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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

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 32

  • A table full of friends raises their glasses--colored glass goblets--in the air outdoors.
    What “toast, boast, and oath” might you offer this January?
    Reflection | By Sarah Klinger Osborne | January 3, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Choice, Contemplation, Integrity, New Year, Searching, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    In our lived lives, family comes in different shapes and sizes and constellations.It is in this variety—this diversity—that our lives are made fuller and our individual selves made more whole. It is in this variety, it is in this diversity, that we look back to the ancestors, recognizing no...
    Reading | By Karen G. Johnston | August 17, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Family, Generations, Integrity, Love, Memorial Services, Truth, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • At a March For Our Lives event, a protester is seen from behind wearing a very large sign that says #Enough
    How can I be love instead of being anger and fear?
    Reflection | By DeEtte Waleed | March 29, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Disaster or Crisis, Integrity, Love, Violence, Worship
  • A close-up of the stacked hands of about five people, standing in a circle.
    Let it be said by generations to come that when the pain of our separation was revealed, we moved closer to the promised land of our beloved community.
    Benediction | By Anya Sammler-Michael | March 22, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #COVID19, Challenge, Compassion, Disaster or Crisis, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Seven Principles, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Stained glass detail from a window in the Sainte Chapelle, Paris, showing Judas handing over a bag of silver.
    Why do we so readily hand over what's priceless for a meager sum of money—or a major sum, for that matter?
    Reading | By Jill Duffield | March 5, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Character, Christianity, Ethics, Integrity, Leadership, Lent, Money, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A large trans flag is held aloft at the 2019 Rally to Protect Trans Health, at the White House, Washington, DC.
    The first time I was told that I was too queer to be a congregation's minister, they asked, "What will the neighbors think?,” as if it were the most natural question in the world. It was then that I understood how grace works: it’s costly. It requires us to be uncomfortable, to get outside...
    Reading | By Chris Rothbauer | January 9, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Diversity, Identity, Inclusion, Integrity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Living Our Faith, National Coming Out Day, Oppression, Pride Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Solidarity
  • In the background, letters are piled on a Scrabble board. In the foreground, someone holds the "C" tile as the letters "R E A T E" fall towards the board.
    One of my most treasured New Year’s traditions is coming up with a word for the year: a single word that I want to be the theme for my entire year. When I’m questioning what’s the right thing to do, I will look to my word of the year for guidance.
    Reflection | By Tim Atkins | January 1, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Beginnings, Direct Experience, Integrity, Letting Go, New Year, Purpose, Spiritual Practice, Vision
  • Against a backdrop of blue sky and ocean, a line of birds flies past a padlock attached to a fence.
    Coming out to my family was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I realized that my choice was one of life and death, and I needed to let my secret out in order to continue living, and to do so authentically.
    Reflection | By Adrian L. H. Graham | October 9, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Atheism, Coming Out, Community, Courage, Direct Experience, Humanism, Identity, Integrity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, National Coming Out Day, Pride Sunday, Secular, Trust, Truth
  • 3women_blueshirts_shoveling_dirt_foundation_tyvek_background
    One: On Labor Day we honor our work, physical and mental, paid and unpaid, joyous and heartbreaking. Many: We give thanks for work’s gifts, suffer its difficulties, and strive to make labor just and joyous for all. One: Our work can build our society, provide for our material needs, and give our...
    Responsive Reading | By Amanda Udis-Kessler | December 7, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Character, Direct Experience, Gratitude, Integrity, Labor Day, Living Our Faith, Meaning, Purpose, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Work
  • A person of color, from behind, wearing a leather backpack while gazing out at a cityscape.
    Be it real or metaphor, whatever is in your backpack, or your briefcase, or your purse that you’ve brought into this sanctuary that is weighing you down: leave it behind. Whatever you are carrying that is keeping you distracted, or caught up in shame, or guilt, or hopelessness: leave it behind....
    Opening | By Nathan Ryan | August 28, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Backpack Blessing, Community, Hope, Humanism, Integrity, Letting Go, Presence, Purpose, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • A team of professional photographers, outdoors, takes photos of a quinceañera in a billowing red formal gown.
    You do not have to wear the dress. You do not have to have a party. You do not have to dance the waltz con tu papa. You do not have to accept the gift of your last doll. You can break those traditions. You have right of passage into adulthood simply for being you. We are thankful that you...
    Blessing | By Raquel V. Reyes | July 16, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Change, Children, Coming-of-Age, Community, Family, Identity, Integrity, International, Quinceañera, Transformation, Youth/Teens
  • A close-up photo of the stacked hands, solidarity-style, of three people.
    Our communities of memory and promise are founded upon covenants because we all need a defense against the impulse of immediate feelings that challenge our best intentions. It is necessary to be reminded from time to time of what you said you were going to do, and what you really want, over and...
    Reading | By Kendyl L. R. Gibbons | February 21, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Building/Space Dedication, Business Meetings, Commitment, Community, Connections, Covenant, Homecoming / Ingathering, Installations, Integrity, Interdependence, Living Our Faith, Ordinations, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • A black parent embraces their child, who is smiling in to the camera
    "When it comes to our children, we do not have the luxury of despair. If we rise, they will rise with us every time, no matter how many times we've fallen before. I hope you will remember that the next time you fail. I hope I will too. Remembering that is the most important work as parents we can...
    Quote | By Cheryl Strayed | January 30, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Child Dedication, Children, Coming of Age, Despair, Direct Experience, Failure, Family, Father's Day, Fathers, Humanism, Integrity, Mother's Day, Mothers, Parents, Secular, Teacher Dedication
  • On a bare, frozen branch, a bubble forms frost patterns
    Let us hold a quiet moment together as our chalice is lit. As the wild wind bites, so does the still flame warm us. As the deep snows block our doors, so does the gentle flame bring us out....
    Chalice Lighting | By Ben Soule | January 23, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Challenge, Community, Earth-Centered, Imbolc / Brighid's Day / Candlemas, Integrity, Relationships, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • A person cups their hands to hold multi-colored confetti
    Let us ground ourselves in gratitude: using the colorful paper and something to write with, we prepare for our Gratitude Confetti ritual. Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg https://www.sharonsalzberg.com/on-being-column-the-hardship-we-accept/"…; I encourage myself to remember that being grateful...
    Ritual | By Karen G. Johnston | January 23, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Ending, Gratitude, Humanism, Integrity, New Year, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • Against a stark grey sky, two tall evergreens are decked with simple white lights
    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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Integrity, Living Our Faith, Multiculturalism, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability
  • A range of schoolchildren's backpacks are hung on a wrought-iron fence
    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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Backpack Blessing, Caring, Character, Children, Courage, Family, Growth, Individualism, Integrity, Journey, Parents
  • Sleeping baby and napping dad hold hands
    Inexplicable. How we rise each morning, instead of burying our heads under bedcovers, sewing them shut. Why we keep on welcoming babies with bone-deep joy to this sordid world. How we fill burlap sacks with grit and gratitude, our hands shredded as we drag one over the other....
    Poetry | By Karen G. Johnston | April 7, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Balance, Brokenness, Disaster or Crisis, Grief, Hope, Integrity, Limitations, Living Our Faith, Mystery, Wholeness
  • A birds-eye view of about six sets of hands, stacked on top of one another
    Often people say that they love coming to a place with so many like-minded people. I know just what they are getting at -- and I know that they aren’t getting it quite right. I don’t want to be with a bunch of people who think just like me. I want to be in a beloved community where I don’t...
    Affirmation | By Dana E Worsnop | March 23, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Business Meetings, Commitment, Community, Integrity, Interdependence, New Member Ceremony, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Purpose, Unitarian Universalism
  • Two women, one Unitarian Universalist and one Muslim, smile at each other.
    We arrive from many different experiences and backgrounds. Some of us have trouble speaking; others are so young that they’re still learning to talk. Some of us speak English as a second language, and others of us can speak several foreign languages....
    Opening | By Erika Hewitt | February 8, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Business Meetings, Community, Conflict, Connections, Direct Experience, Integrity, Interdependence, Intimacy, Living Our Faith, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Valentine's Day