McDuffee (1)
- Jabari S. Jones (1)
- Jake Morrill (3)
- Jami Yandle (1)
- Jan Richardson (1)
- JD Stillwater (1)
- Jennifer Hundley-Batts (1)
- Karen G. Johnston (1)
- Kendyl L. R. Gibbons (1)
- Kristin Grassel Schmidt (1)
- Laura Dobson (1)
- Laura Shay (1)
- Laura Solomon (2)
- Li Kynvi (2)
- Lilia Cuervo (1)
- Lindasusan Ulrich (2)
- Lora Brandis (1)
- Mandie McGlynn (1)
- Manish Mishra-Marzetti (1)
- Marcus Liefert (1)
- Marisol Caballero (1)
- Maureen Killoran (1)
- Megan Lloyd Joiner (1)
- Mike Adams (1)
- Misha Sanders (1)
- Molly Housh Gordon (1)
- Monica Dobbins (1)
- Myke Johnson (2)
- Nathan Ryan (2)
- Ndidi Achebe (1)
- Otto O’Connor (1)
- Paul S Sawyer (1)
- Quinn Gormley (1)
- Rachel Lonberg (1)
- Robin Bartlett (1)
- Robin Tanner (3)
- Sarah Klinger Osborne (1)
- Sarah Skochko (1)
- Tania Márquez (1)
- Taryn Strauss (1)
- Teresa Schwartz (1)
- Tim Atkins (4)
- Zeb Green (1)
Displaying 1 - 50 of 82
-
Crows found ways to adapt to our concrete forests but we have not yet found ways to make sure we are in balance with the rest of creation.Reflection | By Christine Slocum | April 17, 2024 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Interdependence, Nature, Worship
-
What “toast, boast, and oath” might you offer this January?Reflection | By Sarah Klinger Osborne | January 3, 2024 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Beginnings, Choice, Contemplation, Integrity, New Year, Searching, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship
-
Fear not, the angels would text me. Hallelujah, I’d write back.Reflection | By Marcus Liefert | December 20, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Awe, Children, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Family, Hope, Parents, Wonder, Worship
-
Spirits of winter, I celebrate you!Reflection | By Erica Shadowsong | December 13, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Animals, Earth-Centered, Generations, Goddess, Imagination, Spiritual Practice, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule, Worship
-
The Magnificat is a courageous and subversive song of praise; a call to social justice.Reflection | By Laura Dobson | December 6, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Activism, Advent, Anti-Oppression, Christianity, Courage, History, Justice, Multiculturalism, Worship
-
I would have loved it as a kid to have a church that encouraged us to listen to our heartfelt yearning of self.Reflection | By Zeb Green | June 7, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Gender, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Truth, Worship
-
I belong, and you belong, and we belong—just as we are.Reflection | By Li Kynvi | May 31, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Body, Courage, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Oppression, Pride Sunday, Privilege, Secular, Worship
-
The miracle of grace is available to us even when it has been left untended.Reflection | By Jennifer Hundley-Batts | May 3, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Abundance, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Food, Grace, Nature, Patience, Stewardship, Summer Solstice, Worship
-
Remind me that life is magical and mysterious.Reflection | By JD Stillwater | April 19, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Awe, Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Nature, Stewardship, Wonder, Worship
-
It’s complicated, sorting out where Jesus fits into my life as a witch. But he hasn’t gone away.Reflection | By Myke Johnson | April 5, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Christianity, Easter, Lent, Worship
-
How can I be love instead of being anger and fear?Reflection | By DeEtte Waleed | March 29, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Disaster or Crisis, Integrity, Love, Violence, Worship
-
I’m proud to belong to a living religious tradition that embraces evolution, both scientifically and spiritually.Reflection | By Tim Atkins | January 4, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Beginnings, New Year, Spiritual Practice, Worship
-
Advent encourages us to be present in each moment of waiting.Reflection | By Megan Lloyd Joiner | December 7, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Christianity, Contemplation, Patience, Presence, Sacred, Worship
-
Queer joy is resistance.Reflection | By cristy cardinal | November 23, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #LoveResists, #Pride, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Activism, Anti-Oppression, Community, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
-
My vet said, “She's telling you thank you for letting her go.”Reflection | By Ndidi Achebe | October 12, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Animal Memorial, Animals, Death, Direct Experience, Grief, Letting Go, Love, Secular, Worship
-
I wasn’t really “born this way.” I grew this way.Reflection | By Heather McDuffee | September 28, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #Pride, Choice, Coming Out, Friendship, God, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Marriage, National Coming Out Day, Transformation, Trust, Worship
-
I rise on the shoulders of ancestors whose names I can not know.Reflection | By Glen Thomas Rideout | September 14, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, History, Oppression, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Self-Respect, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
-
There is no such thing as unskilled labor.Reflection | By Sarah Skochko | August 31, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), America, Compassion, Dignity, Human Rights, Humanism, Labor Day, Secular, Work, Worship
-
We have a holy obligation to bring about paradise on this earth; each generation helps us do that.Reflection | By Nathan Ryan | June 15, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Children, Father's Day, Fathers, Generations, Hope, Mothers, Parents, Purpose, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
-
We are an angry and beautiful people.Reflection | By Laura Solomon | June 1, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Brokenness, Connections, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Fear, Humanism, Love, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
-
You can crush Love down, bury it, cover it over, but it will rise.Reflection | By Molly Housh Gordon | April 6, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Christianity, Community, Easter, Love, Mystery, Purpose, Worship
-
Happy kids are safer kids, because happy kids have adults they can ask for help.Reflection | By Quinn Gormley | March 2, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Children, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Humanism, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Parents, Pride Sunday, Secular, Worship
-
May we continue to find ways to connect while keeping safe this holiday season.Reflection | By Laura Shay | December 22, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Worship
-
For me, “surrendering everything tenderly” brings an awareness of grace.Reflection | By Jake Morrill | December 15, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Food, Grace, Patience, Worship
-
Each Advent, my empathy for Mary’s situation returns.Reflection | By Taryn Strauss | December 8, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Children, Choice, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Discernment, Women, Worship
-
Spirit of Life who dwells before and between and beyond all words… we open ourselves to you.Reflection | By David Glasgow | November 17, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Coming Out, Courage, Direct Experience, Friendship, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Secular, Solidarity, Worship
-
The dead aren’t really dead; their stories are perpetually being told by the world around us.Reflection | By Tania Márquez | October 27, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: All Souls Day, Día de los Muertos, Interfaith, Worship
-
I was leaving my mom in another world, located far away from mine.Reflection | By Mike Adams | October 6, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: History, Identity, Indigenous American, Indigenous Peoples Day, Race/Ethnicity, Worship
-
Somehow, the things that are too much to bear alone are bearable together.Reflection | By Elizabeth Stevens | September 1, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Disaster or Crisis, Worship
-
Help me live in gratitude for the LGBTQ+ ancestors who paved this road we walk and roll on.Reflection | By Li Kynvi | June 9, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Activism, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Identity, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Worship
-
Memorial Day is not to be celebrated. It is to be observed, scrutinized, and witnessed on behalf of the true witnesses of our human failure to love our neighbor as ourselves.Reflection | By George A Tyger | May 26, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: America, Death, Direct Experience, Family, Grief, Memorial Day, Military, Sacrifice, Secular, Service, Worship
-
A triumph of love over death is the core of the Easter message.Reflection | By Rachel Lonberg | March 31, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Beauty, Christianity, Death, Easter, Joy, Love, Worship
-
Impermanence, mortality, ashes, dust: this is the truth of being human.Reflection | By Lora Brandis | February 17, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Christianity, Death, Discernment, Grief, Humility, Lent, Love, Spiritual Practice, Worship
-
I've adopted the practice of spiritual reconnection with my ancestors to heal intergenerational trauma.Reflection | By Jabari S. Jones | February 10, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Diversity, Generations, Healing, History, International, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Transformation, Trauma, Worship
-
Holding people accountable for the impact of their behavior is not revenge; it’s what makes change and growth possible, and no real healing in community can come without it.Reflection | By Kristin Grassel Schmidt | January 13, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: America, Conflict, Democracy, Disaster or Crisis, Forgiveness, Humanism, Redemption, Responsibility, Seven Principles, Universalism, Worship
-
What’s the one word you hope will define your upcoming year?Reflection | By Tim Atkins | December 30, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Choice, Discernment, Identity, New Year, Spiritual Practice, Worship
-
The stories remind us there is still and always joy in this world, but it usually comes right alongside the struggle.Reflection | By Elea Kemler | December 16, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Hope, Joy, Searching, Worship
-
This is a "love saves" story.Reflection | By Paul S Sawyer | December 9, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Advent, Anger, Children, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Direct Experience, Humanism, Living Our Faith, Love, Psychology, Relationships, Respect, Responsibility, Self-Respect, Worship
-
This year, the Advent season seems particularly seized by a spirit of the expected, the longing.Reflection | By Robin Tanner | December 2, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #COVID19, Advent, Children, Christianity, Hope, Living Our Faith, Parents, Purpose, Worship
-
One day, I’ll have to care for my mother as she once cared for me. I’m not ready to handle the truth that our relationship must change.Reflection | By Erica Shadowsong | September 9, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Caring, Child Dedication, Children, Coming of Age, Coming-of-Age, Direct Experience, Fear, Generations, Growth, Humanism, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Parents, Secular, Worship
-
The drag show was heaven broken open, given to us for the evening. Everything for a little while was perfect—and I saw the face of my God.Reflection | By Jami Yandle | July 1, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Freedom, Gender, God, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Sacred, Sexuality
-
May we all remember how inextricably we are linked in this fight for justice and freedom.Reflection | By Otto O’Connor | June 10, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Direct Experience, Generations, History, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Race/Ethnicity, Responsibility, Secular, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism
-
A new disease, without any cure, is pushing us apart. And, yet, we cannot escape one another. We need one another. Whether I acknowledge it or not, the guarantee of safety does not exist.Reflection | By Manish Mishra-Marzetti | April 15, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #COVID19, 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Fear, Humanism, Illness, Interdependence, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Relationships, Secular, Shame, Vulnerability
-
Jesus had no political power. He lived his whole life in the shadow of the Roman empire, and that empire killed him. Yet Jesus healed the sick, he listened, he moved among the ordinary people, in the lowly places.Reflection | By Myke Johnson | April 8, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #COVID19, 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Calling, Caring, Christianity, Democracy, Easter, Evil, Good Friday, Healing, Hope, Power, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Responsibility
-
Years ago, I did one of those mud run obstacle races. There were eight physical obstacles on the course, but my biggest learning was that we all had a ninth obstacle.Reflection | By Laura Solomon | March 18, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #COVID19, Community, Compassion, Disaster or Crisis, Fear, Relationships, Self-Care
-
In this community, we hold hope close. We don’t always know what comes next, but that cannot dissuade us. We don’t always know just what to do, but that will not mean that we are lost in the wilderness. We rely on the certainty beneath, the foundation of our values and ethics. —Rev. Theresa I.Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | March 11, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #COVID19, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Caring, Community, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Fear, Humanism, Interdependence, Leadership, Relationships, Responsibility, Secular
-
One of my most treasured New Year’s traditions is coming up with a word for the year: a single word that I want to be the theme for my entire year. When I’m questioning what’s the right thing to do, I will look to my word of the year for guidance.Reflection | By Tim Atkins | January 1, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Beginnings, Direct Experience, Integrity, Letting Go, New Year, Purpose, Spiritual Practice, Vision
-
Every year, I tell the congregation not to worry about mistakes because there aren’t any; there is only us, telling an old story about love getting born into this aching world.Reflection | By Elea Kemler | December 18, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Love, Playfulness, Tradition, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism
-
With a single generous gesture from my older child, her sister's belief in Santa stayed intact that year.Reflection | By Karen G. Johnston | December 4, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, Generosity, Parents, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Tradition
-
Sometimes grief sends notice ahead of time; sometimes, it shows up as an unwelcome, uninvited guest.Reflection | By Monica Dobbins | October 30, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Bridging Ceremony, Change, Children, Direct Experience, Grief, Growth, Humanism, Letting Go, Mother's Day, Parents, Secular, Transformation