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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- Advent (6)
- All Saints Day (1)
- All Souls Day (1)
- Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb (20)
- Children's Sabbath (1)
- Christmas Eve / Christmas (5)
- Coming Out (13)
- Disaster or Crisis (8)
- Earth Day (2)
- Easter (2)
- Father's Day (2)
- Hanukkah (1)
- Holocaust Remembrance / Yom Ha'Shoah (1)
- Homecoming / Ingathering (1)
- Indigenous Peoples Day (4)
- July 4th (1)
- Juneteenth (7)
- Justice Sunday (9)
- Kwanzaa (1)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday (20)
- May Day / Beltane (1)
- Memorial Day (1)
- Mourning (1)
- National Coming Out Day (8)
- New Member Ceremony (1)
- Prayer Practices (1)
- Pride Sunday (36)
- Remembrance Day (2)
- Thanksgiving (6)
- Transgender Day of Remembrance (4)
- Twelfth Night / Epiphany (1)
- United Nations Day (1)
- Valentine's Day (1)
- Water Communion (1)
- Winter Solstice / Yule (1)
- Youth Sunday (1)
- Abundance (1)
- Acceptance (14)
- Activism (21)
- America (20)
- Anger (2)
- Arts & Music (3)
- Awe (2)
- Beauty (2)
- Body (2)
- Brokenness (4)
- Caring (3)
- Challenge (1)
- Change (5)
- Children (4)
- Choice (1)
- Class (1)
- Commitment (7)
- Community (6)
- Compassion (4)
- Conflict (1)
- Connections (3)
- Conscience (1)
- Courage (8)
- Creativity (2)
- Democracy (2)
- Despair (3)
- Disability (1)
- Discernment (1)
- Diversity (12)
- Earth (2)
- Empathy (3)
- Equity (4)
- Family (3)
- Fathers (2)
- Fear (1)
- Food (1)
- Forgiveness (1)
- Freedom (8)
- Friendship (1)
- Gender (9)
- Generations (6)
- God (4)
- Gratitude (2)
- Grief (2)
- Healing (7)
- History (21)
- Honesty (1)
- Hope (4)
- Hospitality (4)
- Human Rights (3)
- Identity (19)
- Immigration (3)
- Inclusion (10)
- Integrity (2)
- Interdependence (2)
- Intimacy (1)
- Journey (3)
- Joy (2)
- Justice (27)
- Kindness (2)
- Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer (42)
- Living Our Faith (7)
- Love (11)
- Men (1)
- Multiculturalism (21)
- Mystery (1)
- Nature (2)
- Oppression (9)
- Pain (2)
- Parents (3)
- Patience (1)
- Peace (1)
- Playfulness (1)
- Politics (1)
- Power (4)
- Presence (1)
- Privilege (7)
- Progress (1)
- Purpose (1)
- Race/Ethnicity (34)
- Reconciliation (1)
- Relationships (4)
- Respect (1)
- Responsibility (10)
- Revelation (1)
- Rights (1)
- Searching (1)
- Self-Care (1)
- Self-Respect (5)
- Service (2)
- Sexuality (2)
- Solidarity (21)
- Sorrow (1)
- Spirituality (1)
- Spiritual Practice (1)
- Strength (1)
- Suffering (2)
- Terrorism (2)
- Tradition (4)
- Transformation (2)
- Trauma (2)
- Trust (1)
- Truth (2)
- Unity (3)
- Violence (3)
- Vision (1)
- Vulnerability (3)
- War (1)
- Wholeness (7)
- Wisdom (1)
- Women (1)
- Wonder (1)
- Worry (1)
- (-) Anti-Oppression (104)
- Aisha Ansano (2)
- Alex Kapitan (1)
- Alicia R. Forde (1)
- Amanda Udis-Kessler (2)
- Amy Brooks (1)
- Amy Zucker Morgenstern (1)
- Anna Geoffroy (1)
- Anne Dilenschneider (1)
- Annie Gonzalez Milliken (1)
- Anonymous (1)
- Ashley Horan (1)
- Audette Fulbright Fulson (1)
- Becky Brooks (2)
- Bob Janis-Dillon (1)
- Brent A Smith (1)
- Brian Kiely (1)
- Catie Scudera (1)
- Chris Crass (1)
- Chris Rothbauer (2)
- Christian Schmidt (1)
- Christopher Buice (1)
- Clyde Grubbs (1)
- Cricket Hall (1)
- cristy cardinal (1)
- D. Scott Cooper (1)
- Daniel Gregoire (1)
- David Glasgow (1)
- David Schwartz (1)
- Dawn Skjei Cooley (1)
- Elizabeth Ketcham (1)
- enfleshed (1)
- Erica Baron (1)
- Erika Hewitt (2)
- Evin Carvill Ziemer (1)
- Fred Small (1)
- Gail Forsyth-Vail (2)
- Glen Thomas Rideout (1)
- Hannah Roberts Villnave (1)
- HP Rivers (1)
- Ibram X Kendi (1)
- Isabel Call (1)
- Jabari S. Jones (2)
- James (Jay) C Leach (1)
- Jan Carlsson-Bull (1)
- Jann Aldredge-Clanton (1)
- Jeannie Shero (1)
- Jonalu Johnstone (1)
- Jonathan Chapman (1)
- Jude Geiger (1)
- Julia Corbett-Hemeyer (1)
- Julián Jamaica Soto (1)
- Karen G. Johnston (1)
- Karen Mooney (1)
- Keith Kron (1)
- Kendyl L. R. Gibbons (1)
- Kye Flannery (1)
- Laura Dobson (1)
- Li Kynvi (2)
- Linda lee Franson (1)
- Lisa Doege (1)
- Lois Van Leer (1)
- Lori Gorgas Hlaban (1)
- Lori Walke (1)
- Lyn Cox (2)
- Margaret Weis (1)
- Mark Belletini (1)
- Mark Hicks (2)
- Martha Dallas (2)
- Mary Jane Holden (1)
- Melissa Carvill-Ziemer (1)
- Melissa Gibson (4)
- Myke Johnson (3)
- Otto O’Connor (1)
- Paul R Beedle (1)
- Paul S Sawyer (1)
- Phillip Lund (1)
- Quinn Gormley (1)
- Rachel Rott (1)
- Rebecca Ann Parker (1)
- Renee Ruchotzke (1)
- Robin Tanner (1)
- Sharon Wylie (1)
- Sunshine Jeremiah Wolfe (1)
- Teresa Schwartz (1)
- Tess Baumberger (1)
- Theresa Hardy (1)
- Tracy Bleakney (1)
- Victoria Safford (1)
- Zeb Green (1)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 104
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The Magnificat is a courageous and subversive song of praise; a call to social justice.Reflection | By Laura Dobson | December 6, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Activism, Advent, Anti-Oppression, Christianity, Courage, History, Justice, Multiculturalism, Worship
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I would have loved it as a kid to have a church that encouraged us to listen to our heartfelt yearning of self.Reflection | By Zeb Green | June 7, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Gender, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Truth, Worship
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I belong, and you belong, and we belong—just as we are.Reflection | By Li Kynvi | May 31, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Body, Courage, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Oppression, Pride Sunday, Privilege, Secular, Worship
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Queer joy is resistance.Reflection | By cristy cardinal | November 23, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #LoveResists, #Pride, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Activism, Anti-Oppression, Community, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
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I rise on the shoulders of ancestors whose names I can not know.Reflection | By Glen Thomas Rideout | September 14, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, History, Oppression, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Self-Respect, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
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We bless today all the masculinities with us and within us.Blessing | By Kye Flannery | June 9, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Father's Day, Fathers, Freedom, Gender, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Men, Transformation, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Happy kids are safer kids, because happy kids have adults they can ask for help.Reflection | By Quinn Gormley | March 2, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Children, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Humanism, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Parents, Pride Sunday, Secular, Worship
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May the rainbow of love enfold you; may your fluidity never be hindered.Blessing | By Cricket Hall | March 1, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Identity, Inclusion, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Spirit of Life who dwells before and between and beyond all words… we open ourselves to you.Reflection | By David Glasgow | November 17, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Coming Out, Courage, Direct Experience, Friendship, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Secular, Solidarity, Worship
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Help me live in gratitude for the LGBTQ+ ancestors who paved this road we walk and roll on.Reflection | By Li Kynvi | June 9, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Activism, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Identity, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Worship
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I've adopted the practice of spiritual reconnection with my ancestors to heal intergenerational trauma.Reflection | By Jabari S. Jones | February 10, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Diversity, Generations, Healing, History, International, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Transformation, Trauma, Worship
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Love cannot be bought or sold; it does not make a profit. Love does not hide from truth. Love dives deep. Love takes on flesh. Love is queer. Love is platonic. Love is erotic. Love is asexual. Love confronts evil. Love delights in pleasure. Love touches and weeps and flirts and feeds and creates.Affirmation | By enfleshed | January 21, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Humanism, Intimacy, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Love, Relationships, Secular, Valentine's Day
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Ironically, Americans who self-identify as not racist—whether they're conservatives, moderates, liberals, radicals, progressives—they don't realize… that we are connecting ourselves to a history of slave traders who self-identified as not racist (although they didn't use that term). We're...Reading | By Ibram X Kendi | January 16, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), America, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, History, Identity, Juneteenth, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Oppression, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity
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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 WorshipWebTagged 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
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Welcome, you questioners, seekers of Truth with a capital T, pilgrims longing for sanctuary, travelers needing harbor from the storm. Welcome, those who are holding on by a thread, determined breakers of the chains of loneliness and isolation....Welcome | By Rachel Rott | October 27, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Community, Homecoming / Ingathering, Living Our Faith, New Member Ceremony, Universalism
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Oh you You rebel You queer and wayward child You abandoned and listless You angry and forgotten You brown and black and indigenous You homeless and impoverished You dreamer You warrior You are not alone here You have never been alone Not in this place, not in this time Not in the whole of history...Poetry | By Anna Geoffroy | August 12, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Activism, Anger, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Humanism, Justice, Justice Sunday, Politics, Secular
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On a holy night In 1969, In an Inn, also known as a bar, Called the Stonewall Inn, A basement— which had no running running water, Nor safe fire exits— Queer people, of many colors and kinds, Danced together, For it was the only place Where they were allowed to dance, At least, permitted to, by...Opening | By Otto O’Connor | June 11, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Activism, America, Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, History, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, National Coming Out Day, Pride Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds
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We light our chalice flame For those who lived their lives in closets of shame; For those who furtively visited the bars, where nobody knew your name; For the Stonewall riot—and the fierce transwomen who fought; For the plague, which still takes far too many, too young, too soon. So many gone. So...Chalice Lighting | By Lori Gorgas Hlaban | June 6, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Generations, History, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, National Coming Out Day, Pride Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Secular
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We are grateful for the gift of our lives and the gift of other people in our lives. Each of us is created with dignity and worth. We are called to love one another and to do nothing to others that we would find hateful to ourselves. We honor the many ways that people live and love....Responsive Reading | June 3, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Direct Experience, Diversity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, National Coming Out Day, Pride Sunday, Secular
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Blessed are the wanderers, Seeking affirmation. Blessed are the worshipers, Praying from closets, Pulpits, pews, and hardship. Blessed are the lovers of leaving – Leaving family and familiarity, Leaving tables Where love is not being served. Blessed are those who stay....Blessing | By HP Rivers | May 28, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Acceptance, Anti-Oppression, Coming Out, Compassion, Diversity, Family, Gender, Humanism, Justice, Justice Sunday, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Love, National Coming Out Day, Pride Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Secular, Sexuality