Kristin Maier, author of A Good Telling: Bringing Worship to Life with Story (Skinner House Books, 2013) shares the first in a series of tips for good storytelling. Purchase A Good Telling at the UUA Bookstore.

Good stories are central to good worship. As a Time for All Ages, as part of a sermon, or as part of a multigenerational service, stories engage our hearts and minds and help us grow.

Stories from Other Unitarian Universalist (UU) Sources

Storytelling in Worship

✳ Pssst! Have you visited our Storytelling page? It's filled with tips, how-to's, and lots of resources!

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10

  • Remembering the proposed Unitarian Universalist Association's Article 2 values is as easy as counting on your fingers!
    Time for All Ages | By Emily C. Jones | April 19, 2024 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #Article2, Equity, Generosity, Interdependence, Justice, Love, Pluralism, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism
  • We can plant the seeds of love and justice in the world.
    Time for All Ages | By mandi huizenga | March 29, 2022 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #8thPrinciple, America, Anti-Oppression, History, Humanism, Justice, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Seven Principles, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Can you imagine what it was like to be inside of that house, afraid that it might fall all apart from the destructive force of the wind and the rain, from the whole storm?
    Time for All Ages | By Karen G. Johnston | January 7, 2021 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Community, Interdependence, Justice, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Relationships, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Good morning! Do you notice anything different about me today? That’s right, I’m wearing glasses. Have you seen glasses like these before? Any idea where I might have gotten them? They came from a 3-D movie theatre and a movie where, if you put on these special glasses, some of things you see...
    Time for All Ages | By Shari Woodbury | September 12, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Anti-Oppression, Justice, Limitations, Listening, Multiculturalism, Searching, Truth
  • A Free Retelling of the Shevirat haKeilim (from the Kabbalah) At the beginning of time, before anything else at all existed, Love was all there was, and it filled up everything in the whole universe. But Love got bored and lonely. There was no one to be in love with....
    Story | By Amy Petrie Shaw | August 1, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Choice, Good, Healing, Judaism, Justice, Meaning, Purpose, Transformation
  • Sister Goose swam in the pond, happy as could be. Now and then, she ducked her head down to nibble a little bit here, and nibble a little bit there. She took no more than her fill of those succulent underwater plants, for she knew that the pond belonged to everyone....
    Story | By Faye Mogensen | June 8, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), America, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Division, Identity, Justice, Race/Ethnicity
  • What does “fair” mean? Is “fair” the same thing as “equal”? Which one is reflected in the concept of “justice”? Designed to be used as a Message for All Ages or as part of a Children's Chapel service, this activity uses cookies (yum!) to explore the differences between fair and...
    Activity | By Erika Hewitt | August 3, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Children's Sabbath, Direct Experience, Equity, Food, Justice, Playfulness, Power, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Seven Principles
  • Who here knows from experience that life is not fair? [Show of hands.] We know this, don’t we? Life is just not fair. And I really don’t think it ever has been. But what can we do? We generally just shrug and accept it: it’s not fair. But there was once a man who refused to just shrug off the...
    Time for All Ages | By Martha Dallas | May 12, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Christianity, Compassion, Easter, Equity, Justice, Justice Sunday, Service, Seven Principles, WorshipWeb
  • This story was created collaboratively by several religious educators. As you prepare to share it, read the 1966 Ware Lecture "Don't Sleep Through the Revolution," by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered at the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Hollywood, Florida, May 18, 1966.
    Story | By Gail Forsyth-Vail | January 29, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Humanism, Juneteenth, Justice, Justice Sunday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Responsibility
  • Overview: Organize a discussion and develop a relationship with the local or regional School of the Americas Watch (SOA) organization dedicated to addressing the military school in Geogia run by the US Army and held responsible for violent, repressive and corrupt leadership training of Latin...
    Complete Service | By Joseph Lyons | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: International, Justice, Nonviolence, Peace, Violence, War