Every year during July, I take a few days and put together a spreadsheet of the upcoming year's worship services.  I've begun early this year, because of some changes that I'm proposing with my worship committee, so I'm trying to draft an early calendar this spring.  I go through a lot of steps when I'm creating this, and I'm guessing many other ministers do, too.  I don't know of anywhere that posts something that's like what I do, so I thought I would share this year.

My process begins with just listing all the Sundays in the year (easy to do in a spreadsheet -- enter two or three in the column, then drag down for 52 cells and it'll fill it in).  And then I just add in Christmas Eve. 

The next step is more laborious.  I enter all the holidays and recognition days I can think of for the following year.  The rule is that I enter each holiday by the Sunday preceding it, unless it falls on a Sunday.  I use a calendar of world religions at interfaithcalendar.org, and look up the year's secular holidays such as Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, etc.  I add in some of the awareness months -- a handy list is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commemorative_months.  There are a handful of holidays that are neither national nor religious but liberal sacred days I try to remember, such as Coming Out Day and Earth Day, and I look up the dates for those, or plug them in if they're always the same.  My church recognizes the Season for Nonviolence, so I add that in.  I add in any UU history dates that I'm aware of, particularly Flower Communion.  This year is the 50th anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery, along with the deaths of UUs James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo, so I've made sure to add those in.  And then I try to figure out any dates that UU organizations are particularly promoting.  I don't have many of these yet -- dates aren't up for 2015 30 Days of Love from Standing on the Side of Love (although I've made a guess), or the 2015 Justice Sunday, or if there'll be some sort of UUA Association Sunday or the equivalent.  The UU-UNO usually has a Sunday, but it's on or near United Nations Day, which I mark.  This year I have a few other UU figures' birth or death dates in there, courtesy of a list of holidays much like this one, but shorter and monthly rather than weekly, from Scott Tayler for a group of people who use theme Sundays together. This year I've added to the calendar a remembrance of two individuals connected to our community who were murdered last year.  I've left that in here for this public version, but if you're copying this, you'll probably want to delete that out (see 12/7/14).  You'll also see that holidays and awareness months are slimmer in July -- but also I take July off, so I focus less on that month. 

The next column I work on is a column of my important dates.  I enter the days for General Assembly, Regional Assembly, UUMA Chapter meetings, Ohio River Group, and the MidAmerica Region Board meetings.  This helps me to know what Sundays I might need to schedule off either because I'll be out of town or because I'll be so busy that week that I'll wish I had scheduled the Sunday off. 

Once all that is done, I begin to plan my preaching schedule -- which days I'm on and which days I'm off.  And since our musician plays 2 (or maybe 3 now, with hymn-sharing between Sundays) Sundays per month, I start to figure out which days are most important for him to be there (for example: Ingathering, Easter, Flower Communion), and figure out a proposed schedule for him, that he will then manipulate according to his travel schedule.

The whole calendaring process takes a good chunk of time.  Getting to this point has taken me the better part of two days.  And since the holiday step is so laborious, I thought I would share that, in the hopes that it might save somebody else some work.  Also, if there are holiday, holy day, or remembrance dates you would add on your own calendar, tell me in the comments.

Date	Holidays & Remembrance Days	Conference Schedule
8/3/2014	Art Appreciation Month
8/10/2014	Art Appreciation Month
8/17/2014	Art Appreciation Month
8/24/2014	Art Appreciation Month
8/31/2014	Art Appreciation Month; 9/1: Labor Day
9/7/2014	Hispanic Heritage Month; Suicide Awareness Month;	9/5-6: MidAmerica Board, Starved Rock, IL
9/14/2014	Hispanic Heritage Month; Suicide Awareness Month;
9/21/2014	Hispanic Heritage Month; Suicide Awareness Month; 9/24-26: Rosh Hashanah; 9/22: Mabon, Equinox
9/28/2014	Hispanic Heritage Month, Suicide Awareness Month; 9/22 Peace Corps birthday, 9/29 Cervantes birthday, 9/30 John Murray preaches first sermon in US, 10/4: Yom Kippur; 10/4-7: Eid al Adha
10/5/2014	Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, LGBT History Month, Bullying Prevention Month, Pastor Appreciation Month; National Book Month; 10/7: Afghan Invasion Anniversary; 10/11: Coming Out Day	10/5-8: HUUMA, Pokagon, IN
10/12/2014	Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, LGBT History Month, Bullying Prevention Month, Pastor Appreciation Month; National Book Month; 10/13: Columbus Day
10/19/2014	Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, LGBT History Month, Bullying Prevention Month, Pastor Appreciation Month; National Book Month; 10/23: Divali, 10/24: United Nations Day; 10/25 Pablo Picasso birthday
10/26/2014	Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, LGBT History Month, Bullying Prevention Month, Pastor Appreciation Month; National Book Month; 10/26: Reformation Day; 10/27 Michael Servatus Dies; 10/31 Anniversary of UU Merger; 10/31 Luther's 95 Theses; 10/31 Halloween; 11/1: All Saints; 11/1: Samhain; 11/2: All Souls
11/2/2014	Adoption Awareness Month, American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month, Alzheimer's Awreness Month, Family Caregivers Month, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo); 11/4: Election Day;
11/9/2014	Adoption Awareness Month, American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month, Alzheimer's Awreness Month, Family Caregivers Month, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo); 11/11: Veteran's Day; 11/9: Carl Sagan's Birthday
11/16/2014	Adoption Awareness Month, American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month, Alzheimer's Awreness Month, Family Caregivers Month, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo); 11/22: National Adoption Day	11/10-13: Ohio River Group, Dayton, OH; 11/14-15: MidAmerica Board, Location TBD
11/23/2014	Adoption Awareness Month, American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month, Alzheimer's Awreness Month, Family Caregivers Month, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo); 11/24: Origin of the Species published; 11/27: Thanksgiving
11/30/2014	Adoption Awareness Month, American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month, Alzheimer's Awreness Month, Family Caregivers Month, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo); 12/6: St. Nicholas' Day
12/7/2014	Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Month, Seasonal Depression Awareness Month, 12/5: Anniversary of Chris Keith & Isaac Miller's Deaths
12/14/2014	Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Month, Seasonal Depression Awareness Month, 12/16-24: Hanukkah, 12/14: Anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary Shootings
12/21/2014	Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Month, Seasonal Depression Awareness Month, 12/16-24: Hanukkah; 12/21: Yule, Solstice; 12/25 Christmas
12/24/2014	Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Month, Seasonal Depression Awareness Month, 12/16-24: Hanukkah; 12/25 Christmas
12/28/2014	Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Month, Seasonal Depression Awareness Month,
1/4/2015	Poverty in America Awareness Month; 1/5: Twelfth Night
1/11/2015	Poverty in America Awareness Month
1/18/2015	Poverty in America Awareness Month; 1/18: Baha'i World Reigion Day; 1/19: MLK Day; 1/21: National Hug Day
1/25/2015	Poverty in America Awareness Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence
2/1/2015	Black History Month; Teen Dating Violence Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence; 2/2 Groundhog Day, Imbolc, St. Brigid's Day, Candlemas; 2/7: Charles Dickens' Birthday
2/8/2015	Black History Month; Teen Dating Violence Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence; 2/14: Valentine's Day; 2/12: Darwin's Birthday; 2/13 Susan B. Anthony's Birthday
2/15/2015	Black History Month; Teen Dating Violence Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence; 2/17: Mardi Gras; 2/18: Ash Wednesday; 2/18-4/2: Lent; 2/19: Chinese New Year
2/22/2015	Black History Month; Teen Dating Violence Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence; 2/18-4/2: Lent; 2/26: 50th anniversary -- murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson
3/1/2015	Women's History Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence; 2/18-4/2: Lent; 3/7: 50th Anniversary -- March from Selma, "Bloody Sunday"
3/8/2015	Women's History Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence; 2/18-4/2: Lent; 3/11: James Reeb Murdered -- 50th Anniversary; 3/12: Lincoln's Birthday; 3/13: Susan B. Anthony's Death; 3/9: 50th anniversary -- 2nd march from Selma "Turnaround Tuesday"
3/15/2015	Women's History Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence; 2/18-4/2: Lent; 3/17: St. Patrick's Day; 3/20: First Day of Spring, Equinox, Ostara; 3/21: Naw Ruz, Nooruz
3/22/2015	Women's History Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence; 2/18-4/2: Lent; 3/21: 3rd March from Selma to Montgomery --50th anniversary; 3/25: Viola Liuzzo murdered -- 50th anniversary
3/29/2015	Women's History Month; 1/30-4/4: Season for Nonviolence; 2/18-4/2: Lent; 3/29: Palm Sunday; 4/1: April Fool's Day; 4/1: Dr. Seuss' birthday; 4/3-11: Passover
4/5/2015	Jazz Appreciation Month; National Poetry Month; Sexual Assault Awareness Month; Child Abuse Prevention Month; Autism Awareness Month; 4/5: Easter; 4/3-11: Passover; 4/7: William Ellery Channing's birthday
4/12/2015	Jazz Appreciation Month; National Poetry Month; Sexual Assault Awareness Month; Child Abuse Prevention Month; Autism Awareness Month; 4/16 Yom Ha'Shoah
4/19/2015	Jazz Appreciation Month; National Poetry Month; Sexual Assault Awareness Month; Child Abuse Prevention Month; Autism Awareness Month; 4/22: Earth Day	4/15-17: HUUMA, Naperville, IL; 4/17-19: MidAmerica Regional Assembly, Naperville, IL
4/26/2015	Jazz Appreciation Month; National Poetry Month; Sexual Assault Awareness Month; Child Abuse Prevention Month; Autism Awareness Month; 4/30: Hosea Ballou's birthday; 5/1: Beltane, May Day; 5/1: International Workers Day
5/3/2015	Jewish Americans Heritage Month; Foster Care Month; 5/5: Cinco de Mayo
5/10/2015	Jewish Americans Heritage Month; Foster Care Month; 5/10: Mother's Day;
5/17/2015	Jewish Americans Heritage Month; Foster Care Month;	5/15-16: MidAmerica Board, Location TBD
5/24/2015	Jewish Americans Heritage Month; Foster Care Month; 5/25 Emerson's birthday; 5/25 Memorial Day; 5/25: Pentecost
5/31/2015	Jewish Americans Heritage Month; Foster Care Month; 6/4: Capek celebrates 1st Flower Communion
6/7/2015	LGBT Pride Month; 6/18-7/17: Ramadan
6/14/2015	LGBT Pride Month; 6/18-7/17: Ramadan
6/21/2015	LGBT Pride Month; 6/18-7/17: Ramadan; 6/21: Father's Day; 6/21: Solstice, Litha; 6/25: Olympia Brown ordained
6/28/2015	LGBT Pride Month; 6/18-7/17: Ramadan; 7/4: Independence Day	6/22-24: Ministry Days, 6/24-28: GA, Portland, OR
7/5/2015	6/18-7/17: Ramadan; 7/18-21: Eid al Fitr
7/12/2015	6/18-7/17: Ramadan; 7/18-21: Eid al Fitr
7/19/2015
7/26/2015	8/1: Lughnasadh
8/2/2015	Art Appreciation Month