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

  • The author suggests supplementing this Time for All Ages with a PowerPoint/slide show of interesting doors and asking the kids to imagine what is on the other side of each of them... Who here knows the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Can one of the kids in the room tell me how Lucy...
    Time for All Ages | By Molly Housh Gordon | March 18, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Beginnings, Bridging, Change, Direct Experience, Discernment, Ending, Hospitality, Journey, Secular, Self-Care, Transformation
  • Prop needed: An oversized pendulum. If this is hard to imagine, wrap yarn around a kickball sized ball and attach it to a long rod. Any weight suspended on a string from a stationary object can be a pendulum. Today, I want to talk to you about SCIENCE! Who here loves science?...
    Time for All Ages | By Tim Atkins | February 26, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Atheism, Balance, Humanism, Science, Secular, Self-Care
  • I’m going to talk about something really powerful today: HOPE. And first, I have a question. Have you ever hoped for something? … and did the thing you hoped for happen? [Take responses.] I think that hope is kinda like these: [Pass around basket of acorns and invite children to take one to hold...
    Time for All Ages | By Martha Dallas | May 12, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Autumnal Equinox, Caring, Change, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Growth, Hope, Lammas, Self-Care, Summer Solstice, Transformation, Vernal Equinox, WorshipWeb
  • There was a young man who grew up in China. Everyone said that he was so calm and peaceful, he should become a monk. Not wanting to displease his family and friends by telling the truth, the young man let them think he was indeed peaceful and calm. Inside, however, the young man was filled with...
    Story | By Denise Tracy | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Body, History, Multiculturalism, Peace, Self-Care, Taoism, Multiculturalism