Jennifer’s Story…

My journey to get to TJ was long. It took years of therapy to deal with my cognitive dissonance related to my conservative & religious upbringing and my progressive ideologies and values as an adult.                                                                                                                                

I was born baptist, raised catholic, and attended catholic school for most of my educational career. It was in my senior year at Sacred Heart that I started to question Catholicism and how it pertained to me. When I went to college I spent the first year seeking a spiritual home and found Campus Christian MInistry, which didn’t quite fit either. At that point I drifted away from religion.

My BFF and I would sit around philosophizing about religion and gods. She has grown up in a non religious home and holds much of the same beliefs that I hold. We talked about this idealistic church and religion where everyone could hold different beliefs, believe in a god or higher power or not, and still be respected and valued for their beliefs. 

When I met my husband I became re-immersed in catholicism, since his family is catholic. This is when that cognitive dissonance started to kick in. 

After having my first child I experienced intense postpartum anxiety and depression. I sought a therapist. We baptised my oldest son, Andrew, and I went through the motions. Somewhere between Andrew and James, my youngest, I drifted away from the catholic church again.

It was from the recommendation of my therapist that I took an online quiz to see which type of religion my values most aligned. My results were not surprising, but a bit odd. I was 7% or 6% of everything, except Unitarian Universalism and Quaker, which I received around 17% and 15% respectively. I had heard of Quaker and I wasn’t convinced that it was the right religion for me, but what is this Unitarian Universalism?

So, you can imagine my astonishment, when I conducted an internet search for this “Unitarian Universalism” and saw that this idea that I had in my head was actually a thing!! Holy moly! My next internet search was for local UU churches, which there are three of them in Louisville. I visited all three churches, but felt most at home at TJ. The energy at TJ pulled me in and I felt like I had been here for years. It was the fact that this beautiful silver haired congregation was PROGRESSIVE. It gave me hope for the future and comfort that I was with like-minded people.

This beautiful silver haired congregation also made me realize that I want my children at TJ and I want them to know and live the UU principles. It was this beautiful silver hair that also showed me that there was a need at TJ. It showed there was (and still is) a need for younger energy in the church. It showed a vacancy in the congregation. It presented obstacles that were unexpected. The opportunity presented to join/help lead a chalice circle for parents. We were all relatively new to UU and TJ. We became sort of a cohort and the chalice circle grew into a support group. Soon after joining the Parents’ Chalice Circle I joined the, then, Children & Youth Religious Exploration (CYRE) Committee. I soon discovered that my heart’s place was working with families to facilitate a community, support, and help them (and myself) grow as UUs individually and as families. This drive for family inclusion sparked the re-visioning, with the support of the DLRE, of the CYRE Committee into Family Ministry. Although I have now stepped down from Chairperson of the Family Ministry Program Planning Team I am still able to support and advocate for families through TJUC’s Family Group and my work on the Promotions Digital Media Team. 

As my spiritual journey continued, I became aware of the draw towards Paganism. I am in the process of helping establish a chapter of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans here at TJ. I plan to bring the same family centered work to these new areas of exploration at TJ.

I want to continue this work so that my family and other families can feel welcomed, supported, and heard at TJ. I continue this work so that others can, hopefully, walk through the doors and it will feel like home, just as it did for me.