(reprint from June 2007)
By John Daubney
For the past ten years [Ed. note: now 19 years] Trudy Ellis has lovingly and effectively been providing nursery care on Sundays so that adults with very small children have the opportunity to attend service; not an easy undertaking for parents. Trudy quietly goes about offering her gift of love and service through what she loves to do. She is one of many people in our congregation who although the may be low-key in what they do, nevertheless are vital in the smooth functioning of our church services and community.
“I first came to Unity in 1993 when we were meeting at the Madison Ave location and became a member of the church in April 1995. As for my involvement in service, I started out by helping with hospitality. I have always believed that when one becomes part of a group, one should be committed to that group. I started taking care of the children in the nursery in 1996 and I feel this has been my heart’s desire or my calling here at Unity. I believe that my role is to help give parents the opportunity to be fed spiritually, while the children I’ve had in the nursery are given the chance to both play and learn instead of the hard and unfair task of trying to be quiet in church. I’ve had some children learn how to use scissors and practice cutting and coloring while in nursery. I essentially take each child where they are at, because the nursery is completely child directed. It has been a great joy for me to watch each child develop into their own person here at Unity; and I am blessed to have had a role in that. Quite simply, I have come to understand the adage: it is better to give than receive.”
2015 Update: Trudy Ellis retires from her work as our “Nursery Lady” at the end of May. She has provided care for countless infants and small children over the past 19 years; each with great care and loving attention. As a church community we have been greatly blessed to have Trudy filling this important role for our children and we thank her from the bottom of our hearts. With Trudy’s retirement from nursery care we now have an opportunity for others to step forward in loving service to nurture and support the youngest members of our church community. We have a lovely nursery room filled with the wonderful toys and learning tools that we have collected over the years. We hope that one or more of you will notice the inner calling as Trudy did and step forward to bless and to be blessed by spending time with our children. And once again, we thank and bless Trudy for the dedication and love she has shared with our community.