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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 - 18 of 18

  • Four Advent candles in a row in front of a deep black background. All four are lit. The third from the left is pink, and the others are purple.
    Prayers to be said on the four Sundays of Advent while lighting the Advent candle wreath.
    Prayer | By Elizabeth Mount | March 29, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Hope, Joy, Love, Patience, Peace, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A frozen soap bubble rests on snowy ground, with the sun setting on the horizon in the background.
    As we repent in full body and form, secure our names and the generations to come as you have done through time. God who blessed the womb of life, save us once again.
    Prayer | By Julie Yeeun Kim | January 21, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Faith, Generations, Interdependence, Patience, Redemption, Salvation, Wisdom, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A person's hands scoop green material into a full compost bin, filled with flowers, eggshells, and colorful vegetable matter.
    The miracle of grace is available to us even when it has been left untended.
    Reflection | By Jennifer Hundley-Batts | May 3, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Abundance, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Food, Grace, Nature, Patience, Stewardship, Summer Solstice, Worship
  • Against a white background, several flower bulbs and one upright bulbs with shoots of green rising from its top.
    Beneath the crust of earth, seeds and bulbs lay in store.
    Meditation | By Jennifer Johnson | March 10, 2023 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth, Earth-Centered, Imagination, Nature, Patience, Spring, Vernal Equinox, Winter, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • A straw-filled manger in a stable, with the Christmas star in the window
    Advent encourages us to be present in each moment of waiting.
    Reflection | By Megan Lloyd Joiner | December 7, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Contemplation, Patience, Presence, Sacred, Worship
  • In the foreground, a slice of pecan pie and a hot beverage sit on a table. In the background, there's a merry decorated Christmas tree.
    For me, “surrendering everything tenderly” brings an awareness of grace.
    Reflection | By Jake Morrill | December 15, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Advent, Food, Grace, Patience, Worship
  • Acorns, pine cones, and leaves arranged on a white surface, photographed from above.
    A seed knows how to wait. Most seeds wait for several years before starting to grow; a cherry seed can wait for a hundred years with no problem. What exactly each seed is waiting for is known only to that seed. Some unique trigger-combination of temperature-moisture-light and many other things is...
    Reading | By Hope Jahren | January 9, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Child Dedication, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Environment, Growth, Humanism, Nature, New Child, Patience, Secular, Climate Justice
  • Flower_ripples_on_water
    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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Beginnings, Change, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Contemplation, Ending, Faith, Growth, Hope, Journey, Justice, Life Transition, Paganism, Patience, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb
  • Close-up study of a fir branch, with green needles
    In this time of waiting, may we hold the world in our hearts. In this time of waiting, may we hold each other's hands. In this time of waiting, may we be thoughtful and introspective. In this time of waiting, may we delight in the darkness and all it teaches us. In this time of waiting, may we...
    Prayer | By Cricket Hall | December 5, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Contemplation, Hope, Patience, Tradition, Winter
  • A conceptual photograph showing the silhouette of a person pulling back a curtain of darkness to reveal a new, better world.
    Advent is about expectation—radical expectations that undo the status quo—and anticipation: a skillful search for the places where liberation rises from the ashes.
    Reflection | By Robin Tanner | December 5, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Advent, Anti-Oppression, Christianity, Direct Experience, Patience, Power, Presence, Progress
  • Three purple and one pink candles, all lit, on an Advent wreath
    May love guide us and be a creating force in our lives.
    Ritual | By Erika Hewitt | December 2, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Faith, Love, Patience, Spiritual Practice, Tradition
  • Two lit candles on an advent "wreath"
    May this time of waiting inspire our courage.
    Ritual | By Erika Hewitt | December 2, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Buddhism, Christianity, Patience, Peace, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality
  • A purple taper candle, lit, with other taper candles blurred in the background.
    Week by week, the candles remind us that fear and hopelessness recede as more warmth enters the world.
    Ritual | By Erika Hewitt | November 26, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Beginnings, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Ending, Faith, Hope, Letting Go, Patience, Spiritual Practice
  • A small evergreen tree next to a bowl holding four purple candles and small gold star.
    This is the season of endings and beginnings.
    Opening | By Erika Hewitt | November 26, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Beginnings, Ending, Letting Go, New Year, Patience, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    Waiting to be born, again, into the morning, onto the day, from dark warm comfort, of my bed full of sleep and blankets, back into bright spring-scented air with all its life and branches....
    Reading | By Tess Baumberger | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Advent, Birth, Christianity, Hope, Letting Go, Patience, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Balance, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hanukkah, Patience, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    No one is ever really ready for Christmas....
    Meditation | By Maureen Killoran | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, Direct Experience, Love, Patience
  • Chalice and Advent Wreath on UU chancel.
    Advent, adventus, means waiting. And the holiday season is nothing if not waiting—to get done the chores; to find the right gift; to find time for quiet moments; to accept that our loved ones will not be as we wish them to be....
    Chalice Lighting | By David Breeden | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Forgiveness, Generosity, Hope, Justice, Love, Patience, Peace, Strength, Winter, Wisdom