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 - 4 of 4

  • This service was written by Rev. Clyde Grubbs and Mary Jane Holden, and adapted by Erika Hewitt. It uses readers—as many as ten, plus the Worship Leader—to tell the story of the Civil Rights movement as it unfolded over the course of a decade. This story was designed to be read while photos were...
    Script | By Clyde Grubbs, Mary Jane Holden, Erika Hewitt | January 4, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Activism, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, History, Humanism, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Solidarity
  • Today, the congregation will be singing hymns from our hymnals which are particularly precious to us as Unitarian Universalists. But today, being the last Sunday in February, is also part of Black History Month....
    Time for All Ages | By Martha Dallas | May 12, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Freedom, Juneteenth, Justice Sunday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Oppression, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Six Sources
  • Once upon a time there was a little girl named Rosa, who loved to read her Bible. One of her favorite stories was the story of Moses, and how he helped the Hebrew slaves gain freedom. Moses was a young man who lived in Egypt. He knew it wasn’t right for the Hebrew people to be the slaves of the...
    Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday
  • 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