One day in Alabama, in 1968, as farmers worked in their fields, a small airplane swooped into view. The farmers looked up wonderingly as papers fluttered out of the plane, into the sky and came swirling down to earth all around them. The papers were flyers about the upcoming elections—flyers with...

Based on a Santerian story. Special thanks to Lesley Murdoch for her insights to Afro-Caribbean religions. The Orisha are gods that came originally from Nigeria, in West Africa, as part of the Yoruba religion....

Adapted from Christian scripture. There once was a father, who had two sons. The younger son wanted to leave home and travel to distant lands. He asked to have his inheritance. So the father divided his wealth and gave each son his half. The older son stayed at home, continuing to work with his...

Once upon a time in Kenya, on a peaceful river near the east coast of Africa, a herd of hippopotamus was surprised by heavy rain. The rain washed them away from their river home, toward the Indian Ocean. Then came something worse. A tsunami! In the huge, windy storm the ocean waters became strong.

Excerpted from Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of Dr. George de Benneville, translated by Rev. Elhanan Winchester (Germantown, PA: Converse Cleaves, Publisher, 1890), with material to explain the context for each.George de Benneville was raised by his godmother, Queen Anne of England....

When Joseph Jordan (pronounced Jerden) was born in Virginia in 1842, slavery was still legal. Most people of African descent were treated as property, like horses or dogs. They were bought and sold; they had no rights. Whether enslaved or free, people of color were not treated with respect....

Transgender individuals face much discrimination in the United States, in part because their struggles and their journeys are not well understood. In the spring of 2007, a public battle arose in Largo, Florida, around the struggle of one transgender person. Susan Stanton, then known as Steve, had...

Competency Comments Can listen and behave without imposing your own values and assumptions on others. Carries an attitude of respect when approaching people of different cultures, which entails engagement in a process of self-reflection and self-critique; has the ability to move beyond own biases.

From a 2008 dissertation, "An Educational Model of Pastoral Care to Support Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Unitarian Universalist Congregations," by Rev. Dr. Monica Cummings. It was adapted from P. A....