A Good Telling: Bringing Worship to Life with Story
by Kristin Maier
Skinner House Books. 2013

The art of storytelling can enrich any worship service. Whether you are reading stories from a picture book, telling them from memory, or preaching them from the pulpit, A Good Telling can help you choose meaningful stories and learn how to tell them in powerful ways. It explains foundational techniques and provides practice exercises. It also offers strategies for successfully incorporating audience participation with children and adults. Supplemental material at the back includes a workshop series, complete with five ready-to-go skill-building sessions and a model for peer-to-peer sharing of stories. In addition, a comprehensive list of resources shows where to find scores of appropriate stories to tell. Whether you are a novice or a storytelling veteran, A Good Telling is an important new addition to any worship leader’s library.

What’s in A GOOD TELLING?

Table Of Contents:

Introduction
Chapter 1   The Role of Story in Worship
Chapter 2   Choosing Stories for Worship
Chapter 3   Techniques for a Good Telling
Chapter 4   The Art of Preparation
Chapter 5   Listener Participation That Works
Chapter 6   Storytelling by Groups: Drama in Worship
Chapter 7   Starting a Tradition of Storytelling
in Your congregation
Chapter 8   Conclusion: Storytelling as a Spiritual Journey

Includes:
Storytelling Workshop Series
Additional Resources for Storytelling in Worship

Stories in A Good Telling

Rustle, Rustle, Rustle
Petula and the Brindleberry Flower
The Keeper of the Rain
The Island and the Moon
The Sun Goddess of the Heavens
Life Itself
Why the Chimes Rang
Prairie Tree

Purchase A Good Telling through the UUA Bookstore

Available also as an eBook through Amazon Kindle Store. and Google Play 

What’s being said about A Good Telling: Bringing Worship to Life with Story

Maier’s book is comprehensive and provocative, not just for religious professionals but for everyone who loves stories. For those who lead UU worship, it’s a must-read! Solid theological reflection, practical coaching, and eight great stories—it’s all here.

—Wayne Arnason and Kathleen Rolenz, co-authors, Worship That Works

Everyone knows the power of a good story. Kristin Maier’s thoughtful and useful guide puts that power within reach. A Good Telling puts the verb back into both stories and worship, reminding us that the good telling of stories is a sacred act that can make our worship come alive. This is a book as theological as it is practical; it belongs in the library of every worship leader, clergy and lay, seeking to engage heart and mind together. Many thanks to Kristin Maier for sharing her wisdom and skills and her stories with us.
—Karen Hering, author of Writing to Wake the Soul: Opening the Sacred Conversation Within

From seasoned preachers to occasional volunteers, worship leaders in many settings will welcome Kristin Maier’s thoughtful encouragement and practical advice to weaving stories effectively into well-crafted services. This book is a reliable guide to choosing appropriate material, practicing basic technique, and developing confidence. Urging “not perfection, but authenticity,” Maier shows how good stories well-told can invite listeners of all ages into a larger, sacred narrative. Whether reading aloud from a picture book, spinning a tale from memory, recasting a traditional piece or inventing something new, we are all story-makers. A Good Telling deepens our human instinct for narrative into creative spiritual practice.
—Victoria Safford, senior minister, White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church, Mahtomedi, Minnesota