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

Search Words for Worship Services

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  • May it ignite our energies to dream, to build.
    Chalice Extinguishing | By Vanessa Titang | January 21, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
  • May this precious light shine on.
    Chalice Lighting | By Vanessa Titang | January 21, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Worship
  • Masks let us be someone or something totally different from who we usually are.
    Time for All Ages | By Mary Gear | January 21, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Imagination, Playfulness, Secular, Worship
  • In early 2022, various UUA pages addressing different aspects of copyright—particularly copyright issues in worship—were removed to shift focus to our new Copyright Primer for Congregations. Please visit that page to learn more.
    Leader Resource | January 20, 2022 | From WorshipLab
    Tagged as: Worship Tips
  • we are here, and flowing, in and of, made of, because of You
    Poetry | By Vanessa Titang | January 20, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth-Centered, Imagination, Nature, Transcendence, Worship
  • On this darkest night, may we observe the stars.
    Meditation | By Mary Gear | January 20, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged 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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Worship
  • We extinguish this flame but not its meaning and mission in our hearts.
    Chalice Extinguishing | By Maggie Lovins | January 19, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Worship
  • May we find the care in our community to keep grieving and keep loving and keep living.
    Prayer | By Laura Conkle | January 19, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Worship
  • We are full, sovereign human beings.
    Reading | By Jaclyn Friedman | January 19, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, Choice, Direct Experience, Health, Self-Respect, Sexuality, Worship
  • To understand that my humanity and my abundant flesh both demand dignity is to embrace fat liberation.
    Reflection | By Andrew Tripp | January 19, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Body, Fat Liberation, Love, Self-Respect, Worship
  • There was an audible gasp when they heard he* was gone A whoosh of air that sounded exactly like the bottom falling out of his mother’s** world the winds of mortality brushing his father’s** face the last breath of a kind soul All the years of struggle have settled into silence: Unsought,...
    Poetry | By Lindasusan Ulrich | January 14, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Death, Grief, Love, Memorial Services
  • You will find me there; Dancing in the Shadows. You will find me there; where light meets the dark; You will find me there, dancing, dancing in the shadows; Shadows of lives past lived, Shadows of pain held near, You will find me there; Dancing in the Shadows; Shadows of ancestors dear; yes, you...
    Affirmation | By Phoenix Bell-Shelton Biggs | January 14, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
  • When you're shamed and ashamed, it takes a lot of positives to make up for even a few negatives.
    Homily | By Victoria Ingram | January 14, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Body, Direct Experience, Fat Liberation, Self-Respect
  • Friends, thank you for your witness to all that exists on the margins; thank you for your commitment to hold yourselves and one other in great and steadfast love. Moving forward from this space, may we continue to nurture spiritual growth. May we continue to travel along the winding pathway to...
    Closing | By Phoenix Bell-Shelton Biggs | January 13, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Community, Healing
  • Now is the time for our financial offering. [Particular donation info, e.g. Donations can be made directly into the baskets being passed around, or online through our website, by mail, or by email. If you donate to the loose collection, then half of your donation will go to the congregation while...
    Offering | By Frances Koziar | January 13, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Class, Diversity, Money, Stewardship, Worship
  • We light this chalice today as a people dedicated to personal growth.
    Chalice Lighting | By Frances Koziar | January 12, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Challenge, Growth
  • We must be willing and prepared to dance with joy when liberation arrives.
    Poetry | By Mandie McGlynn | January 12, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Generations, Judaism, Worship
  • Every time someone showed up for me, I learned that love is greater than skin deep.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | January 12, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Challenge, Choice, Direct Experience, Discernment, Living Our Faith, Love, Pain, Parents, Relationships, Worship
  • We have come here today to remember what some are intent on making us forget.
    Affirmation | By Addae Ama Kraba | January 10, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: History, Justice, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Race/Ethnicity, Worship