Edit Header for Worship Holidays Search
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

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.

Displaying 1 - 3 of 3

  • a view from the ground, looking up, at the tops of evergreen trees with a starry sky above. A warm glow of campfire is reflected off of the trees' trunks.
    Go slow if you can. Slower. More slowly still. Friendly dark or fearsome, this is no place to break your neck by rushing, by running, by crashing into what you cannot see....
    Poetry | By Jan Richardson | October 22, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Advent, Christianity, Compassion, Discernment, Journey, Love, Searching, Shadow
  • In front of stone walls, two round trays hold an array of slim, lit candles
    Spirit of life and death, Thou who art as present to us in our suffering As in our wellbeing, Abide with us in this permeable time Between dusk and dark. Soothe the secret pains we carry. Bless us with the courage to move toward our grief And not away. When all is hidden— When we find ourselves...
    Prayer | By Celie Katovitch | June 12, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Christianity, Direct Experience, Doubt, Faith, God, Good Friday, Grief, Hope, Mourning, Shadow, WorshipWeb
  • a "forest" of red and orange paper star lanterns in the dark
    Come we now out of the darkness of our unknowing and the dusk of our dreaming; Come we now from far places. Come we now into the twilight of our awakening and the reflection of our gathering. Come we now all together. We bring, unilluminated, our dark caves of doubting; We seek, unbedazzled, the...
    Chalice Lighting | By Annie Foerster | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Despair, Earth-Centered, Hope, Hospitality, Nature, Shadow, Spirituality, Transformation, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule