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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 1 - 20 of 136

  • A red fox looks into the camera, which is positioned on the yellow stripe separating the two sides of a county road. We see the otherwise empty road receding far into the distance, but the fox is prominent in the foreground. Blurred bushes and trees — yellow, orange, and dark green — line the sides of the road.
    Today, we are charged to remember. To know that as we live together in community, we are also in community with the silently singing lives in the vast congregation of the earth as well... Let us remember, and then act.
    Reading | By Irene Glasse, Rebekah Savage | April 24, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Connections, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Environment, Nature, Sacred, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Above a cityscape, in a black-and-white photo, a lone crow or corvid spreads its wings mid-flight.
    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/Wiser
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Interdependence, Nature, Worship
  • Roughly 100 white and reddish-brown mushrooms growing on a decaying tree trunk. Most are seen from above, emphasizing their round caps.
    It takes courage to bring our trust forward and invite another person to meet us there. This sometimes sure, often shaky, surrender is an opportunity to discover something deeper than the confines of our individual experience.
    Reading | By Adaku Utah | January 21, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Compassion, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Freedom, Growth, Interdependence, Nature, Relationships, Trust, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A tea light glows in a hollow in a fallen log, surrounded by moss that has been dusted lightly with snow.
    We light this chalice, here in the darkness of winter as we wait.
    Chalice Lighting | By JeKaren Olaoya | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A mountain range is silhouetted by the orange dawn behind it. Most of the sky is still dark, and time-lapse trails of the paths of the stars show the spinning of the Earth.
    The fulcrum of the Earth tilts toward goodness and I will ride along…
    Reading | By Jennifer Pratt-Walter | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Balance, Beauty, Earth, Earth-Centered, Good, Nature, Transcendence, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A vibrantly orange and crimson sky, at sunset, with the silhouette of an evergreen tree in front of it.
    Love this world, she whispers.
    Poetry | By Rebecca Ann Parker | November 30, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Beauty, Brokenness, Earth, Love, Wholeness, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • From the ground level, the camera points up at a tree canopy beneath a blue sky.
    Is it not a marvel?
    Poetry | By Jennifer Pratt-Walter | September 20, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Animals, Awe, Body, Earth, Earth Day, Nature, Wonder
  • A close-up of bright pink peacock flower buds, with a couple of flowers opening.
    I am singing/of the wonder of how roots/so love the buds they bid them grow...
    Poetry | By Jennifer Pratt-Walter | September 20, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beauty, Earth, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, Nature, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A person's hands scoop green material into a full compost bin, filled with flowers, eggshells, and colorful vegetable matter.
    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/Wiser
    Tagged as: Abundance, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Food, Grace, Nature, Patience, Stewardship, Summer Solstice, Worship
  • A tiny chickweed seedling still has the cap of its seed pod, while the tiny seedling next to it is unfurling its tiny green leaves.
    Remind me that life is magical and mysterious.
    Reflection | By JD Stillwater | April 19, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Awe, Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Nature, Stewardship, Wonder, Worship
  • Against a white background, several flower bulbs and one upright bulbs with shoots of green rising from its top.
    Beneath the crust of earth, seeds and bulbs lay in store.
    Meditation | By Jennifer Johnson | March 10, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth, Earth-Centered, Imagination, Nature, Patience, Spring, Vernal Equinox, Winter, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A brilliant red cardinal perches on a tree branch.
    One of the Goddess’s best friends was a cardinal—a bright red bird who loved to play with the Goddess and the Sun.
    Story | By Christina Leone Tracy | December 16, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Animals, Change, Earth, Earth-Centered, Ending, Faith, Friendship, Goddess, Imagination, Letting Go, Nature, Paganism, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A starry night sky and and an atmospheric glow blanket the well-lit southeastern African coast as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above.
    All that we are, together and individually, is part of the abundance of the universe.
    Responsive Reading | By Julián Jamaica Soto | November 11, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Canvass/Pledge, Connections, Earth, Earth-Centered, Gratitude, Interdependence, Stewardship, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A large tree, in silhouette, against an indigo sunset sky.
    As you go forth into this new phase of your life’s adventure...
    Blessing | By Julia Corbett-Hemeyer | October 18, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth, Earth-Centered, Installations, Leadership, Nature, Ordinations
  • Delicate snowdrop flowers begin to bloom on a frosty ground.
    Beneath the snow, life is bursting, preparing for the next season.
    Meditation | By Sharon Delgadillo | August 24, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Change, Earth, Earth-Centered, Humanism, Imagination, Nature, Secular, Spring, Vernal Equinox, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A spring of green leaves rests on a cut of tree trunk, revealing many rings of growth
    May we reconnect to our life-giving, breath-freeing connection
    Prayer | By Leslie Takahashi | May 1, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Beauty, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Nature, Responsibility, Climate Justice, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A small droplet of water balanced on the leaf of a plant
    Water sustains, gives, and yields to / Life.
    Reading | By Melissa Jeter | March 24, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Balance, Earth, Earth-Centered, Imagination, Nature, Water Communion, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • the silhouette of a person, taken from some distance, under a bright night sky with the Milky Way stars in bright colors.
    Spirit of Life, spirit of earth, spirit of all that breathes and all that is: we love you.
    Prayer | By Laura Horton-Ludwig | May 3, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Nature, Responsibility, Stewardship, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A gold leaf is held, suspended, by the delicate green needles on an evergreen tree.
    Like the sun moving toward the shortest day, each moment arises—and is gone before we know it.
    Meditation | By Lori Gorgas Hlaban | October 13, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Autumnal Equinox, Balance, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A blurred photo of a wreath of red and warm white lights.
    This solstice night [or day] In honor of ancient traditions that celebrate this time of longest night, we observe that the flaming chalice holds the elements of the four directions: Earth, air, fire, water....
    Chalice Lighting | By Sharon Wylie | May 5, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Balance, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Winter Solstice / Yule