Growing up in TJ- Ellen’s memories…

I grew up at TJ starting in my early teen years. In our Sunday school classes, we remember it as fun, as opposed to my other educational times which were boring at best”. My classmates remember the fascination with visiting and learning about various churches and temples in our community (Chinese/Vietnamese, a Muslim temple, a Catholic mass and a discussion with a Rabbi). Our teachers “pulled out the best in everyone” so that they felt valued and looked forward to returning each Sunday. One of the “giving back” memorable experiences in my youth was for our Sunday school classes work together on a project in the Portland area, inside and out- cleaning up and painting an elderly residents’ home- a precursor to TJ’s Habitat for Humanity projects. How do I think TJ should create a similar opportunity for today’s youth in this kind of environment? As we learned years ago, through hands-on activities, teaching today’s youth about the world around them and how we compare to other religions- different in some ways but more in common than we know- is a start. Once our youth understand that we can join with others to make small but important changes, they will be living TJ’s principles, not just reading about them in Sunday school. Some people say that fighting for a cause should be left up to the individual, that the church should keep separate its efforts from trying to change “the state”. I respectfully disagree.

When our church was chartered in 1961, TJ passed a congregational resolution calling for racial integration of Louisville businesses. That was a big deal in the 60s! Our youth group rallied at an Indianapolis YMCA to protest that blacks were barred from swimming in its pool. We were escorted out, but we made our point. And in 1965, our minister and several TJ members went to Selma, Alabama at the call of Dr. Martin Luther King. Our values are part of everyday living and our TJ community expresses strength in purpose equal rights for everyone including working towards a fair voting system to make those changes happen, clean air to breathe, safe schools, adequate health care for everyone and the right to just and humane treatment in our country no matter how rich or poor or where we come from. By supporting one another in values we believe in, we can welcome partners to join us to strengthen our efforts to make a difference in this world. This church can be that for our youth even more than it was in my day. I celebrate our TJ youth of today for the changes they will create in our future.