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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Displaying 1 - 20 of 180
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Beneath the crust of earth, seeds and bulbs lay in store.Meditation | By Jennifer Johnson | March 10, 2023 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth, Earth-Centered, Imagination, Nature, Patience, Spring, Vernal Equinox, Winter, WorshipWeb, Worship -
Beneath the snow, life is bursting, preparing for the next season.Meditation | By Sharon Delgadillo | August 24, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Change, Earth, Earth-Centered, Humanism, Imagination, Nature, Secular, Spring, Vernal Equinox, WorshipWeb, Worship -
On this darkest night, may we observe the stars.Meditation | By Mary Gear | January 20, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Winter Solstice / Yule -
The story tells of a woman heavy with child, traveling with her partner to be counted in a census declared by a distant ruler unaware of the lives disrupted or the life that is to come....Meditation | By Mary Gear | January 20, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Ask yourself, in your heart: What or who are you grateful for?Meditation | By Susan Frederick-Gray | November 23, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Body, Connections, Gratitude, Spiritual Practice, Thanksgiving, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Sometimes it feels like Father’s Day is more about enshrining a myth than it is about facing the realities of fatherhood.Meditation | By Ryan Urie | July 26, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Children, Direct Experience, Family, Father's Day, Fathers, Generations, History, Parents, Secular, WorshipWeb, Worship -
It can be a lonely time for those of us whose arms are empty.Meditation | By Amy Williams Clark | March 18, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Children, Direct Experience, Grief, Mother's Day, Mothers, Searching, Secular
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A movement meditation for all agesMeditation | By Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson | March 18, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Children's / Religious Education Sunday, Children's Sabbath, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Growth, Imagination, Nature, Strength, WorshipWeb, Worship -
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 WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Autumnal Equinox, Balance, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, WorshipWeb, Worship -
I was a foster parent long before I was a mom, and an inside look at families "in the system" reveals pretty quickly that love and parenthood are two different qualities, and the relationship between them is neither straightforward nor guaranteed....Meditation | By Lisa Doege | September 9, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Children, Love, Mothers, Parents, Relationships, Valentine's Day -
The strength of water takes on many, many forms—just as each of you has a unique and necessary strength that you bring to our community and to the work of love. Take a moment now to drop down into the deep wellspring of your own spirit and bathe yourself in the strength that is the groundwater of...Meditation | By Jamila Batchelder , Molly Housh Gordon | September 4, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth, Earth-Centered, Imagination, Nature, Self-Respect, Strength, Water Communion -
We gather here to remember this is our home, but not just ours....Meditation | By Laura Bogle | April 16, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Generations, Indigenous Peoples Day, Nature, Responsibility, Stewardship -
Ours is a spiritual community where we find and forge connection. We trust in the strength of our mutual support, knowing how it has sustained us, day after day, year after year. Today we hold in the light: _________ and we lift up: _________ Now you are invited to recall the names of persons or...Meditation | By Kelly Murphy Mason | March 27, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Community, Compassion, Faith, Gratitude, Hope, Joy, Joys & Concerns, Love, Sorrow, Trust -
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 -
I invite you now to join me in the spirit of meditation and imagination. Find a comfortable position in your seat and close your eyes. Take a deep breath and try to find the restorative power of air and water in the breath. We must breathe to live, but our bodies also need water to survive. Our...Meditation | By Israel Buffardi | December 7, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Beginnings, Body, Commitment, Courage, Creativity, Generations, History, Judaism, New Year, Power, Rosh Hashanah, Searching, Spiritual Practice -
Rejecting literal readings of what we insist is only a myth, we look to nature and religions close to the earth for alternative stories of the season. Explaining away troublesome details—the empty tomb, Jesus' appearance to the women and the disciples—we tell a story that appeals to reason.Meditation | By Lisa Doege | June 18, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Christianity, Easter, Gratitude, Hope, Reason, Transformation
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We all take part in this ancient play. At some time. There is no other way. At some time… Thieves, guilty of poor choices caught red-handed in our human reality. One points at the other and says, “You: save me.” The other bows his head. “I accept responsibility. The mistakes I’ve made are...Meditation | By Rebecca Bryan | June 18, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Christianity, Death, Good Friday, Grief, Humanism, Responsibility
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I invite you to enter a period of quiet for a guided meditation. You may wish to adjust your position so that your spine is straight, your body relaxed, your hands resting gently in your lap. You will probably want to close your eyes and shut out all the distractions of the light....Meditation | By Shari Woodbury | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Awe, Creativity, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Healing, Humanism, Presence, Silence, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule -
How many more Sundays will the preacher in black robes and the solemn shuffle of papers Read the names of those whose light was extinguished for our right to bear arms? How many more Sundays will we try to believe that our hopes for justice are worth more than the lobbyists’ tailored suits and...Meditation | By Eliot Brian Chenowith | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Despair, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Grief, Pain, Presence, Sorrow, Spirituality -
I invite you now into a time of meditation. You may wish to adjust your position: your feet flat on the ground, your body resting easily against the back of the chair, your hands gently open, palms up, resting on your thighs, your eyelids relaxed and half-closed, your breathing soft and easy.Meditation | By Martha Kirby Capo | November 17, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Contemplation, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Meditation Practices, Mindfulness, Nature, Paganism, Prayer Practices, Revelation