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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Pause here, and be renewed and restored.Opening | By Linda Hart | December 13, 2023 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Journey, Self-Care, WorshipWeb, Worship -
There are so many spiritual lessons from the natural world and—in a season filled with Ingatherings and Water Communions—this is one for me: oxbow lakes as a beautiful combination of resiliency, strength, and flexibility.Reflection | By Tim Atkins | September 11, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Beginnings, Direct Experience, Discernment, Earth, Earth-Centered, Environment, Homecoming / Ingathering, Journey, Nature, Power, Strength, Water Communion -
We pause as the path of the sun reverses, seemingly holding its place for a moment of turning. Let us delve into the gifts of darkness at the winter solstice. We follow curiosity and contemplation down into the cold earth, taking a journey to the world below the surface....Meditation | By Lyn Cox | March 17, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Contemplation, Creativity, Earth, Earth-Centered, Growth, Healing, Journey, Trust, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
[for 2-3 voices, alternating] On this eve of mystery and magic, let us enter into the Christmas story as if we were there on the holy night. What part will we play this year? Are you the mother, trusting your body to know what to do when the time of birth comes?...Opening | By Shari Woodbury | January 21, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Birth, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Dignity, Faith, Family, Hope, Hospitality, Journey, Love -
This has been published with "they/their" pronouns; please use the most fitting pronoun in your setting. Claimed by death, we remember [Name]'s life Blessings for a life well lived Blessings for their peaceful departure Blessings for their shared friendships Blessings for their humor and wisdom...Blessing | By Addae Ama Kraba | January 17, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Death, Ending, Gratitude, Grief, Journey, Letting Go, Love, Memorial Services, Sacred, Transcendence -
Everything is about to change. And it already has. It will be. It was. It is. The dawn you eagerly await to end the long, cold darkness is already full sun far off in the east. Yet even after light’s return spring is months away. Thirty long years pass after His birth before the Messiah comes.Reading | By Mandie McGlynn | January 7, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Beginnings, Change, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Contemplation, Ending, Faith, Growth, Hope, Journey, Justice, Life Transition, Paganism, Patience, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb -
Did you notice that in the story of Christmas there are lots of journeys? Mary and Joseph have to go on a journey. The shepherds have to go on a journey. And those angels must have gone on a journey to find the shepherds....Script | By Kathy Schmitz | October 5, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Children, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Generations, Imagination, Journey, Relationships -
We call forth the life of our faith by igniting our chalice. This spark of new beginnings invites us into a sacred space to reflect where we have been and where we are going. Even knowing that this particular flame will intentionally end with our ritual extinguishing, we fear not its end… For we...Chalice Lighting | By Katie Sivani Gelfand | May 31, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beginnings, Challenge, Courage, Direct Experience, Divorce / Separation, Earth-Centered, Ending, Fear, Humanism, Job Loss, Journey, Leaving Home, Letting Go, Life Transition, Mystery, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
In real life, we can only place the pieces, one by one, and see what kind of picture we create. Sometimes we turn out to have chosen the wrong piece. Sometimes the picture is wildly unexpected.Reflection | By Amanda Poppei | April 4, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Bridging Ceremony, Calling, Choice, Coming of Age, Coming-of-Age, Contemplation, Courage, Direct Experience, Discernment, Hope, Humanism, Journey, Playfulness, Searching, Secular -
We carry bags with us throughout the week for many reasons. (If you have a bag with you, and you want to have it blessed, please bring it forward, send it forward with a helper, or lift up your bag when you hear me describe you.) Some of us take books and homework to school Some of us bring our...Blessing | By Erika Hewitt | August 28, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Backpack Blessing, Children, Community, Courage, Direct Experience, Journey, Love, Playfulness, Presence, Solidarity, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Work -
We are on a journey. We didn’t plan it. We didn’t have time for the bread to rise. We may find ourselves in the wilderness, hungry, thirsty, Doubting that we should have ever come. But look around: We are not alone. It is our journey together: A journey to our better selves, A journey to a...Closing | By Debra Haffner | July 4, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beginnings, Community, Connections, Courage, Doubt, Journey, Judaism, Passover (Pesach) -
We bow our heads in order to imagine not one path, but many. We imagine a path forward for those who cannot imagine any path forward, because of poor health, financial hardship, family crises, and other roadblocks we cannot begin to understand or imagine. We struggle to imagine a path forward for...Prayer | By D. Scott Cooper | January 18, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Advent, Anti-Oppression, Class, Conflict, Hope, Immigration, Journey, Justice Sunday, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Worry -
Tonight, everyone is displaced and homeless. Tonight, everyone searches for Bethlehem. On this night, when the darkness comes so close, We listen in the stillness for the songs of angels. Like shepherds, we aren't too sure of what is happening. We don't know why we are so expectant. We don't know...Meditation | By Tom Schade | January 18, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Home, Hope, Journey, Searching -
In times like these, we may seek a new word. But perhaps, in times like these, more than new words, we need old words. We made the journey back to Bethlehem; to the old story of a young, unwed, pregnant girl and her fiancé, Joseph, a poor, young carpenter. The Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus,...Reflection | By Teresa Schwartz | January 18, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Courage, Fear, Journey, Tradition, Twelfth Night / Epiphany -
We offer blessings for life and the end of life. Blessings for the dying. Blessings for the caregiver, holding love and carrying burden. Blessed is the Body. Youth claimed by death. Elder claimed by death. Blessed is all creation moving toward one ending in order to begin again. Let us Bless the...Blessing | By Natalie Maxwell Fenimore | January 1, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Acceptance, All Souls Day, Animal Memorial, Caring, Change, Death, Direct Experience, Empathy, Grief, Journey, Judaism, Letting Go, Love, Memorial Services, Remembrance Day, Secular, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism -
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 WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Advent, Christianity, Compassion, Discernment, Journey, Love, Searching, Shadow -
May you never thirst. May your body and your spirit always have what they need. When you are in need of refreshment, or new life, may the waters be available to you. May you never know thirst unto death, in your body or in your soul. May you never thirst. And may your body and your spirit always...Blessing | By Erica Baron | October 13, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Autumnal Equinox, Balance, Body, Connections, Earth-Centered, Food, Growth, Journey, Justice, Life Transition, Searching, Self-Care, Spirituality -
Spirit of Life and Love, known by many names and yet fully known by none, we give thanks for this time and this place of renewal. We give thanks for the ability to begin again: after the disaster, after the tragedy, after the loss, after meeting the challenge set before us....Prayer | By Lyn Cox | September 22, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Courage, Disaster or Crisis, Diversity, Gratitude, Homecoming / Ingathering, Hospitality, Journey, New Year, Reconciliation, Rosh Hashanah, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Yom Kippur -
Note: this was written for a worship service with a Wizard of Oz theme. Come you accidental pilgrims, you who find yourself on a journey of surprise and wonder. Come you who emerge into this place as an act of liberation. Come you who seek a life of mindfulness and a place to test your thoughts.Invocation | By Lyn Cox | September 22, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Courage, Diversity, Generations, Homecoming / Ingathering, Inclusion, Journey, Teamwork, Trust, Unitarian Universalism -
Kids, I want you to do something special: I want you to put on your backpacks, if you brought them, leaving the back pocket open just enough for us to drop in a small gift...and I want you to stand up on your pews....Blessing | By Jen Crow | August 2, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Backpack Blessing, Caring, Character, Children, Courage, Family, Growth, Individualism, Integrity, Journey, Parents