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
- Tapestry of Faith stories: search or browse the list (over 450 stories for children, youth, and adults)
- Story anthologies for children from the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Bookstore.
Storytelling in Worship
✳ Pssst! Have you visited our Storytelling page? It's filled with tips, how-to's, and lots of resources!
Featured Books
- Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World
- Kindness: A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents
- A Lamp in Every Corner: A UU Storybook
- Mira and the Big Story
Search Words for Worship Services
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- Anger (1)
- Anti-Oppression (1)
- Beginnings (1)
- Bridging (1)
- Caring (2)
- Change (4)
- Choice (1)
- Community (2)
- Compassion (1)
- Compromise (1)
- Connections (1)
- Conscience (1)
- Dignity (1)
- Discernment (1)
- Earth (1)
- Ending (1)
- Equity (1)
- Forgiveness (1)
- Friendship (1)
- Generosity (2)
- God (1)
- Good (2)
- Growth (2)
- Happiness (1)
- Healing (1)
- Hope (2)
- Hospitality (1)
- Interdependence (1)
- Journey (1)
- Justice (2)
- Letting Go (2)
- Limitations (1)
- Love (2)
- Meaning (1)
- Nature (1)
- Pluralism (1)
- Purpose (1)
- Regret (1)
- Self-Care (2)
- Service (1)
- Spring (1)
- Strength (1)
- Tradition (1)
- Wisdom (1)
- Wonder (1)
- Youth/Teens (2)
- (-) Transformation (14)
- Amy Petrie Shaw (1)
- Caitlin Cotter Coillberg (1)
- Christopher Buice (1)
- Cindy Clarenbach (1)
- Emily C. Jones (1)
- Joanne Giannino (1)
- Jonathan Craig (1)
- Mandie McGlynn (1)
- Martha Dallas (1)
- Molly Housh Gordon (1)
- Ruth E Gibson (1)
- Tess Baumberger (1)
- Thomas Rhodes (1)
- Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, Young Adult Group (1)
- UU Church of Berkeley, Kensington, CA (1)
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14
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Remembering the proposed Unitarian Universalist Association's Article 2 values is as easy as counting on your fingers!Time for All Ages | By Emily C. Jones | April 19, 2024 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #Article2, Equity, Generosity, Interdependence, Justice, Love, Pluralism, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism
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Change is part of who we are.Story | By Caitlin Cotter Coillberg | May 19, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Change, Earth-Centered, Letting Go, Transformation, WorshipWeb, Worship
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At sundown on Saturday, the Sabbath finally over, Mary Magdalene and the other women who loved Jesus began to prepare spices to pour over his body to honor him and say a final farewell. They were up all night, cooking and talking, and remembering his life....Story | By Mandie McGlynn | October 23, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Communion (Christian), Easter, Tradition, Transformation
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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 WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Beginnings, Bridging, Change, Direct Experience, Discernment, Ending, Hospitality, Journey, Secular, Self-Care, Transformation
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A Free Retelling of the Shevirat haKeilim (from the Kabbalah) At the beginning of time, before anything else at all existed, Love was all there was, and it filled up everything in the whole universe. But Love got bored and lonely. There was no one to be in love with....Story | By Amy Petrie Shaw | August 1, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Choice, Good, Healing, Judaism, Justice, Meaning, Purpose, Transformation
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In Jewish tradition, the four chapters of the Book of Jonah are read aloud at Yom Kippur. Jonah is a minor prophet in the Hebrew Bible but he has a big message. Some of you may know his story. Jonah is sent by God to Nineveh to warn the people that if they do not change their ways they will be...Story | By Joanne Giannino | September 22, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anger, Community, Compromise, Forgiveness, God, Good, Judaism, Transformation, Yom Kippur
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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 WorshipWebTagged 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
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There once was a little girl who was walking beside a creek when she happened to see a frog that looked very sad. “I wonder why that frog is so sad?” she asked herself. Then she remembered a story once told by her mother about how a girl had kissed a frog and how the frog had magically turned...Story | By Christopher Buice | April 14, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Friendship, Happiness, Love, Transformation
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Leader 1: This is a special night – Christmas Eve, the night before we celebrate the birth of a Jewish leader whose life and words have changed the minds and hearts of many to the side of goodness, generosity and caring. Leader 2: In honor of that birth, tonight we tell the story of a man whose...Script | By Tess Baumberger, Cindy Clarenbach | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Conscience, Dignity, Generosity, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism
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There are two things we can learn from a daffodil to help ourselves and each other.Time for All Ages | By Ruth E Gibson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Change, Earth, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, Growth, Nature, Spring, Strength, Transformation, Vernal Equinox, Wonder
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Overview: A Soulful Sundown worship on abundance, exploring the interwoven nature of emptiness and fullness Theme or Background: spiritual abundance and the cyclical paradox of emptiness and fullness Materials Involved/Altar: set in our usual way with fabric and strips....Complete Service | By UU Church of Berkeley, Kensington, CA | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Caring, Direct Experience, Limitations, Transformation, Wisdom
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Overview: New Year Ritual or Transition Ritual Theme or Background: Burn an effigy to welcome the new year, or any major transition....Complete Service | By Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, Young Adult Group | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth-Centered, Letting Go, Life Transition, Regret, Transformation, Youth/Teens
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Overview: Lead people in a reflection of where they are, or where they have just been. Then turn personal dreams into community dreams. Theme or Background: To look at our dreams for the future, and make those dreams collective dreams, Based on the most famous line Dr. Martin Luther King's most...Complete Service | By Jonathan Craig | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Community, Connections, Direct Experience, Hope, Secular, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Youth/Teens
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Once upon a time there was an old man who lived alone with his grandson in a dirty hovel. Everything around them was filthy (you can imagine!) One day a stranger appeared and gave the young child a beautiful lily. The boy took it home and placed it on a windowsill in his house....Story | By Thomas Rhodes | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Easter, Service, Transformation