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 - 13 of 13
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Make sure, both at Christmastime and in other times, that you ask for that which you really want.Homily | By Megan Foley | December 1, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Advent, Belief, Children, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Discernment, Generosity, Humanism, Listening, Meaning, Secular, WorshipWeb, Worship -
This story is great to be acted out by four women (of applicable ages for each direction) around a large bowl/vessel....Story | By Katie Sivani Gelfand | January 7, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Generations, Imagination, Listening, Nature, Sacred, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion, Women -
We gather with a hunger for reconciliation. What is done cannot be undone. What is done next must now be done with care. We gather because we are hopeful, Because we have visions and dreams of a brighter future. That there may be more than vision in this room, These are the wounds we must heal...Prayer | By Anne Barker | August 22, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Beginnings, Community, Forgiveness, Healing, Indigenous Peoples Day, Listening, Peace, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Unity -
This blessing was written in honor of two Unitarians, Martha and Waitstill Sharp, who during WWII dared to risk their own comfort in order to help save the lives of those in desperate need. As we gather together, May we remember When you share with me what is most important to you, That is where...Blessing | By Andrée Mol | November 30, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Abundance, Compassion, Courage, Direct Experience, Gratitude, Hospitality, Justice, Listening, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Sacrifice, Salvation, Thanksgiving, Unitarianism -
Come sit by our fire and let us share stories. Let me hear your tales of far off lands, wanderer, and I will tell you of my travels. Share your experience of the holy with me, worshipper, and I will tell you of that which I find divine. Come and stay, lover of leaving, for ours is no caravan of...Opening | By Jennifer Kitchen | January 11, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Community, Direct Experience, Empathy, Homecoming / Ingathering, Hospitality, Journey, Listening, Love, Personal Stories -
Night has its own kind of beauty, different than the beauty of day. Night is a time of sleep and dreams and inward visions, A time of pause within activity. Darkness is an invitation to imagining and storytelling, And to using ears instead of eyes to listen to the world in its stillness....Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | June 3, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Beauty, Death, Earth-Centered, Imagination, Listening, Mystery, Searching, Silence, Solitude, Summer Solstice, Vision, Winter Solstice / Yule -
Spirit of Life, Ground of our being, Root of unified mystery Growing into myriad branches of expression, Bring us together now....Meditation | By Lyn Cox | May 22, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Change, Christianity, Community, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Homecoming / Ingathering, Humanism, Interdependence, Listening, Nature, Science, WorshipWeb -
Holy Unnamable One, Wholly Unknowable One, Again we have read the story. Again we have sung the tale. Again we wonder at our place in it. Is it ours to tell? How can it beours to live?...Prayer | By Lisa Doege | March 16, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Birth, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Hope, Listening, Mystery, Peace, Privilege -
Spirit of life and love, In the silence In the stillness We hear the call of our own heart Its tender dreams Its sorrows and its triumphs In the silence In the stillness We hear whispers of days gone by Of dreams still becoming The promise of the future We celebrate together Our individual journe...Prayer | By Sara Eileen LaWall | March 6, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Direct Experience, Listening, Silence, Unitarian Universalism, Weddings and Commitment Ceremonies
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Maybe prayer doesn’t mean talking to God at all. May it means just listening. Unplugging the TV, turning off the computer, Quieting the mental chatter and distractions. Maybe it means listening to the birds And the insects, the wind in the leaves, the creaking and groaning of the trees, noticing...Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Contemplation, Direct Experience, Listening, Prayer Practices
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(May be read responsively) We light this chalice to affirm that new light is ever waiting to break through to enlighten our ways: That new truth is ever waiting to break through to illumine our minds: And that new love is ever waiting to break through to warm our hearts. May we be open to this...Chalice Lighting | By Charles A. Howe | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Birth, Calling, Grace, Growth, Healing, Hope, Listening, Love, Truth, Vision, Winter Solstice / Yule -
Emmanuel means "God is with us." Who is your Emmanuel? Who is your "God is with us," the one you were promised, the one you have been waiting for? For the ancient prophet Isaiah, he was a boy soon to be born who would guide the people of Judah back to peace and harmony with God....Meditation | By Sarah Movius Schurr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Beauty, Belief, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, God, Listening, Searching, Tradition, Transcendence, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder -
In this time of anticipated spring let us allow ourselves to extend the anticipation—to value the time of budding before blooming, of seeding before sprouting. This is a time of revelation: the revealing of that which is eternal, which we see every year, but still need to be reminded to see it in...Meditation | By Terasa Cooley | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Birth, Earth, Hope, Imbolc / Brighid's Day / Candlemas, Listening, Nature, Unitarian Universalism, Vernal Equinox