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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Advent is about the new story being written in our lives.Quote | By Jes Kast | September 10, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christianity, God, Hope, Spirituality, Vulnerability, WorshipWeb, Worship -
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 -
Spirit of Life, ancestor of the stars and the sun, you who embrace the vastness of space and us along with it, be with us today. Hold us in our worry, our exhaustion, our grief. Keep us close as we sit with our truth, whatever that may be....Prayer | By Lyn Cox | January 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Autumnal Equinox, Awe, Contemplation, Courage, Earth-Centered, Nature, Summer Solstice, Vernal Equinox, Vulnerability, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder -
This work isn’t all prayers and beautiful moments, nor is it laments and trauma. It’s not even both/and, because this work is something greater than you, greater than us, greater than the whole of those we serve. This work is a calling. And we’re doing it. Day after day, night after night,...Blessing | By Andrea Hawkins-Kamper | January 16, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Calling, Challenge, Commitment, Compassion, Courage, Grace, Gratitude, Healing, Installations, Ministry, Ordinations, Vulnerability, Worship -
Christmas is a risk for us to take. Shall we allow ourselves to be touched by sentiment? Awakened by song and story? Drawn into festivities, when our joy depends upon the goodwill of others? Dare we risk the disappointment of hopes raised high and excited expectations? May we have the courage to...Quote | By Rexford J. Styzens | December 8, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hope, Tradition, Vulnerability -
We remember the Magi, Observers of stars, Evidence-based seekers Who found their way to kneel before a baby. May we, too, kneel before life’s intricate mysteries Following the path of science-based searchers for truth We remember Mary, Birth-mother of a revolutionary prophet The fetus in her womb...Prayer | By Rebecca Ann Parker | December 18, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Multiculturalism, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
It’s been said that it’s easier to untangle a string of lights if you plug them in; it’s no different for people. Humans, just like strings of lights, are wired for connection.Reflection | By Erin Powers | December 13, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, Direct Experience, Humanism, Mystery, Relationships, Secular, Trust, Vulnerability, Wholeness -
It is always good to give thanks! All that we have is a gift from life: our food, our relationships, our shelter from the cold. And when we give thanks, it is always good to be mindful of all people, and notice those who are suffering and do what we can to ease suffering and change its causes....Opening | By Myke Johnson | November 23, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Gratitude, Healing, Justice, Spiritual Practice, Suffering, Thanksgiving, Vulnerability, Wholeness
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God has a fondness for what is fragile. This means us. Advent tells us that God came to us—and comes to us still—with complete vulnerability. Christ is to be found among what is fragile—including us, ourselves, when pain and loss have left us feeling less than whole. In coming to us as a...Reflection | By Jan Richardson | November 28, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, God, Immanence, Relationships, Vulnerability -
No hot house flowers, these, bred for perfection, dyed and trimmed, and arranged to order, clothed in ribbons and bows. Not these. No, these are hardy, raw and wild. Grown under the sky, they’ve weathered the wind and the rain and the heat. These drew nutrients from the neighborhood soil and...Meditation | By Lisa Doege | June 22, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Abundance, Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, Humility, Nature, Spring, Vulnerability, Wonder, WorshipWeb -
O God of many names, the personal and mysterious, We have come to a quiet time, an interior place, a place for the deepening of spirit, the enrichment of soul. We seek to know ourselves by knowing you....Prayer | By Katie Kandarian-Morris | October 29, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Coming Out, Faith, Integrity, Mystery, Trust, Vulnerability -
May you be brave enough to expose your aching woundedness and reveal your vulnerability. May you speak your deepest truths, knowing that they will change as you do. May you sing the music within you, composing your own melody, playing your song with all your heart....Blessing | By Jean M. Olson | April 27, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Bridging Ceremony, Brokenness, Change, Child Dedication, Courage, Integrity, Journey, Love, New Child, Truth, Vulnerability, Young Adults, Youth/Teens -
Oh spirit of life and love, We pause for a moment on this snowy day to reflect on the changes one week can make in our lives. We celebrate the feast of Imbolc, the pagan holiday that heralds the coming of spring. Our hearts stir with the thought that lambs are being born, that the light is...Prayer | By Deborah Weiner | March 2, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Acceptance, Agnosticism, Earth-Centered, Imbolc / Brighid's Day / Candlemas, Mystery, Nature, Paganism, Reverence, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Winter, Climate Justice
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In his avant-garde theatrical “The Last Supper At Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” New York choreographer/dancer Bill T. Jones includes a backwards broadcast of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech: Last At Free Are We. Almighty God Thank! The jumbled juxtaposition of the great orator’s...Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | February 19, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Belief, Challenge, Faith, Love, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Nonviolence, Vulnerability
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Note: This ritual involves writing grievances on a piece of paper and casting them into a flame. All our lives we have been told to seek that which is good, to turn our faces from the dark and toward the light, toward beauty, toward truth. But the truth is that the world is not always good. The...Ritual | By Jay E Abernathy, Jr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Forgiveness, Letting Go, Vulnerability, Wholeness, Yom Kippur
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My father asked if I am gay I asked Does it matter? He said, No not really I said, Yes. He said get out of my life. I guess it mattered. My friend asked why I talk about race so much? I asked, Does it matter? He said, No not really I told him, Yes. He said, You need to get that chip off your...Reading | By Mark Hicks | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Disability, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Vulnerability, Youth Sunday, Anti-Oppression
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God of life and beauty: We pray for the quietness of snowflakes, knowing that love is quiet. We pray for the kindness of small acts, knowing gentleness is fragile....Prayer | By Lucinda S Duncan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Compassion, God, Kindness, Living Our Faith, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
We light our chalice, symbol of our faith, For truth, sought through a questioning heart and an attentive mind; And for love, pursued through obstacles inside and outside our own human heart; And for forgiveness, and all it entails— The place where truth and love meet and merge.Chalice Lighting | By Vanessa Rush Southern | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Courage, Forgiveness, Healing, Hope, Judaism, Living Our Faith, Love, Relationships, Searching, Truth, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Yom Kippur -
Spirit of Life, The beginning of the holiday season is filled with temptations to conspicuous consumptions, and pleas for generosity. The contrasts between the values represented by this time of year, and our ability to fulfill them, remind us how great the distance can be between aspirations and...Prayer | By Wayne B. Arnason | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Balance, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hanukkah, Patience, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Winter Solstice / Yule