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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Knit six purl six sets of two rows four rows six rows up to twelve, patterns, repeating, steady, soothingly same. This is not what life is like. Life is like picking up a tousled hunk of yarn pulled out of the basket by an impatient child looking for a string too many times. You find an end. You...Poetry | By Dawn Star Sarahs-Borchelt | October 16, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Acceptance, Brokenness, Connections, Direct Experience, Grief, Humanism, Interdependence, Life Transition, Pain, Secular, Stress -
We all know loss and pain. Let none of it divide us. In the rising sun today Let us do together what we cannot do alone: Roll away the stones that close our hearts.Closing | By Joel Miller | December 21, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Easter, Love, Pain, Unity, Wholeness -
How many more Sundays will the preacher in black robes and the solemn shuffle of papers Read the names of those whose light was extinguished for our right to bear arms? How many more Sundays will we try to believe that our hopes for justice are worth more than the lobbyists’ tailored suits and...Meditation | By Eliot Brian Chenowith | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Despair, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Grief, Pain, Presence, Sorrow, Spirituality -
Spirit of Life and Love, we gather today under smoky skies, Aching from the onslaught of the daily news, Our spirits weary and sore, Our nerves jangling with every loss of power, every alert on our phones Our thoughts this morning are with the firefighters and all those whose bodies continue to b...Prayer | By Caitlin Cotter Coillberg | December 16, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Direct Experience, Disaster, Disaster or Crisis, Earth, Nature, Pain, Trauma -
Each of us has gifts and wounds from those who fathered us. This is inevitable; even the best fathers in the world disappoint their children sometimes. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to grow up. But I know that some wounds are deeper than others. Some people’s hearts have been broken by their...Reading | By Myke Johnson | April 13, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Acceptance, Children, Family, Father's Day, Fathers, Generations, Growth, Healing, Humanism, Pain, Parents, Secular -
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a time when particular songs get sung; one of them is "Lift Every Voice and Sing." It gets sung in school, in church, and at various MLK day celebrations or over the course of Black History Month....Reflection | By Aisha Ansano | February 27, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, History, Juneteenth, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Pain, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity -
December 7, 2016 “Use loneliness. Its ache creates urgency to reconnect with the world.” — Natalie Goldberg I know a little about "merry" meeting "mess" at the holidays — and by a little I mean How much time have you got? Four Christmases ago, a painful break-up sent me spinning into a long...Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | December 7, 2016 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Commitment, God, Healing, Hope, Pain, Sadness, Spiritual Practice -
Leader: [if applicable: In addition to our own beloved dead], we take the time to acknowledge all those already lost as the world feels the effects of global warming and climate change. Thousands of people, as well as animals and plants, die every year from the effects of global climate change....Litany | By Erica Baron | October 19, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), All Souls Day, Anti-Oppression, Brokenness, Despair, Earth, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Humanism, Nature, Pain, Remembrance Day, Responsibility, Trauma, Climate Justice -
This welcome was written for a Sunday after a national crisis. Whether you’re here because worshiping with us is part of your routine or whether you feel like our country has been stopped in its tracks and it’s impossible to return to normalcy, on this morning we gather to proclaim that we...Welcome | By Erika Hewitt | July 10, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Anger, Balance, Connections, Despair, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Hope, Humanism, Mourning, Pain, Purpose, Relationships, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism -
For all who die in war We lift up our hearts For all who live in suffering in the aftermath of violence We lift up our hearts For all who give their lives in smoke and flame We lift up our hearts For all who go on in honor of the dead We lift up our hearts For all who have served We lift up our...Prayer | By Amy Petrie Shaw | October 30, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Brokenness, Buddhism, Christianity, Conflict, Direct Experience, Islam, Judaism, Memorial Day, Pain, Peace, Reconciliation, Religion, United Nations Day, Veterans Day, War, WorshipWeb -
Dear God: Good Friday is gone—a dark day on the calendar, A time of suffering—with more losses than gains, And more pain than we thought we could bear. We are tired of crying, We are tired of burying, We are tired of mourning. But Easter is here—and we who survived are prepared For the turning...Meditation | By David O. Rankin | May 28, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Beginnings, Death, Easter, Grief, Hope, Joy, Love, Pain, Sorrow, Transformation
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Forgive me dear father For all the trouble I caused The missed curfews The missed classes Your unfulfilled dreams for me Forgive me dear father But your dreams are not my dreams Forgive me dear father And I will forgive you For missed moments That you sacrificed So that one day I could follow my...Poetry | By Jay Wolin | April 22, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Children, Direct Experience, Father's Day, Fathers, Forgiveness, Generations, Love, Pain, Parents, Relationships, Wisdom, WorshipWeb -
Gracious Mother Matrix of Creation Womb of Mystery We thank you on this day for the miracle of birth, For the holiness of sex, For the power of eros and passionate love To regenerate the world. Mother Nature, Earth Mother, We lift our hearts in song For all forms green and fragrant Glad with the...Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | February 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Birth, Earth-Centered, Goddess, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Mystery, Paganism, Pain, Sexuality
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Please speak the response when you hear: "...this season brings forth many feelings" Response: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together All around us are bright lights and merry messages Yet in our heart not all is joyful There is grief with the loss of...Reading | By Debra Faulk | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Despair, Grief, Pain, Peace, Sorrow