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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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/WiserTagged as: Abundance, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Food, Grace, Nature, Patience, Stewardship, Summer Solstice, Worship -
All that we are, together and individually, is part of the abundance of the universe.Responsive Reading | By Julián Jamaica Soto | November 11, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Canvass/Pledge, Connections, Earth, Earth-Centered, Gratitude, Interdependence, Stewardship, WorshipWeb, Worship -
May we whisper thank you for all that is good in our lives. (Thank you) May we shout thank you! for the abundance of blessings. (Thank you) May we feel thank you, thank you, thank you, deep within our hearts and around us right now. May we be thankful, down to our bones, for this time together....Prayer | By Debra Haffner | November 16, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Direct Experience, Gratitude, Thanksgiving, WorshipWeb, Worship -
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 -
Once upon a time there was a family. Maybe this family had not quite enough to eat. Or maybe they had just about enough. Or … perhaps they had MORE than enough. You might not have been able to tell. THEY might not have been able to tell. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if you have enough or not.Story | By Dawn Star Sarahs-Borchelt | April 3, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Abundance, Family, Generosity, Home, Hospitality, Humanism, Inclusion, Secular, Stewardship, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism, Wealth -
The tree stood in the middle of the village. Its trunk was so large that it took six people holding hands to reach around it. The roots were strong and wide, and its branches spread out over the village square, offering shelter from the rain, or shade from the summer sun....Story | By Lynn Gardner | March 4, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Canvass/Pledge, Caring, Commitment, Earth-Centered, Generosity, Humanism, Interdependence, Nature, Stewardship -
We pray to you, Mother Earth, with gratitude For your holding and sustaining love For the air, water, and soil that feed us For the mountains and rivers and oceans that calm our spirits For loving and supporting all beings and all creation. We pray to you, Mother Earth, with humility Help us to...Prayer | By Lucy Bunch | June 20, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Beauty, Connections, Courage, Discernment, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Interdependence, Paganism, Strength -
Let us imagine for a moment that our lives are like the baskets that our children will use after the service to collect colorful eggs and candy. And as we welcome that imaginative connection, let us pause for a moment to accept a blessing....Blessing | By Lucas Hergert | May 27, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Awe, Beauty, Community, Compassion, Easter, Family, Generosity, Gratitude, Happiness, Joy -
Note: Lisa Maria has provided instructions, below, to make this litany interactive and fun. One of her suggestions entails inviting an added written response from members of the congregation. #1: We celebrate the memory of winter’s sleep and the quieting of our souls. Response: Sing praises for...Litany | By Lisa Maria Andreoli Steinberg | April 9, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Beauty, Easter, Gratitude, Meaning, Spring -
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 -
The innkeeper isn’t part of most Nativity sets. No one sings carols about innkeepers. There don’t seem to be any paintings that include them. But we can imagine the scene: Bethlehem is crowded with people coming home for the census. It’s late at night when the innkeeper responds to a knock on...Reading | By Anne Dilenschneider | January 2, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Abundance, Anti-Oppression, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Discernment, Empathy, Hospitality, Inclusion, Judaism, Kindness, Living Our Faith, Responsibility, WorshipWeb -
It is not by chance that you arrived here today. You have been looking for something larger than yourself. Inside of you there is a yearning, a calling, a hope for more, A desire for a place of belonging and caring. Through your struggles, someone nurtured you into being, Instilling a belief in a...Opening | By Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson | September 14, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Abundance, Acceptance, Caring, Coming Out, Commitment, Community, Flower Communion, Home, Homecoming / Ingathering, New Member Ceremony, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion -
“There’s a hunger beyond food that’s expressed in food, and that’s why feeding is always a kind of miracle. It speaks to a bigger desire.” Note: one version of this quote, quasi-attributed, appears in Take This Bread (p. 23) by Sara Miles.Quote | By William E. Swing | June 1, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Abundance, Body, Communion (Christian), Direct Experience, Food, Food Justice, Generosity, Hospitality, Humanism, Searching, Secular, Stewardship, Table Grace, Thanksgiving -
We light our chalice as a symbol of gratitude as we celebrate the abundance of our lives together. In this sanctuary we harvest bushels of strength for one another, and offer our crop with the hands of compassion and generosity....Chalice Lighting | By Katie Sivani Gelfand | May 31, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Christianity, Communion (Christian), Community, Generosity, Grace, Gratitude, Stewardship, Strength, Table Grace, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism -
This hands-on ritual could be used to celebrate Earth Day, a Solstice, or an Equinox. Before the service begins, set up a table or two (or more) with several stations for people to plant seeds....Ritual | By Diana Smith | July 4, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Abundance, Autumnal Equinox, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Food, Nature, Summer Solstice, Vernal Equinox, Water Communion -
Today, we're thankful for you and what you bring to our church. Your spirit, talents, generosity, imagination, and dedication reaffirm our fellowship and create our Beloved Community. Our heartfelt thanks to you on this day and for all days to come. For those who embrace Thanksgiving as a day to...Blessing | By Gwen Matthews | November 30, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Abundance, Caring, Community, Family, Gratitude, Grief, Humanism, Love, Oppression, Sacred, Secular, Sorrow, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism
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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 -
Let’s start with the people we love and those who love us, thankful they are in our lives obliging us to open our hearts. Let open hearts embrace the Earth, the sea and soil and stars, blessed by bold beauty, the bounty of being. Then with hearts open to beauty let us embrace the arts and the...Poetry | By Swiftwalker | October 19, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Beauty, Earth, Earth-Centered, Grace, Gratitude, Humanism, Relationships, Thanksgiving, Unitarian Universalism, Wisdom
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No hot house flowers, these, bred for perfection, dyed and trimmed, and arranged to order, clothed in ribbons and bows. Not these. No, these are hardy, raw and wild. Grown under the sky, they’ve weathered the wind and the rain and the heat. These drew nutrients from the neighborhood soil and...Meditation | By Lisa Doege | June 22, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Abundance, Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, Humility, Nature, Spring, Vulnerability, Wonder, WorshipWeb -
Imagine if Easter preachers—and all the rest of us—had the chutzpah of Mary Magdalene.Time for All Ages | By Anne S. Howard | March 22, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Abundance, Christianity, Courage, Easter, God, Good, Power, Revelation