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 - 6 of 6

  • Tip if you are video recording this story: you can have a clip of an adult stretching out their arm in one direction, then another clip of a different adult stretching out their arm in the other direction, so that when you edit it, it looks like they are stretching towards each other. It would be...
    Time for All Ages | By Karen G. Johnston | October 13, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #COVID19, 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Caring, Earth, Earth-Centered, Environment, Humanism, Nature, Responsibility, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • Today I’m going to tell a story about a girl who was searching for a porpoise. Now, as you probably know, a porpoise is a sea mammal in the dolphin family. Porpoises are smaller and shyer than dolphins. They are more difficult to find, but porpoises are very important. Minister (or other Worship...
    Time for All Ages | By Chrissy Bushyager | May 6, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Caring, Commitment, Discernment, Environment, Identity, Living Our Faith, Meaning, Purpose, Responsibility
  • This is the story of a young girl named Amelia. Amelia was fascinated by tales of people with super powers, like Wonder Woman, or magic like Harry Potter. She yearned to have powers like that so she could help people. Like the boy she often saw sitting all alone at lunch, looking very sad....
    Story | By Gail Sphar | April 28, 2019 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Change, Community, Compassion, Courage, Environment, Inclusion, Kindness, Leadership, Strength
  • How many of you like to go hiking? I have a number of walks nearby that I like. Hunger Mountain, Snake Mountain and others. Or if we don’t want to drive, my wife and I just go down to our local park where in just a few steps you can forget you’re in the city. Sometimes we bring our dog Smokey...
    Story | By Gary Kowalski | February 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Balance, Challenge, Direct Experience, Environment, Growth, Mindfulness, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Searching, Unitarian Universalism
  • A tale of salvation, ecology, and sharing. Characters Narrator Noelle Voice in a dream Noelle’s sisters Jane, Rain, and Elaine Friendly farmer(s) Ship builder(s) Numerous animals: dogs, cats, mice, cows, horses, frogs, etc. Act 1 (Noelle at center stage, sitting, covered in blanket and appearing...
    Story | By Christian Schmidt | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, Children's Sabbath, Christianity, Direct Experience, Earth Day, Earth-Centered, Environment, God, Interdependence, Justice Sunday, Service, Water Communion
  • Order of Service Welcome Chalice Lighting : "In our time of grief:" (#454, SLT) Opening Song: “We are a Gentle Angry People” vs. 1,2,6 (#170, SLT) Prayer: "A Prayer of Sorrow" (#478, SLT) Reflection A Silent Witnessing Song: “Comfort Me” (#1002, STJ) Sharing The Congregation Song: “Blue...
    Complete Service | By Darcey Elizabeth Hegvik Laine | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Direct Experience, Disaster, Earth, Earth-Centered, Environment, Unitarian Universalism