Interfaith Youth Alliance’s Summer Immersion Experience
By Grayce Burke, an Interfaith Youth Alliance student.
The Interfaith Youth Alliance (IYA) is an organization that brings young people together to promote respect, understanding and appreciation for the integrity of each other’s beliefs, cultures, and traditions, through interfaith dialogue, education, and activities. The IYA equips youth with the tools necessary to make positive change in their local communities and future workplaces. Visit the IYA website for more information.
FUMC was delighted when the IYA reached out to ask if we would be a stop on the Summer Immersion Experience tour because of our interfaith campus (we currently are home to the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, a satellite campus of the Islamic Center of Southern California, First Congregational Church of Pasadena, and Iglesia Comunidad Misionera).
Please enjoy the following blog post by IYA student Grayce Burke about her experience during the program.
IYA students tour the FUMC Sanctuary with Pastor Nau-Mahe, Ashley Slade (FUMC Coms Director), Emily Catalano (Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center Youth Director) and Comet the dog.
From July 13th to July 17th, members of the Interfaith Youth Alliance Summer Immersion Experience had the opportunity to visit fourteen houses of worship in five days, including First United Methodist Church of Pasadena. The stop was a favorite among our participants for a plethora of reasons, from the beautifully ornate architecture to meeting Comet the dog, but mostly because we were all inspired by the harmonious relationship between the church, the Islamic Center of Southern California, and the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center. Their ability to all worship under the same roof encapsulated the respectful co-existence that was the focus of our week.
The first faith tradition that we learned about was Native American spirituality. We participated in a drum circle hosted by Sisters of the One Drum, where they even invited us to bring songs from our own cultures to the drums. We drank traditional hot chocolate and Costco lemonade and sang and danced to the lulling beat of Mother and Auntie, the names of the two drums that decided to come that day. It was an incredibly eye-opening experience, because for many of us the only knowledge we had of Native American culture was from the media, which often misrepresents the complexities of Indigenous traditions.
In addition to Native American culture, we also got to explore local holy spaces of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, Islam, and Zoroastrianism. They all taught us about their cultures, and listened when we shared about ours. We got to meet an incredibly diverse range of people, from Buddhist elder who spent time in a Japanese Internment Camp as a boy during World War II to young men and women our age passionately reigniting Zoroastrian culture that was once hidden out of fear of persecution. Each interaction was thought-provoking and left us all pondering things bigger than ourselves in deep discussions in when we got back to our dorms.
Students explore the FUMC campus, including the chapel.
We also got to help at a food bank through Pico Union Project at the oldest synagogue in LA. We learned about food deserts and poverty in the SoCal area, but we also got to witness the resilience and love that struggling people were still able to exude. It was bittersweet, but it was nice to feel like we were making a positive impact on our local Californian community.
Although the houses of worship were all very diverse in the way they ate, sang, and dressed, we soon learned that every single one built their foundation on the value of helping others. Oftentimes we like to demonize people we don’t know much about, when really, if you take the time to learn, there are more similarities than differences to be found. And the similarities are great, but the differences are just as, if not more, beautiful.
Emily Catalano (PJTC Youth Director) showed the students the torah and explained some of the significance behind its design.
We are extremely grateful for the time that First United Methodist Church gifted us, and we hope to come back again soon, whether to join in worship, buy Rose Parade tickets, or just say hi to Comet again. From the bottoms of our hearts, thank you!