What is the UU Puppet Ministry?

The Unitarian Universalist Puppet Ministry takes a tool used by many Christian Churches to tell the *Good News of Christianity and gives this a UU slant for telling our UU *Good News.

* Good News for Christian Churches usually refers to Bible Stories.

* Good News for Unitarian Universalist Churches include all six of our sources:

Wonder and Awe; Stories of Men and Women ; World Religions ;
Jewish and Christian Traditions ; Reason and Science ; and Nature .

Mission

Providing a tool for UU congregations to take Social Justice out into the streets of our communities where we can help facilitate needed change. Telling our stories through puppets helps reach people who might not ordinarily hear our stories.

How

By creating unique puppet plays with uniquely UU characters, such as the Rev. Bill Sinkford Puppet, congregations can take relevant social justice issues out to community functions, such as Spring and Fall Festivals and other community events. However, there are many ways to use puppets that are readily available. For example, The Good Neighbor is a modernization of The Good Samaritan Bible Story. Click Here for Puppet Scripts.

Why Puppets

Puppets are universally accepted by children and tend to capture their attention, imagination and hearts even in a busy area. Parents also love puppets. We've heard Kermit, the Frog, sing "It's Hard to Be Green" and we all knew it was about racial equality. Even the adults who weren't sure that they could endorse such controversy soon found themselves hooked on these Muppet characters. Was Sesame Street started by a UU?

Who Is Involved

People, just like you. To find out how you can bring Puppet Ministry to your church, check out our Workshop page.

Rev. Bill Sinkford has tentatively agreed to be the voice of Rev. Bill (see Rev. Bill Adventures) in a unique Puppet Play on Gender Issues. This puppet play has been planned for distribution on DVD. Stay tuned for more information on this...all things come in their own time...this one has been slow to perculate in that direction.

Anyone who is interested in puppets is encouraged to contact us!

• Do you do character voices and want to find a place to use them?

• Do you just like to mess with lighting and/or sound and trying to find a place to do that?

• Do you like to mess around with camera equipment, such as video camcorders?

• Do you like to play with puppets?

Well, you can do it all with us! Send an e-mail to Connie Dunn about your interest, please include your geographical location. We are housed in the basement workshop of Connie Dunn in Franklin, MA, so all our production work must happen in other venues. Naturally, those other venues would be easier in the New England area. However, puppets can travel...and they don't even need a ticket!! They, do, however, have to go into a container and some of them get a bit cranky when forced into small spaces with many other puppets, but they recover quickly.

When Did This Get Started

Rev. Bill was the first character created. He was created in 2006, and pretty much had some features created on the road to the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly (GA) in Saint Louis. Thanks goes to Diane Shipp (Greenville, SC), who took Rev. Bill on some of his first adventures at GA. And THANKS goes to the Rev. Bill Sinkford, president of the UUA, for blessing Rev. Bill and the project.

More Characters

As more characters are developed and created, they will be added to Puppet Characters. Some of these unique characters are waiting in line for their very own photo shoot. Someone tell their creator (Shhh! That's Connie, you know...don't make her mad...she might make you wait longer!) that they're getting cranky waiting!!

When

Like a fine wine, the Puppet Ministry will come more alive in its own time. It is alive and going at Hopedale Unitarian Parish. One church, one group. Hopefully, more churches and more people will come on board. If your church is interested, please contact me for a Puppet Workshop at connie_dunn@hotmail.com. For more information on what that entails, click on Workshop.

How You Can Be Involved

Contact Connie for a Puppet Workshop at connie_dunn@hotmail.com or find out more information on our Workshop Page.

Funding is always appreciated. Click HERE to go to an Order Page and DONATE any amount you choose! All is welcome!