Adapted from multiple sources, primarily the Memoir of William Ellery Channing with Extracts from His Correspondents and Manuscripts, in Three Volumes, William Henry Channing, ed. (Boston: Wm. Crosby and H.P. Nichols, fifth edition, 1851)....

In 1789, Hosea Ballou attended the Baptist revival held in his hometown of Richmond, New Hampshire. Moved by the preaching during this event, which was touted as "The Great Reformation," Ballou, age 19, stepped forward to be baptized....

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....

Attributed to Aesop, Greek fabulist, c. 620-564 BCE. A shepherd boy, watching a flock of sheep near his village, grew lonely. He devised a way to get some attention and companionship by playing a trick on the villagers. One morning he yelled: "Wolf!...

Immanuel Kant, a key figure in the field of philosophy, was born in what is now Germany. He grew up in a Lutheran household, part of a family that particularly emphasized piety and vigorous religious devotion. At the age of 16, he enrolled at the University of Konigsberg, and went on to spend his...

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a leading 19th-century philosopher, father of the Transcendentalist movement. Before he became a philosophical and literary luminary, he was a Unitarian minister and served the Second Church in Boston between 1829 and 1832. In pursuing ministry, Ralph Waldo followed in the...

Permission to use "The Dog at the Well" in this curriculum granted by Marilyn McFarlane, author of Sacred Myths: Stories of World Religions (Sibyl Publications, 1996). One day Muhammad told his friends and followers a story about a thirsty man, a well, and a dog....

Adapted from "One Flower in a Field" by Joshua Searle-White, in Magic Wanda's Travel Emporium: Tales of Love, Hate and Things in Between (Boston: Skinner House, 2007). Once upon a time there was a field. It had dry grass, brambles and thistles, and high places and low places, and rocks scattered...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table and chalice Participant journals Writing materials, including paper, pens, pencils, color pencils, and markers Taking It Home handout Preparation for Activity Customize the Taking It Home section of this workshop and copy...

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 5, Conscientious Objection and the Draft Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Write on newsprint, and post: If you are or were a young person subject to Selective Service laws, have you considered or would you consider fili...

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, The Church and the Draft Resisters - Full Text Preparation for Activity Provide Handout 1 in advance to a person who has agreed to read it aloud to the group. Arrange for the presenter to deliver the sermon from a lectern or pulpit,...

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 2, UUA Resolutions on the Draft Handout 3, Social Witness and the UUA Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Read the current UUA guidelines for social witness. Find information, including graphs and outlines of the complete...