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A publication of the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council

Connect ing Uni tar ian and Universa l is t congregat ions around the g lobe

Volume 18 Number 2 Autumn 2011

Inside News...

Unitarians of Bujumbura, Burundi

Dedicate New Church Home

’s newly-dedicated church building—the first UU churchst Africa.

(Continued on page 3)

By Rev. JIll MCAllIsteR, PeOPle’s

ChuRCh Of KAlAMAzOO, MI

D espite usual hardships andrenewed political tensions in the

country, sunday, August 21, 2011 wasa joyful day in Bujumbura, Burundi asthe Assemblée des Chrétiens Uni-tariens du Burundi (ACuB), dedicatedits brand new church building (the firstuu church built in east Africa) andordained its first minister, the Rev.Ndagijimana fulgence. Rev. Ndagiji-mana is a former Dominican novitiateand current program manager with theuK-based NGO CORD, working onissues of conflict resolution and re-integration of former rebels intoBurundian society.

The Mission of the Unitarian Universalist Partner Cand congregations in all other countries whe

By RIChARD vAN DuIzeND

UUPCC Board Chair

Reflections

Numbering nearly 70members, the Bujumburacongregation has grownsteadily since its foundingsix years ago. With theirAmerican partner church,People’s Church of Kalama-zoo, MI, they have initiatedseveral projects to help buildthe civil society of Burundi,address local needs and raisethe visibility of liberal reli-gion in Burundi and the sur-rounding region. One ofthese is a micro-lending pro-gram which serves around 60 families,including training in basic accountingand literacy. With help and support

Bujumburain all of Ea

Virtual Conference Calls, information 2

Fall Ideas for Partners 3

“Back to the Future” Osterman sermon 4

Gretchen Thomas receives Cornish Award 6

New Balázs Scholar 7

Social Media 8

Andrea’s Story 9

Sustaining Stewards Award Form 10

Reports, News & Travel Stories 11–18

Pilgrimage Postings 18

UUPCC Travel Services 20–21

Gift Form / “How to Send Money” 22

Membership Form / UUPCC Contact Lists 23

Vision & Mission 24


One of the speakers at the GeneralAssembly in Charlotte last June

was Imam feisal Abdul Rauf ofMasjid al-farah, a mosque in lowerManhattan. he observed that most ofthe friction between world religions iscaused by people who do not under-stand their own faith. for me, partner-ship has provided a door to better

understanding and appreciation of myown faith.

It has been a joy and an enlighten-ment to realize that unitarian univeral-ism is not culturally limited. While wehave no creed, standard liturgy, orBook of Common Prayer, the valuesencompassed in our seven principlesinspire and offer strength on every con-tinent, in cities and in villages, for peo-ple who have had the opportunity topursue a formal education and for thosewho have not, and among people for

hurch Council is to foster and support partner church relationships between North American congregations re partnering is sought and welcomed. This includes countries where partners are already active.

Calls are not yet scheduled at PCNews press time. Stay ‘tuned’ on PCC-Chat

V i r t u a L C o n f e r e n C e C a L L s

Reflections

(Continued from page 1)

whom the daily necessities of life arenot an issue and those for whom food,shelter, clean water, and basic healthcare are constant concerns. While theorders of service vary widely, theyearning for justice, equity and com-passion in human relations, the accept-ance of differences, and the free andresponsible search for truth and mean-ing all echo from segesvár, shillong,and Chicago. the theological questionsthat propelled unitarian clergy andcongregations in transylvania 450years ago, also propel the unitarianreligious leaders and congregations inBurundi and Indonesia today. socialjustice and human rights drove toribioQuimada on Negros Island, the Philip-pines, and also drive Mark Kiyimba inKampala, uganda.

2

issn 1936-0517

Partner ChurCh news is the newsletter ofthe UU Partner Church Council, an independentaffiliate organization of the Unitarian UniversalistAssociation, started in 1993.This newsletter supports the mission and goalsof the Partner Church Council. Editor: Nancy DaughertyPublication Advisors: Barbara Kres Beach,Cathy Cordes, Leon Hopper, Emery Lazar, andPat Rodgers.Articles for the next newsletter may be mailed tothe editor at PO Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730; or emailed to [email protected]. Telephone: 781-275-1892 Fax: 781-271-9254The UU Partner Church Council is a 501(c)(3)charitable tax-exempt organization.

For information about membership, contactCathy Cordes in the UUPCC office,

PO Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730.

For any other information, contactthe UUPCC office at 781-275-1710, or

[email protected], or PO Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730

Visit the web site at: www.uupcc.org

Next PCC Deadline:

January 6, 2012

(

I have witnessed the celebration ofthe natural world and the interdepend-ence of all forms of life: in the wreathof wheat suspended from the ceiling ofpainted wooden tiles in the nearly 800-year-old church in transylvania that ispartnered with my home congregationin Oakton, virginia, in the newspapercolumns decrying the despoliation ofthe Khasi hills by the minister of ourpartner congregation in Meghalaya; andin the efforts to promote sustainableagriculture on Negros Island. I havelearned that if we allow it, ours is afaith—not just an agreeable intellectual

to register for a

[email protected] or cat 781-275-1710.

Include * your name * attend. You will be sendays before the call (paccess to email).

Feel free to submit quemail: [email protected]

Autumn 2011 •• www.uupcc.org

(

or on the UUPCC websit

Topic suggestions from UUPCC m

Listen to Past VirtuaL

Here's the link—http://www.uupcc.to the UUPCC’s conference call pathese recent calls:

Wednesday, May 11, 2011annual Conference Call with the

Presenters: Richard Van Duizend

Tuesday, May 3, 2011Community Capacity Building

Speaker Panel: Dick Ford, Nihal ACordes

Wednesday, March 9, 2011international update

Speakers: Peter Morales and Eric

... as well as calls further in the pasupcoming calls.

exercise. It is a force that can sustain usthrough hardship and even oppression.

Partnership is not always easy. But,applying uu values to work throughcultural and language differences,develop personal friendships and con-gregational relationships, engage injoint efforts, and celebrate our commonhumanity has been the way I havefound to internalize the words of theuuA covenant statement and begin tounderstand my religion. ••

In faith and friendship,Dick Van Duizend

CaLL, send an email to

all the office 9–5 Eastern Time weekdays

city/state * the topic/date of the call you willt an email with the call-in information 2–3lease let the office know if you don’t have

estions to the speakers ahead of time byrg.

Partner Church News

e under “Resources”

embers are always welcome!

ConferenCe CaLLs

org/confcalls.htmlge which has further links to

PCC Leadership

and Cathy Cordes

ttanayake (via Skype), Cathy

Cherry

t, and information about

http://www.uupcc.org/confcalls.html

http://www.uupcc.org

mailto:[email protected]



[email protected]

Unitarians of Burundi


By CAthy CORDes

From the exeCUtive direCtor

Fall Ideas for Partners

•

•


Rev. Ndagijimana Fulgence and Rev. Jill McAllisterparticipated in the dedication ceremony.

www.uupcc.org

from other American and europeanuu’s a cottage industry in palm-oilsoap production has also been estab-lished.

In April 2010, the ACuB partici-pated in a Community Capacity Build-ing workshop jointly sponsored by theuuPCC, the ICuu and the uuA Inter-national Resources Office.

One of the top three prioritiesemerging from the workshop was thebuilding of a church home, so theACuB asked their Kalamazoo partnerchurch to help. Between July 2010 andthe dedication of the building lastmonth, nearly $30,000 was raised fromthe partner church and several otherNorth American and european congre-gations, plus a $15,000 loan, whichallowed design and construction to pro-ceed on schedule. (Contributions tohelp repay the loan are still welcomed!)Partner Church minister and ICuu pro-gram coordinator the Rev. Jill McAllis-ter was able to participate in the dedica-tion ceremony and had the honor of

Partner Church News

helping to ordain the new minister.harry seymour, member of the uusociety of Ridgewood, N.J., which hasalso supported the ACuB, was able toattend and participate in the ceremoniesas well.

the new church building is locatedin the Kanyosha neighborhood ofBujumbura, a growing ‘suburb,’ whichexperiences many of the problemsassociated with rural migration to thecity. Domestic violence rates in thisarea are some of the highest in thecountry, and as a way of immediatelysettling into their new home, the con-gregation has undertaken another jointproject with their partner church whichwill address domestic violence bydesigning and offering relationship andanger management training for men.

the Bujumbura congregation hasalso already inspired and supportedseveral satellite uu groups in otherBurundian towns as well as in Kigali,Rwanda. together with a growing uucongregation in Congo Brazzaville, theACuB has initiated the creation of aregional, french-speaking east African


uu network, the Association Unitari-enne Francophone Africaine (AufA)which hopes to work in partnershipwith a coalition of North Americancongregations in support of franco-phone African uuism in general. ••

I thought it might be beneficial at thebeginning of a new church year to

review some ideas for partner activi-ties. If you’ve been in partnership for10 years or more, remember that thereare new members in the church(including children!) and maybe newstaff people who need to be introducedto your partnership. Do you have a bul-letin board for photos and letters? Isthere room in the Religious educationschedule to use the “Who are Our Part-ners?” curriculum? —it’s available forfree on our website. there are otheractivities for youth groups on our web-site, as well as reading lists, sermons,

and previous editions of the newsletterto help give you ideas.

here are a few others ideas to sparkrenewed interest here and in your part-ner congregation.

• Connect your Women’s Groups ifyou each have one. severalchurches with India partners haveconnected with the Women’s Wingin Northeast India. the Women’sWing there is working on maternaland child health issues and onawareness and reduction of domes-tic abuse. In the Philippines severalof the women’s groups are workingon similar issues. And the transyl-

vanian Women’s Association isplanning a conference to focus onsuch issues in October 2012 (detailson page 18). Maybe a few womenfrom your church would like toattend. uuPCC is coordinatingtravel to the conference and willalso help you continue for a fewdays visit in your village.

Ask each person on your steeringcommittee to take one month and beresponsible for a short article inyour newsletter. you could also asksomeone each month to write a let-ter to your partner about what ishappening that month at yourchurch.

Plan on sending Christmas cards inDecember—enough for every

3


UUPCC international WorshiP serviCe

“Back to the Future” by the Rev. Justin Osterman

Excerpt from the sermon “Back to the Future,”delivered by the Rev. Justin Osterman on June23, 2011 during the UUPCC International Worship Service at UUA General Assembly inCharlotte, NC.

l ike most of you, I suspect, the con-gregation that I serve has a Partner

Church. Our congregation’s PartnerChurch in várfalva, transylvania wasbuilt as a Roman Catholic Church in1320, almost 700 years ago. the congre-gation embraced unitarianism in 1613and they have been worshipping in thesame building for almost 400 years.

Imagine that! the spanish settledflorida 1565, the french settled Canadain 1604, and the english established acolony in Jamestown, virginia in 1607.By the time the Pilgrims landed at Ply-mouth, Massachusetts in 1620, the unitarians in várfalva had been wor-shiping together for seven years. the

4

CaLL for traVeL gr

oCtoBer 15 DeaDLine

The UU Partner Church Council is pleasUUPCC Travel Grant Program. Grants othat benefits partnership.The purpose oflyst for travel and programs that would oa difference in the lives of individuals anships. Priority is given to overseas indivitheir partners in the US and Canada. Repreach or otherwise broadcast to the widvalue of the UU Partner Church movem

Examples of past applications include: ysabbatical travel to visit partners, travel tBuilding programs, visits from overseas munication, and youth/adult travel to volages associated with overseas UUs.

The application process is open to all qutions, both overseas and in North America partnered congregation and receive thPartner Church Committee Chair.

Deadlines for the two funding rounds are2012.

Travel Grant Applications are available at

Questions? Call (781) 287-1710 or ema

Pilgrims came to American seeking reli-gious freedom, while the unitarians ofeastern europe had already enjoyed thatfreedom for over a half a century.

And they enjoyed that freedom, inpart, because of the visionary leadershipof unitarian King John sigismund. Butthey also enjoyed that freedom becausea benevolent power protected them fromreactionary religious forces that wouldhave stamped out the unitarian heresywithin Christianity if they could have.that benevolent protector was the Mus-lim Ottoman empire.

Almost 500 years ago, Martinluther accidentally launched the Protes-tant Reformation in europe. As euro-pean Christianity split apart into numer-ous denominations, our religiousforbears represented the most progres-sive theological wing of that reformmovement. the ideas they championedwere not entirely new. the theological


ant aPPLiCations

marCh 15 DeaDLine

ed to solicit applications for thef up to $500 are available for travel these grants is to serve as a cata-therwise not occur but would maked their congregational partner-duals who would like to travel to visitcipients are encourage to write,er community the benefits and

ent.

outh leadership travel, ministerialo support Community Capacitytravelers to enhance partner com-unteer in schools, camps or orphan-

alified individuals and congrega-a. Applicants must be affiliated with

e endorsement of their minister or

October 15, 2011 and March 15,

www.uupcc.org/tripservices.html.

il [email protected].

concepts at the core of unitarianism hademerged within Christianity earlier, buthad been repressed as heresies by theCatholic Church; ideas such as the one-ness of God, the humanity of Jesus, anduniversal salvation. even among thereformers of Christianity, these ideaswere too liberal, and early unitarianswere persecuted. Many, threatened withdeath for their ideas by both theCatholics and lutheran or Calvinistreformers, fled to the safest part ofeurope that they could find. And thatsmall corner of europe was transylva-nia.

transylvania was a safe havenbecause the Muslim Ottoman turksextended their protection over the king-dom and created the conditions underwhich unitarianism could emerge, freefrom persecution. the Ottomans did thisfor two reasons. first, the theology ofthe unitarians, emphasizing God as Oneand Jesus as an anointed religiousteacher, was more consistent with Islamthan the traditional Christian view ofJesus as God. second, it was in theOttoman interests to foster religious dis-cord within Christian europe, as thisweakened the forces that might other-wise try to drive the Ottomans out ofeurope.

you see, 450 years ago, Christianitywas decidedly intolerant of religiousdiversity, as evidenced by the CatholicInquisition that drove Jews and Muslimsout of spain, and a hundred years ofwars across the european continent thatpitted Protestant and Catholic kingdomsagainst each other for dominance. Chris-tianity was at war with itself and thatwar tore europe apart and claimed thelives of untold thousands of innocentpeople. extremist religious forces, tryingto impose their views on other people,waged brutal campaigns to stamp outdissent and seize power over vast swathsof territory. As unitarians, we are thedirect beneficiaries of Muslim tolerancetowards other faiths. Without the protec-tion of the Ottoman turks, our faithmight never have had the chance toestablish a foothold in europe and ourliberal religious views might never havesurvived to help shape contemporaryculture.

Partner Church News


http://www.uupcc.org/tripservices.html


Partner Church News

“Back to the Future”


Fall Ideas for Partners


family in your partner village. findout first if they celebrate Christmas—the churches in the uuNeI donot. But they have many other daysthat are special days and you cansend greetings on those daysinstead.

• Ask your ministers here and there toexchange a prayer to be read duringa worship service in each church.this can be a very special way toconnect during worship service.Chalice lightings are another way.the ICuu website www.icuu.nethas a resource of chalice lightingsfrom uus around the world.

• PCC Chat is a great source foranswers to questions and sharingideas that work. If you are notenrolled on PCC Chat, just send anemail to Pat Rodgers ([email protected]) and she will addyou.

• It’s not too early to start planningfor travel to visit your partners.


In April, this charming choir was presented by the Anniethe afternoon service.at the 58th Annual Conference of songs was about gratitude—their gratefulness to the divConference was well attended—about 1500 people. It w

there is a trip to India planned forMarch 2012 and two trips to thePhilippines. transylvania has publictrips that anyone can join and wecan help you organize one just foryour congregation. see the travelsection (p. 20) in this newsletter fordetails. Or visit www.uupcc.org/travel to see the guide for trip coor-dinators that will help you with the details.

Whatever stage your partnership is in,uuPCC is here to help you maintainthe energy and inspiration for partner-ship in your church. Our religious com-munities benefit from the expandedunderstanding of and personal connec-tion to other cultures. these relation-ships help to break down barriers andbuild the bridges that can lead to globalpeace. the work you do in interna-tional partnership is a vital part of ouruu vision for our congregations andfor the world. We honor your work andyour commitment and want to help inany way we can. Please let us hearfrom you. ••

Margaret Barr Children’s Village children duringthe UUNEI Youth Wing. The theme of their ine and to their sponsors and wellwishers.Theas hosted by the Kharang church

Ottoman religious tolerance wasactually characteristic of Islam 500 yearsago. the Qur’an prohibits coercion inreligion. All the early Muslim caliphatesand empires offered protection to non-Muslim monotheists, like Jews, Chris-tians, and unitarians. for Muslims, solong as a person’s faith was rooted in theBible or embraced the Oneness of God,that person’s religious views wereunderstood as complementary to Islam.

this tolerance in religion practicedby the Ottomans greatly impacted ourown faith. We remember King Johnsigismund as the only unitarian king inhistory, but we celebrate him for issuingthe Act of Religious tolerance and free-dom of Conscience in 1568, in which hestipulated that, in his kingdom, “preach-ers shall preach and explain the Gospeleach according to his understanding ofit, and if the congregation likes it, well.If not, no one shall compel them . . .butthey shall be permitted to keep apreacher whose teaching they approve.therefore none of the superintendents orothers shall abuse the preachers, no oneshall be reviled for his religion by any-one, according to the previous statutes,and it is not permitted that anyoneshould threaten anyone else by impris-onment or by removal from his post forhis teaching.”

for many years, American unitari-ans have celebrated this historic act oftolerance, imagining that it was theunique insight of a handful of liberalreformers within Christianity. however,over the past twenty years, in large partbecause of our Partner Church programthat connected American unitarian universalists with our unitarian cousinsin transylvania, scholars have come tounderstand that the genesis of this ideais more complicated than we had imagined. ...

The complete text of the Rev. Osterman’sGA sermon is available for download fromthe UUPCC website at www.uupcc.org/docs/sermons/osterman_sermon_GA_2011.pdf. Audio recording of the UUPCC 2011GA Worship Service is available for pur-chase through the UUA at http://www.soft-conference.com/UUA/sessionDetail.asp?SID=255678.

5

http://www.uupcc.org/travel

http://www.uupcc.org/travel



http://www.icuu.net

http://www.softconference.com/UUA/sessionDetail.asp?SID=255678



http://www.uupcc.org/docs/sermons/osterman_sermon_GA_2011.pdf



General assemBly

The Rev. Gretchen Thomas Receives the 2011

Louis C. Cornish “Living the Mission” Award

The following words were spoken by GretchenThomas in response to receiving the CornishLiving-the-Mission Award at the UUPCCAnnual Meeting on June 25, 2011.

e verywhere this week, uus aretalking about the importance of

partnerships and how crossing spiritualand geographic and multicultural bor-ders can help us build a religion thatwill be more in tune with our time. solast night I was asked what advice Ihave for the next generation of partnerswho will be building a more main-stream movement than we’ve been upto now. I’ve chosen these:• Partners need not think alike, or actalike, to love each other well;• Good intentions are not enough. It isour job to step up, to build a connec-tion as trusted colleagues, and to recon-nect again and again;• In times of change, stay true to yourself—but make sure it is your best self.• It is never too late to be what you’rebecoming; and • together you can do what you cannever do alone.

And, of course there is always the cen-tral point of our work: We need oneanother—because together we can dowhat we could never do alone.

We all know these things, and webelieve them, but how well do we prac-tice them? And how well do we helpour partners practice them? I measureour success by whether or not, year byyear, the world is being transformed byour work. I know that being in partner-ship continues to transform me.

I think that where we have heldwell to our partnership commitmentsyear after year, it is in connections thatare working well on our souls, that letus grow into who we have been long-ing to be. What a surprise! …that theway to a new lightness of being and alarger generosity of spirit is throughconnection with transylvanians fiercely

6

involved in preserving their culture andtheir faith. …that the way to findingour souls lies through connecting withtribal people in the Khasi hills orPhilippine faith healers, or protestingugandans, or the heirs of NorbertÇapek.

One caution I have is that it seemsto me that among the unitarians anduniversalists around the world, theAmericans are the most conservative.Most of us American uus suffer frombeing too isolated and too locked intoour own worldviews. so we find it veryhard, much harder than our partners do,to let being in partnership change us.

Of course partnership work itselfcan be terribly hard. Perhaps what ishardest is how it stretches us—espe-cially how it stretches us in ways wenever expected or invited. Many of usset out in the early 1990s for Ceaus-escu-ravaged Romania, expecting ourpresence there might “comfort theafflicted” and found instead that beingwith the transylvanian unitarians wasafflicting our too-comfortable selves.Being in partnership has stretched us toconfront our materialism and our eco-logical ignorance. It has demanded thatwe give up the seductive temptations ofsympathy and cynicism.

And it offers us the treasures ofknowing our history and teaches us thathow we listen is more important than

Richard Van Duizend, Gretchen Thomas, andHarold Babcock at the presentation of the Award.


what we say. It has certainly helped mebecome spiritually mature by blastingme out of my mistakenly choosinginnovation over tradition, and my stub-bornly valuing reason over faith. And,thank goodness, being partnered is cur-ing us of the obnoxious blend of inno-cence and arrogance that too oftencharacterizes Americans travelingabroad.

like many of you, I have vivid rec-ollections of the sights and sounds, thetastes and insights of my early partner-ship experiences. I felt compelled towrite about them, because these eventsin our lives were not only unforget-table, they were life-changing. thebook that resulted has led, in turn, tothis award. One transylvanian told me,“Don’t tell anyone, but for a long time Idid not believe North American uuswere ever going to learn to understandus. But Walking in Others’ Shoesproves, slowly but truly, that accept-ance, honesty, and trust have beendeveloping. It testifies that justice is atwork among us.”

I’ll end by saying again: It’s never toolate to be what we are becoming. A lotof new partners wonder if it wouldn’tbe better to ease into their partnershipcommitments one year at a time. theyhaven’t yet learned that there is a greatfreedom in our long-term commitments—the freedom of taking all the timeyou need to get it right. It took the sanJose and homoródszentmárton congre-gations sixteen years to become thepartners they had always longed to be.But now they have done it and theywill not turn back. Ask me—it’s a won-derful story with the teenagers of bothcongregations and their computers atthe centre.

the life-changing differences ourwork is making in the lives of congre-gation members east and West are theultimate reward of our partnershipwork, because: together, we can dowhat we could never do alone. thankyou for this award, and thank you forthe partnership work you do—each andevery one of you. ••

Partner Church News

New Balázs Scholar at Starr King School

By ARlIss uNGAR

This year’s Balázs Scholar, Transylvanian Uni-tarian minister Zoltán (Zoli) Kopándi-Benczédi,and his family have arrived in Berkeley, Califor-nia to begin a year of study at Starr King Schoolfor the Ministry, and to preach at UnitarianUniversalist churches in the San Francisco BayArea and throughout the country.

Rev. Kopándi-Benczédi says,

“Ihave been a unitarian ministerfor the past 10 years in the dias-

pora of hunyad County. I am minister-ing to four congregations, includingDéva, where our founder, Dávid ferencdied in prison. I became minister in anarea where the unitarians are a doubleminority, both ethnically and reli-giously. Besides this, the congregationsare living in a socially neglected area,so the day-by-day life of the people isnot easy. I think that being a minister inthis area it is a little bit different fromothers. It is quite a challenge to find thebest ways of ministry in a multiculturalenvironment.

“I have a family: my wife Ildikó isa fashion and personal stylist, and myson Gusztáv is 11 years old, and a big

Partner Church News

soccer fan and player. I applied for theBalázs ferenc scholarship for two rea-sons: first, I felt that in the u.s. I willhave the opportunity to study things Ican “plant” back home in my congrega-tions, and secondly I felt that after tenyears, it is time to renew my theologi-cal and spiritual “backpack” in such aninspiring environment as starr Kingschool for the Ministry. I would like tostudy the “art” of “making a church” ina multicultural environment. I’d like tounderstand more about the relationshipbetween the majority and minority. Iam interested to learn about the missionthe uus are mak-ing, the way peopleget attracted to theuuism, and becomemembers of thechurch. there arecourses offered atthe Graduate theo-logical union, [ofwhich starr Kingschool is a mem-ber] and there is apossibility of fieldstudy.”


zoli’s preaching schedule in the sanfrancisco Bay Area while school is insession is almost filled. During his win-ter break he will mostly visit his partnerchurches, and take a winter intensivecourse in Chicago at Meadville lom-bard. But if your congregation wouldlike the wonderful opportunity to hostthe family for a time in June 2012before General Assembly in Phoenixand have zoli preach, meet with yourPartner Church Committee, and/ormake a Powerpoint slide presentationon transylvania and its unitarianchurch life, please contact RenéRadusky ([email protected]). ••.

the future of unitarianism in transylvania

demands dynamic religious leadership...

The Balázs Scholars Program at Starr King Schoolfor the Ministry, our UU seminary in Berkeley, Cali-fornia enhances the religious leadership of Transyl-vanian Unitarian ministers by each year supportinga minister chosen by the Transylvanian UnitarianChurch to study at the school, and to preach in theSan Francisco Bay Area and throughout the country.Your help is needed to sustain this tangible connec-tion to our Unitarian heritage, now in its seventeenthyear.

Balázs Scholars are the new young religious leadersin Transylvania. They serve on the TransylvanianUnitarian Church Consistory (Board of Trustees),president of the ministers’ association, teach at theseminary, are Deans of the Districts, edit the Unitar-

ian newspaper, as well as serve in the parish and aschaplain.

The program, which costs over $40,000 each year, isfunded by donations from individuals and churches,honoraria where the scholar speaks, and church col-lections. The Balázs Committee is especially gratefulfor the $5,000 donation each year from the UU Part-ner Church Committee. Your financial help is neededto sustain this important program. Please encourageyour congregation to take a collection for the BalázsScholars Program, and please write a personalcheck to Starr King School, with the notation“Balázs.” Send to Starr King School, 2441 Le ConteAvenue, Berkeley, CA 94709. To donate online seewww.sksm.edu/onlinegifts. For more information onthe Balázs Scholars Program seewww.sksm.edu/graduates/balazs_scholars.php orcontact Arliss Ungar at [email protected]

7



http://www.sksm.edu/graduates/balazs_scholars.php

http://www.sksm.edu/onlinegifts

By CAthy PeRRy

Social Media: Explore New Ways to Connect!

—

w

explore new ways of connectingwith u*us around the globe using

social media and turn communicationwith your partners into an interactivedialog! Communication is both one ofthe keys to successful partnership andhas historically been one ofthe challenges facing part-ners across geographicaland cultural distances. hereon the leading edge of the twenty-firstcentury we are blessed with a host ofnew tools to build social networks thatcan both deepen and widen interna-tional partnership.

Beyond what are now standardslike email and websites, new opportuni-ties are emerging for photo- and video-sharing, posting and linking content,and interactive discussions on socialnetworking sites like facebook. Real-time voice and video interaction withtechnologies like skype are opening upnew possibilities for us to engage withour partners and expand our network ofconnections, building the global com-munity that is at the heart of our PartnerChurch vision and mission.

social media are not only moreinteractive, built as they are on webtechnologies and available to mobileusers, they are also more readily avail-able to ordinary people and are morelikely to be available in the mostremote locations at fairly low cost.they bring communication and interac-tion within the reach of individuals and

“find us

—follo

8

groups literally all around the world.the possibilities the future holds

are enormous, but for now, I will con-centrate on just a few examples that arealready making a difference in our abil-ity to interact with our partners world-wide. the uuPCC facebook pagewhich was announced as “open for

business” in the springissue of this newsletter,now has 188 members from19 countries, using 5 lan-

guages. People are sharing photos,videos, news of activities, their experi-ences and issues in their own countriesand regions, as well as news aboutopportunities for pilgrimage and otherexchanges on a wide variety of topics. Ivisit this site frequently for the latestnews from my u*u friends in transyl-vania, the Khasi hills, the Philippines,hong Kong and around the unitedstates and Canada, as well. I’ve beensurprised and pleased to meet some ofmy u*u friends from spain, Mexico,Norway, Denmark, finland, and Ger-many there as well!

What a big yet small, wild andwonderful world we inhabit! And wehave scarcely begun to tap the possibili-ties for all sorts of interactiveexchanges. take a look for yourself!And post about and for your partners –activities, success stories, photos,videos, music.

If you’re already a facebook user,just search for uuPCC or unitarianuniversalist Partner Church Council. Ifyou’re not, go to www.uupcc.org and

fan us

us!”


Youth trip members of the SanJose, CA church walk the resur-faced labyrinth with their partnervillagers of Homoródszentmár-ton.(See story on page 17.)

search on “facebook” to see the articlein the spring 2011 issue of this newslet-ter for details of how to get started, orask someone in your family or congre-gation to show you around facebook.you can even view content without afacebook account, but you won’t beable to post or otherwise interact.

If you like the facebook experi-ence, you might want to set up a face-book page for your partnership. Wehave one for our partnership withtorockószentgyörgy in transylvania.you can find a link to that page fromthe uuPCC facebook page, under“likes.” Postings are lively and many;we find it a wonderful page to keep intouch with ordinary life in the villageand all the special occasions, too! Ithink there are many more posting fromthe village than from our congregation!

I know of several congregationspartnered with congregations in tran-sylvania, the Khasi hills, and thePhilippines who regularly use skype forvoice and video calls with their part-ners. some even use them for virtualmeetings with their partner church com-mittees abroad. At the upcoming retreatfor our transylvanian Partner ChurchMinistry, we’re going to try doing justthis—a first for us! Another local con-gregation uses skype for sunday-school-to-sunday-school meetings. Andif you tuned in to some of our virtualConference Calls, you may haveenjoyed hearing guest speakers“skyped” in to our calls.

skype calls from personal com-puter to personal computer are freeworldwide; minutes to call phones(landlines or mobile) can be purchasedat very low rates, and many calls tomobile phones overseas (at least inRomania and India) incur no cost onthe receiving end. so it’s an economicalmeans of communication as well.

these examples are just a taste of whatcan be done. At the very least, searchfor the uuPCC facebook page atwww.facebook.com and view recentpostings I’d love to meet you there! ••Cathy Perry is a Member of East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue, Washington.

Partner Church News


Rev. Tim House's ordination at FirstChurch in Boston in May 2011brought Rev. Noémi MoldovánSzeredai and her daughter Eszterto Boston. Rev. Moldován Szeredaiwas one of four ministers to pres-ent the charge to the minister. Herchurch, The Csekefalva UnitarianParish in Transylvania, is partneredwith Tim's home church, TheHopedale Unitarian Parish. Eszter,who lit the chalice, is Rev. House’sgoddaughter. ••

Andrea’s StoryBy leN PellettIeRI

The long driveway/ approach road to the AMBChildren’s Village was paved before the start ofthe rainy season. This photo shows the com-pleted road with Phromiwell Lyngdoh who isresponsible for the construction. Phromiwell isa new member of the local Orphanage Man-agement Committee in Khasi Hills.

Prolog

Even as we try to explore the past, the presentcontinues to unfold. In order for you to under-stand the following thread, I first have to tellyou that in March of 2010 I was on my secondpilgrimage to the Philippines to visit some ofour UU sister churches there. One day an emer-gency potty-stop arranged by Providence orwhatever forced us to stop at a poor home outon a highway in the middle of nothing. There Imet a 5-year old kid with a cute smile namedAndrea. Her left foot was horribly deformed atbirth, so for the past year I’ve been emailing thenearest child welfare agency, a hundred miles upthe road from their house in Bacalod City. Finally, last, March, here’s what happened.

So How is Andrea?

Rev. Rebecca, President of the 29 uuChurches in the Philippines, emailedme the day before we left san Diegothat she had phoned helen, Andrea’smom, and learned that when they wentto the hospital for a pre-op checkup, x-rays showed she had stage One tB. Bummer. But if we had not done allthis noodging for the past year, shenever would have learned she has tBuntil it was much more advanced thanit is now.

On friday, March 18, Rebecca andI and Barbre (a friend whose husband,a doctor, had also taken an interest inthe child) arrived at Andrea’s home ataround 10 AM. A rooster supervised thefront yard with authority, while a pigsnoozed nearby. Mom helen welcomedus and led us into their living room.And there she was,Andrea, with hersweet smile, quiet,well-behaved, notespecially shy. theyshowed us the tBmedications andsaid the operationwas postponed tillseptember. Whenwe started haulingpresents out of abagful, helen said,“Oh, a slinky!she’s been bother-ing me to buy her

Partner Church News

one.” somehow that pleased me; signof a normal kid.

When we pulled out an adorablepair of Mickey Mouse slippers, hereyes shone again. We had wonderedabout the appropriateness of giving akid with a foot the size of a footballfancy slippers, but Alannah, the friendwho had provided all these gifts, wasright. Andrea loved them.

her dad finally joined us. Con-cerned about his guessed-at income ofabout $2 a day as a pedicab driver, Iasked if he had any sort of dream forfive years from now. I was thinkingperhaps of a microloan. he answeredthat his only dream was that Andrea’sfoot should be fixed. I suggested that ifher foot were fixed next fall, perhapsby Christmas santa Claus might giveher a kid (goat) to raise that would addto the family income while giving her afriend to love and be responsible for.

While we talked, she played withher new slippers. Barbre and I agreedlater that her left ankle moved easilyand clearly was not fused. Above theankles her legs seemed to be normal.We told them that I had given Rebeccathe $260 to cover the co-pay, but ifmore were needed later, they shouldnot hesitate to ask their own church,Inayawan Baptist Church in Cauayan,Negros Occidental, for help, and if nec-essary I might see if some BaptistChurch in san Diego might becometheir sister-church.

We left feeling high after a specialhour, feeling that partner-churching and

love and compassion arevery rewarding spiritualpractices.

Is this the end? heming-way once said that everystory, followed longenough, ends in death.But for now, Andrea’sstory, and mine, endshere, in life. ••

Autumn 2011 •• www.uupcc.org 9

10 Autumn 2011 •• www.uupcc.org Partner Church News

nominations for steward of Partnership award

Nominations are now being sought

for the Annual stewards of Partnershipaward. We recognize that long-termpartnerships do not automatically sus-tain themselves. It takes attention, timeand loving care to maintain long dis-tance connections and nurture friend-ship. Often this work is not publiclyrecognized—though it is this crucial

grassroots work that keeps the partner-ship thriving and keeps the congrega-tions involved.

Whether your partnership is twentyyears old or two years old; whetheryour partner is in transylvania wherethe first partnerships were formed, orin hong Kong, India, the Philippines

or uganda (one of our newestpartners), there are bound to beone or more people who tend lov-ingly to the relationship overtime. they do the hard work ofmaintaining communication (somuch easier now than in the firstyears when writing letters was theonly way). they organize trips.they organize fundraisers andchurch events. they writenewsletter articles. they are committed internationalists anddedicated to their partners.

Several awards will be given each

year because we know there are somany who are worthy of this recogni-tion. Nominations will be acceptedthrough february 24, 2012. Please fillout the application form and have itsigned by the chair of the church gov-erning board or church minister. Wewant to make sure that the churchknows and can also recognize the spe-cial contributions this individual hasmade.

All nominations of individuals fromu.s. and Canadian churches will beconsidered by a selection committee tobe named by the uuPCC Board ofDirectors. If your nominee is not rec-ognized this year, you can nominatethem again next year. Please mail theform from this newsletter (also avail-able at www.uupcc.org) to uuPCC,PO Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730-0088.Must be postmarked by february 24 tobe considered for 2012. ••

2012 sustaining stewarDs awarD nomination form

UUPCC would like to honor a hard-working volunteer in your congregation who has given dedicated service to your partnership over the years. We know there are many of these folks out there who deserve to be recognized. We will recognize up to 20 such people next year at the UUPCC Annual Meeting.Their names will be listed in the Annual Report to UUPCC Members and in the newsletter. They do not have to be present at General Assembly to be recognized.

Name of Nominee: ________________________________________________________ Date:__________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________

City /State/Province / ________________________________________________ ZIP/Post code _________________

U.S. or Canadian Church name: ______________________________________________________________________

Partner Church City and Country:______________________________________________________________________

Please provide a narrative of the service provided by the nominee (use additional pages if necessary):

________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Signature of minister or church governing board chair: _____________________________________________________

Please return this nomination form to uuPCC stewards award, Po Box 88, Bedford ma 01730.

If your nominee is not selected this year, you can nominate them again next year.

Three of this year’s Stewards of Partnership collect theirawards at the 2011General Assembly. (From left to right:Carol Cook, Cathy Cordes, Roger Corn, Dick van Duizend,and Fran Corn.

R e p o r t s , N e w s & T r a v e l S t o r i e s


wblang church/school compound.

Khasi hills trip reportBy JANet feRNANDez, RIveR ROAD uuCONGReGAtION

this is a brief description of myvisit to our partner church in Kyr-

dem, Ne India in february 2011.Beyond Kyrdem we visited severalunitarian schools that are the main out-reach effort of the unitarian Church ofNe India. Most were village lower ele-mentary schools and similar to our Kyr-dem school. the large school in Jowai(headquarters of the church) has bothlower and upper grades. Pupils fromKyrdem who wish to continue inschool must board in shillong. We alsovisited the Children’s village and sawthe water tank, built from fundsdonated by River Road’s social justicecouncil.

Our group of ten, coordinated byJohn Dale, arrived in shillong on satur-day february 19, from the airport inGauhati. Although Gauhati and shil-long are only 95 kilometers apart, thetaxi ride took over three hours due tothe horrendous traffic—consistingmostly of colorful, exhaust-spewingtrucks. Due to their great number, coaltrucks are banned from using the high-way till after dark, so there were manyparked along the side of the road wait-ing to move out later.

Our group included four peoplefrom santa Barbara, CA (includingtheir minister, Aaron Mcemryes), sandra fees, minister from Reading,PA, Allen and Jacque Pulsifer fromAnnapolis, MD, and myself. We stayedat the hotel Center Point which wastruly at the busiest intersection of shil-long. this means continual honking,life-threatening street crossings, andincredible pollution. the city has the airof a frontier town—with low, haphaz-ardly-built buildings that are gray frompollution and much rain.

saturday night at our first dinnerwe were joined by ministers of the twounitarian Churches in town, Pearl

Partner Church News

Green and Derrick Pariat. Mr. Pariat,president of the unitarian union of NeIndia, spoke of our American interest infinancing physical amenities such asbuildings while he felt that the peopleneeded more consideration. forinstance, there are only two paid full-time positions in their unitarianChurch, and he feels that lay ministersshould receive some financial help.

sunday we split into three groupsto attend the two shillong churches andour village, Kyrdem. the Pulsifers andI were taken to the village, specificallythe part around the Mawblang schooland church, by Khlur Mukhim

Kyrdem’s Mawblang church-school compound is on a large plateaufour or five feet below the level of theroad and had been made level by back-breaking physical effort on the part ofthe villagers. the school, similar tothose in other villages we visited, con-sists of a row of five or six small class-rooms set on a concrete slab about twofeet above ground. All rooms open ontoa covered walkway. the last room inthe series has a crude fireplace in onecorner for cooking, as lunch is usuallyprovided. the church stands about ahundred feet away, also built upon aconcrete slab whose rear limit is thelimit of the plateau. this has made itpossible to add the twoclassrooms which weare financing under therear of the church withlittle excavation. thefinished room and theone under constructionare rough basement-like rooms each withone window. I wasappalled by the lack oflight but this did notseem to bother them,“after all school is onlyheld during the day”.the latrine which wasour first project therewas in good order. It A meeting at the Ma


was a pleasant surprise to find a com-pleted concrete walk connecting it tothe church, also one of our projects.

the day was well-organized byKhlur, starting on arrival with a snackof plain village-grown rice after whichthe items from River Road MindfulKnitters were given to the head teacher,who was also given the small burden ofdistributing them. then followed ameeting with the villagers. One youngman seemed experienced in expressingvillage needs—we learned later that hespoke quite a bit of english, and hadbeen active in the recent CommunityCapacity Building exercise that RiverRoad sponsored.

A festive lunch was served for usand leaders of the church. I’ll call this atwo-fire lunch, as the usual fireplacewas used plus an open fire in a cornerof the unfinished classroom. the daycontinued with a church service atwhich we three visitors receivedshawls, Khlur preached, and we sangseveral hymns to tunes they seemed toknow as there were no notes in thehymnals. Our little gifts of pencils forthe children were handed out and theday ended with visits to three homes,two rather-established houses and one anew hut with an open-spaced bamboo

11

Reports, News & Travel Stories


floor—which must have been mostuncomfortable for bare feet. tea wasserved in the last house, the home ofthe church lay leader.

David Warjiri, the young headteacher and a relative of Khlur, listedthe following items as high priority forthe Mawblang school: an additionalteacher, finishing the classroom, andmusical instruments. Khlur has sug-gested that David receive a supplementto his 2000-rupee salary (as of 9/2/11, 1 us$ = 45 rupees). We have allocatedthis before, but it appears that he didnot receive it. Assistant teachers receive1500 rupees.

Concerning the Community Capac-ity Building project, they would like tohave their expenses to the district head-quarters covered as it costs them 200rupees plus many hours for each trip(many required) to further their peti-tions at district headquarters. thesepetitions concern a source of potablewater for the village, a better road, avillage bath house, and evening classesfor adults.

the Pulsifers and I were impressedby the warmth and openness withwhich we were received. the villagewas typical of several we saw, poor butnot showing the brutal poverty we saw

12

(Continued on page 13)The newly-finished classroom at Mawblang.

Festival Choir tourBy KAthleeN huGhARt, sAN DIeGO, CA

I had an amazing experience singingand touring in transylvania and

hungary with the uu choir directed byBeth Norton. I learned so much aboutsinging and uu history while makingfriends with choir members from con-gregations in Massachusetts, New york,North Carolina, Iowa, and NorthernCalifornia, as well as six handsomeyoung hungarian basses.

the moment we singers first met torehearse is indelibly etched in mymemory. there we were, strangers forthe most part, and after a few warm-ups, and harmonizing, Beth looked atus and said, “hmmmm. you sound likea choir.”

Another unforgettable moment isthe first time we sang the hungariannational anthem, in hungarian, and feltthe emotion swell as our audience, tearsin their eyes, stood and sang with us.this appreciation and feeling of com-munity washed over us during and afterevery performance, and conveyed thepower of music to create partnerships.

As a newcomer to uu Choirsinging, now ready to start my secondyear with the choir at first uu of sanDiego, I’m so grateful to have beennotified early this year about the festi-val Choir tour 2011. thank you Beth,thanks to you sopranos, altos, tenorsand basses from all over the usA and

in Delhi. It would have been nice to seetheir normal weekly routine and toexplore the immediate area.

Although David Warjiri now has acell phone to use with his laptop I feelthat communication continues to be aproblem. Khlur is extremely busy andcan seldom visit the village, though heand David can communicate. things doget done and I do not fear that ourfunds are ill-spent, but it is difficult tofollow our projects. I also know thatthis is not unusual in dealing with sucha foreign culture, even within the uni-tarian fold. ••


transylvania, and special thanks to tripleader John Dale and tour DirectorCsilla Kolcsár. What a team. togetheryou created a milieu of learning, cooperation, and harmony. let’s goagain! ••

40 voices, 12 days, 5 ConcertsBy Ruth GIBsON

the uuPCC festival Choir tourgathered on the evening of August

8 at a charming hotel in the Carpathi-ans. Most of us were from different uucongregations in the us. six of us–thebass section—were students fromKolozsvár. Many of us were in church-to-church partnerships, for others it wasa first encounter with transylvanianunitarians and the partner experience.

Within 24 hours our Choir Direc-tor, the amazing Beth Norton, had held3 rehearsals with us. And with coachingfrom the Kolozsvár 6, we were begin-ning to think our audiences mightunderstand the pieces we were singingin hungarian. (Beth is the Music Direc-tor for the uu church in Concord, MAand the composer of the music for theSzékely Aldás, in our teal hymnal.)

there in the mountains we also vis-ited castles, including Bran castle,where Dracula never actually lived, bythe way. It is furnished, has 14th cen-tury charm and is for sale for$135,000,000. We rode a gondola upinto the Bucegi mountains, attended aconcert of classical music, some of usbought handmade jewelry from Csilla’sfavorite jeweler, and I had a deliciousmeal of grilled bear meat.

four days later we were in sepsi-szentgyörgy to give our first perform-ance. Beth told us our performance was“a triumph!” If you look up amerikaiunitarius korus on youtube.com, youcan hear it all and decide for yourself,thanks to Márkó lászló, who filmedand posted it. One of the highlights, atleast for me, was the piece composedby elizabeth Alexander, “Jo!– a livelyrendering of the Edict of Torda.”

Partner Church News




(www.seafarerpress.com). We werebringing it to transylvania for the veryfirst time. I think some of our otherhungarian songs, such as “Esti Dal”were favorites of our audiences andwhen we sang “Siyahamba” in hun-garian, they joined right in.

Next stop: székelyudvarhely. Wewere to be among the performers at theWorldwide unitarian Gathering, anannual outdoor meeting and worshipservice. so we practiced each day in apark near our hotel, and people passingby on the way to work or daily errandsstopped to listen. And when we sangthe Székely Anthem—which, as manyof us know, was a forbidden song asrecently as 1995, and which, neverthe-less, every hungarian-speaking tran-sylvanian can sing by heart—of course,our listeners joined in.

At the Worldwide Gathering, it washard to keep us all together as we hikedup the hill past tables selling hand-crafts, grilled sausages, beer and chim-ney cakes. the Gathering featured aworship service, greetings from twoBishops, and lots of entertaining groupssuch as ours. It kicked off with a brassband, followed by men in traditionalszékely attire on horseback. It got veryexciting when two stallions, standingnext to each other, decided to show off.they started kicking each other andrumpussing rather wildly, right in frontof where we were sitting. One of oursingers was quick to suggest thatit might be wise for us to moveback behind our chairs. strongmen appeared from who knowswhere to stand between us and thehorses, the riders soon broughtthem under control.

Wild horses could not deterus; we sang very well, staying inkey the whole time. We really hadbecome a choir, even though atthe start we had never sungtogether before.

the next day we sang inMaros-vásárhely, and then on toKolozsvár. On the way we

Partner Church News

This pho

stopped at the Church of the edict intorda—which has been redecorated inthe baroque style, but whose floorstones are the very same ones uponwhich King János zsigmond and Dávidferenc once walked. We had no concertplanned there, but we brought ourmusic into the church and sang thegood news of the edict of torda rightthere!

In Kolozsvár, as we were rehears-ing “The Storm is Passing Over” theskies turned dark. I had persuadedsome friends that the best place to getreal paprika would be the open air mar-ketplace, so we set off, in spite of theominous portent. the skies opened upand the rain came down in blindingsheets and in spite of our efforts to singthe storm away we all got completelysoaked.

After Kolozsvár, our tour wasnearly over. the unitarian Church inBudapest hosted our last concert, wesaid our goodbyes on a Danube river-boat dinner cruise, and the next day,disbanded. this particular choir willnever sing together again—but I can’timagine that there won’t be anotherfestival Choir, made up of singers fromall over, carrying the message of peaceand partnership though song. If youlove to sing, maybe you will help makeit happen. ••


to of the 2011 Festival Choir was taken by Richard Moor

West vanCoUver, Canada

reflections on the northshore Partner Church Choirtour, 2010

By MARCIA stePheNsON

Spirit of life, come unto me...

M y homily about our choir tour inhungary and transylvania is

shaped by the words of Spirit of Life. Ijoined this tour to bring to life theplaces and faces I had been hearingabout for many years. I had attendedPartner Church events, brought to us bycommittee volunteers who kept thespirit alive in our West vancouver con-gregation for almost 20 years, includinga visit by Rev. Mihály Kiss and hiswife tünde from hódmezövásárhely in1999.

I wanted to join in centennial cele-bration of the sanctuary restoration thatour donations over the years helped tomake possible. I wanted to walk in thefootsteps of our founders and see formyself where our movement began.

Sing in my heart

During our first worship service inBudapest, I opened the little dark bluebook with the gold chalice on the coverand soon realized that the organist wasplaying the hymn I knew as “Find aStillness.” I did my best to pronouncethe hungarian syllables as I followedthe familiar tune, my heart singing. I

13

e, at the Unitarian church in Budapest.

http://www.seafarerpress.com



had travelled so far, and found myselfable to join in a hungarian melody pre-served down the centuries.

later, as I stood with my Northshore friends, ready to sing where theBudapest congregation had just wel-comed their youngest teens through therites of confirmation and communion, Iwas struck again by the miracle that wecould connect across the language bar-rier with music. Our gracious tourguide Csilla translated our choir direc-tor’s introductions, so our listeners hadthe spirit of our anthems, and we wereunited in celebration of sacred space.

On tour, our harmonies blended ina new-found resonance, as we discov-ered the acoustic properties of old stonesanctuaries. In performance, I watchedthe rapt faces of audience members asour director Alison played her violin,sensing their deep respect for her pro-fessional musicianship.

All the stirrings of compassion

We heard the stories of oppression,from the Reformation to the morerecent threats to survival of minoritygroups. I felt a new respect for thecourage of francis David, martyred inthe fortress of Déva. We shared amoment of silence around the monu-ment in his prison cell and sang Spiritof Life in those bleak ruins.

Blow in the wind; rise in the sea

Observing the landscape, I

14

Part of the West Vancouver (North Shore) Unitarian Chuin our Partner Church in Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary, wchoir director, Mrs. Alison Nixon leading and playing thesculpture, lying on the front table, which is our gift to thechurch, carved by one of our outstanding artists, Dr. Ma

reflected on geography, identity, andhomeland as I travelled. Our tour buscrossed both natural and political bor-ders, on bridges over swollen rivers,climbing up passes on winding roads,heading down into a tiny farm villagefor our supper. farms and pasturelandin one region gave way to factories inthe next. We learned how often politicalboundaries have been redrawn in thispart of the world.

Move in the hand

holding out the hands of service isone of the gestures in our children’ssimple chalice lighting. throughout ourtour, we were greeted by hands held outto us in “radical hospitality.” sumptu-ous platters of food in receptions, fes-tive traditional music and dance, traysof homebrewed pálinka and cauldronsof goulash, cheerful chauffeur service,home-stay hosts giving up their bestbedrooms to us. Our leader spoke forall of us as he presented a gift sculptureto Rev. Kiss: a wood carving of upliftedhands transforming into a chalice.

Giving life the shape of justice

We were reminded how our sup-port for struggling european congrega-tions has been vital to their survival. Onwalking tour through the university inszeged, we were deeply moved by astark reminder of the 1956 uprisingagainst communism: an insect chrysalisfrozen in the act of unfolding its wings.this stunning sculpture symbolizes thefutility of a metamorphosis stifled by

the soviets beforefreedom could fullydevelop.

Roots hold me

close; wings set me

free

Our pilgrimage tookus to Kolozsvár, wherewe saw the rock wherefrancis David stoodand converted peopleto the principle of thefree conscience. Para-doxically, it was in thissame town that welearned of some differ-ences between the

rch choir, singingith our amazing

violin. There is a newly-renovatedurice Gibbons.


european approach and ours. While weencourage our young people to writetheir own credos after a voyage of self-discovery, hungarian youth study adenominational catechism, albeit onethat is open to modification.

I learned why wings of freedommight be trimmed so that roots holdfast to ensure survival. I can under-stand this perspective better todaythan I did before I started out. I givethanks to founders and faithful whokept our movement alive for four cen-turies, a denomination that was therefor me when I was ready to discoverall the ways the spirit of life wouldcome to me and allow me to find myown stillness. ••Text of a homily for worship services at theNorth Shore Unitarian Church in West Vancou-ver, and at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver.

Pictured here is deForest Ralph withRéka Lázár, the daughter of lastyear’s Balázs scholar. Réka had acleft lip. DeForest arranged for doc-tors at the Shriner’s Hospital inHouston to operate, and paidexpenses for Réka and her motherto go there for the operation, andagain for a check-up. The picture,taken at GA, shows deForest andRéka looking at pictures from Hous-ton with Arliss Ungar (left) andRéka's mother, Rev. Erika Demeterlooking on. Réka, who knew no Eng-lish when she came, was fluent inEnglish by time they went back toTransylvania.

Partner Church News




ókod. Supporting parter churches were: Bedford,wampscott, MA; Bremerton, WA, and Yarmouth ME

two Fundraisers that raisedawareness of Partner Churchactivities

By the PARtNeR ChuRCh COMMIttee At

fIRst PARIsh IN WestON

for some time, our partner congrega-tion in torda has, like many transyl-vanian congregations, had to face asubstantial challenge – its church build-ing needed many structural repairs, andits antique organ, which contributes somuch to its services, was literallyscreeching for serious attention. themembers of the torda congregation setto work to raise money for the organrestoration and had made a real start.Cognizant of these needs, our (firstParish Church in Weston, MA) PartnerChurch Committee began brainstorm-ing ways that we could help. theresulting approaches yielded dividendsfar beyond the funds raised.

the first “project” was not, strictlyspeaking, initiated by our Committee.As it turned out, our own organ hadneeded repairs and updating for someyears, but the potential cost was a con-troversial topic within our church com-munity. Nevertheless, over a period ofseveral years private donations, silentauctions, a gala cabaret and even thesale of tired old pipes and other partsdelivered the funds needed to transformour organ.

But the story does not end there.As our fundraising campaign pro-gressed, members of our PartnerChurch Committee suggested to ourMusic Committee that they considertacking on a relatively small percentageto its goal so that our Partner Churchcould also have a vibrant organ. theMusic Committee (some of whosemembers had visited torda) immedi-ately sensed that combining the twoorgan restoration projects wouldbroaden the appeal of our internaleffort. Indeed, it sparked a creative sug-gestion from the Music Committee that,instead of expanding their fundraisinggoal fairly late in the game, they host a

Partner Church News

dedication concert for ournew organ with a free-willoffering going to restoreour partner church’sorgan. We even receivedsome generous advancecontributions.

Our second fundrais-ing effort—which weunderstand has been usedin various forms by othercongregations—hasbeen to offer homemadesoups for sale afterChurch during our“Coffee hour.” At Soup on Sundays thesoups, made and donated by PartnerChurch Committee members and othercooks who support our efforts, are soldby the cup for consumption on the spot,or in a 16 oz. take-home container. Ourprices are below market ($3 per cup or$6 for 16 oz.), but this has led many toround up their payments. We haveaccompanied the soup offerings withtoppings (cheese, croutons, etc.) andfresh bread. In our first four weeks wehave earned almost $700. What’s more,our customers are raving about Soup onSundays and calling it a wonderfulservice! But, some of the biggest bene-fits have been less quantifiable. therehas been an increase in the sociabilityof the congregation after church—per-haps they are no longer dashing homebecause they are hungry? And, Soup onSundays reminds the congregation on aweekly basis of our church’s connec-tion to its transylvanian partner. ••3 exPerienCes; 2 triPs

all-ages summer visits totransylvania

fIRst uNIveRsAlIst ChuRCh Of

yARMOuth, MAINe

In June, Barbara trentacosta, Peteand Marge titcomb traveled to our

small partner village of Gyepes—ourfirst visit since the community’s Capac-ity Building Workshop in January 2009.During that Workshop, the people ofGyepes had gathered to identify andprioritize possibilities; the primary

Summer Camp in Land Greater Lynn/S


focus which emerged was strengthen-ing community facilities and activities.

What we saw this summer wasbeyond expectations—a village tele-cottage established, NGO created,grants written and awarded, food prephealth certifications received, severalmulti-village training sessions organ-ized, “village Day” planned, commu-nity pavilion and playground fundingreceived, participation in the udvarhelyCivitas fall fruit festival (includingorganic jams prepared using traditionalmethods and sold at the fair), andmore. We are breathless just notingthese accomplishments, which theyshared with much enthusiasm.

then, in August, our minister (Jennifer lentz), her young son (Max),2 young adults (Katy vogt & lilyO’Brien), and 2 adults who participatedin previous camps (Ann swardlickfrom yarmouth; Dean McKinnon fromswampscott) organized and led ourthird 3-day overnight summer camp for43 children ages 7–13 from Gyepes,Abásfalva, Keményfalva and Recsenyéd. the multi-generational u.s.contingent teamed up with adult andyoung adult counselors and translatorsfrom the local villages. the camp washeld in lókod and included typicalsummer camp activities: games, crafts,stories, plays, bonfires, s’mores, andsome english language practice forgood measure.

following the camp, the yarmouthcamp crew joined our Gyepes partnersfor several days. they went with other

15



villagers to the annual unitarian WorldGathering and joined in preparationsfor Gyepes village Day, the first suchhomecoming event in 20 years. A focalpoint for the celebration was the newlycompleted community pavilion, con-structed with grant funding from theunitarian Community fund (estab-lished by Project harvest hope). theentire village turned out for the event.Attendees included the bishop of thetransylvanian unitarian Church, Rev.Bálint Benczédi ferenc, as well asmany regional dignitaries, former min-isters of Gyepes, and others who hadconnections to Gyepes. Between thesemajor events, the yarmouth travelersenjoyed many meals in several homes,met and played with the children andyouth, and had deeper conversationswith many of the people of this beauti-ful small village. ••For more information on any of these activities,you may email Marge Titcomb [email protected].

16

transyLVanian Communion serViCe at

eLiot unitarian ChaPeL

On Sunday, June 12, the congregation of Eliot Unitarian Chapel in Kirkwood,Missouri experienced a Transylvanian communion service led by Rev. LeventeLázár and his wife Rev. Erika Demeter. Rev. Lazar and his family were in St.Louis after he had completed his studies at Starr King as a Balázs scholar. Hispartner church, First Unitarian Church of St. Louis, hosted the Lázár family fortwo weeks before they traveled on to General Assembly and then home toRomania. For many at our church, the communion service was a very movingevent. A few wept and several talked about how touched they were. Some saidthey were quite surprised that a communion service did touch them so deeply.

Rev. Lazar explained that communion is given four times a year in the Transyl-vanian Unitarian churches. June 12, Pentecost, happened to be one of thosedays. Due to space limitations, the Eliot congregation did not stand in a circle,which is traditional, and both men and women took communion together (nottraditional). We learned the importance of really looking into the eyes of theminister while taking communion, so as to connect our spirits. Rev. Lazarexplained that communion is a way to remember the teachings of Jesus, to betogether as a group and to look into our own spiritual selves.

A collection taken during the church service was sent to support the Balázsscholarship program. In addition, the people at Eliot Chapel have been sup-porting scholarships for students from the village of Nyárádszentmárton (ourpartner church village) for 10 years.

by Beth Rossow, Chair of Partner Church Committee at Eliot


visit to “Árkos days”

fIRst ChuRCh Of hOustON

Agroup from first uu Church ofhouston visited Árkos, transylva-

nia in August to renew friendships withour partner church there and to attendÁrkos Days, a village festival whichhas been held there annually for the lastseveral years. the occasion of the festi-val reflects well on the changes thathave occurred since church membersstarted visiting Árkos in 2002.

there was lots going during ourstay. In addition to the festival, we didsome touring, attended the dedicationof a new Székelykapu (székely gate)which now marks the entrance to thevillage, and sang at the sunday service.A new kopjafa was dedicated to themembers of the village’s brass band,old and new, which is still active aftermore than 100 years of service. (NOte:many of the instruments looked to bequite old and, in fact, they were. theirappearance was made more ancient dueto the fact that whenever a war broke

out—which happened a number oftimes during the last hundred years orso—band members would bury theirinstruments to prevent them beingmelted down to make weapons andammunition.) finally, the village dedi-cated a new funerary building built onland donated by the unitarian church.this facility was made necessary byeu regulations which prevent the dis-play of the dead in the home which isthe custom there.

As usual, there was plenty of deli-cious food and drink. One of our mem-bers was a vegetarian which inspiredour hosts to new heights with the ubiq-uitous peppers, potatoes, cabbage, andwax beans! We were introduced tobabgulyás (bean goulash) at the festi-val. this is another excellent dish pre-pared in a large kettle (just like bogracsgulyás) by székely ede, the son ofJános, the unitarian minister, and hiswife, enikő. ede has proved himself anexcellent cook once again.

On our 2009 trip, János had offeredto send both a Székelykapu and kopjafa


to first Church. We were going througha transition at that time and weren’table to accept the gifts on behalf of thechurch—but we did ask János to holdthat thought and that we would getback to him with an answer when wehad settled a new minister. When wepresented the offer to our new minister,Rev Daniel O’Connell, he was cau-tiously receptive to the idea but, nothaving much personal experience withtransylvanian unitarians and so notsure of what the gifts meant, he askedthat we find out what the gifts meant tothem. We put the question to János andenikő and also to Ördög zoltán, the layPresident, and his wife, zsuzsa, andfilmed their answers. I think the depthof feeling displayed will be sufficient toallay any concerns that Daniel mighthave had regarding the meaning ofthese gifts.

While we there János drove us toGelence, the location of an historicchurch with world-renowned medievalfrescoes. It is also the home of one of

Partner Church News



The new Székely gate marks the entrance into Árkos.


The completed funerary building in Árkos wasdesigned by noted Hungarian architect, ImreMakovec. Symbols of many faiths decorate it.

the artisans who create székely gates.We toured his shop and took many pic-tures of gates in various stages of com-pletion. All of the work is done byhand and all of the gates are made ofoak, a wood which is very tough andstrong and, when properly finished,quite beautiful, but which is also noto-riously difficult to work with, particu-larly with hand tools. We’ve got plentyof ideas on the kind of gate for whichwe hope to find a home at firstChurch.

the dedication of the Székelykapuat the entrance to Árkos, which wasattended by quite a large crowd, wasaccompanied by a blessing from János,a speech by the mayor and a samplingof music by brass bands from Árkosand the neighboring villages. then allprocessed back through the village andwe got ready to enjoy the festival.

the festival took place in andaround the village Cultural house.there was a large sound stage for themany musical performances, an areawhere one could purchase food anddrink as well as local handicrafts andsouvenirs.

On sunday we attended the serv-ice. János’ text was from 1 Corinthians13, “And now these three remain: faith,hope and love. But the greatest of theseis love.” During the service, the 5 visi-tors from houston (2 altos, 2 tenorsand a bass) sang the hymn “SzékelyÁldás” a capella, in 2 parts, and with-out the benefit of actually having the

Partner Church News

music with us! After the singing lauraspoke to the congregation bringing best

wishes to them from our newminister, our board and our con-gregation and expressed our joyto be with them in Árkos again.she also invited all the women toattend the 2nd International Con-vocation of uu Women whichwill be held in Marosvásárhely inOctober 2012.

After the service we walkednext door to the dedication of thenew funerary building. thebuilding has a quite distinctivelook from the outside and the

inside provides a dignified space whichis perfectly suited to its use. the funer-ary building was designed by notedhungarian architect, Imre Makovecz, aproponent of natural architecture,which attempts to work with the naturalsurroundings rather than triumph overthem. the dedication was attended bythe 3 local ministers (unitarian, Reformand Catholic), the mayor and membersof the village council, and a number offolks from the congregation and the restof the village. the adult choir sang sev-eral pieces, János invoked a blessingand the mayor made a speech. theneveryone returned home to get out oftheir suits and into casual clothes toonce again enjoy the festival.

the next day we were all off in dif-ferent directions and on different mis-sions. One more thing worth noting isthe progress of the water and sewageproject. this project was started shortlyafter the first Community CapacityBuilding (CCB) project in transylvaniawhich took place in Árkos in 2004. thevillage identified 3 priorities: cleanwater and sewage treatment, jobs, andeducation. this got the attention ofKovászna County officials who were inthe process of planning a large-scalewater and sewage project for theCounty. It took some time to get thefunds together and make a plan. theplans were completed in 2007 andwork had commenced while we werethere in 2009 but the recession broughtthe work to a halt. We are pleased toreport that the work is underway once


again. ••overlapping tripsBy MONty lOW

uNItARIAN ChuRCh Of sAN JOse

t his past summer, the first unitar-ian Church of san Jose visited our

partner church, the unitarian Church ofhomoródszentmárton, Romania. Weconducted 2 trips. On the first trip therewere 14 adults traveling from July 14to July 29. On the second trip we had18 high school youth and 10 adultstraveling July 21 to Aug 4. the tripshad approximately the same itinerariesoffset by one week with a one nightoverlap in the village. the trips startedin Budapest where we did some sight-seeing. We visited the Budapest unitar-ian church and were given an informa-tive talk by elder leb Betty. InBudapest we were joined by Rev.Orbán erika (Balázs scholar ’06-’07)who guided our trips into Kolozsvárand on to homoródszentmárton. Rev.Orban, who was a wealth of informa-tion, took us to many historical unitar-ian sights in Kolozsvár. We were givenpresentations by the librarian of thetransylvanian unitarian Church,Kovács sándor, and Rev. Rácz Norbertof the unitarian Church of Kolozsvár.On our way to our village we stoppedand visited Mészkő and met Rev. BálintRóbert.

each of our trips then stayed oneweek in our partner church village ofhomoródszentmárton. We were housed

17

18 Autumn 2011 •• www.uupcc.org

P i l g r i m a g e P o s t i n g s

a column by the travel Committee.

By ANN GARy, uuPCC BOARD MeMBeR AND ChAIR Of the tRAvel COMMIttee

international events and travel opportunities in 2012—Featuring two meetings in the Philippines



in the conference center which hadaround 40 beds, a common room,kitchen, and dining room. We were alsohappy to find a washing machine andshowers in the conference center.

Our travelers and the villagerstogether worked on several preservationprojects. We helped retile the roof ofone church building, clean out a build-ing recently recovered from the govern-ment, relined the path of the labyrinthand dug out numerous headstones thatwere disappearing into the ground.Many thanks go out to Rev. szombat-falvi József, Jr., and the members of theunitarian Church of homoródszentmár-ton who worked so hard to provide awonderful array of activities and cul-tural experiences in and around the vil-lage. from homoródszentmárton wetoured the shopping area of Korond,Bran Castle, the unitarian Church ofBrassó, the Parajd salt mine, and theuNesCO heritage sites of székely-derzs and segesvár. In addition theadult trip attended a night at theszékelyföldi dance camp infelsősófalva.

Our travelers were very taken bythe generosity of our hosts who showedus so much love. for many of our trav-elers it was an eye-opening experienceto visit a farm village. the highlightsfor us occurred in the moments of deep-est contact—when we had meals in ourhost’s homes. We were extremelytouched when our church was presentedan intricately-embroidered girl’s tradi-tional costume made by two of thewomen of the village. from this trip,we found the connections between ourtwo churches continue to deepen. Welook forward to bringing villagers tovisit san Jose in 2013. ••

Dress (worn byyoung woman onright) presented toSan Jose Church

feBRuARy 6, 2012 Philippines

Conference: Transforming Women’s

Lives through Livelihood

Opportunities—sponsored by Interna-tional Convocation of uu Women/ICuuW (included in the Jan. 30 tofeb. 6 trip on p. 20, but conference-only registration is also possible.)there will be a day-long meeting inDumaguete focused on communitybuilding and outreach with uu womenin southeast Asia, around the theme ofEmpowering Women through Liveli-hood. the gathering will take place atthe south sea Resort in Dumaguete.full program and registration is avail-able here: www.icuuw.com/Philippines-Gathering.html

feBRuARy 7–12, 2012 International

Council of Unitarian Universalists

(ICUU) Council Meeting. Join unitarians and unitarian univer-salists from every continent for ICuu’shistoric Council Meeting and Confer-ence, meeting for the first time outsideNorth America and europe. In the fif-teen years since ICuu was founded,attendance has grown significantly at

this meeting when member groups convene to plan the work of ICuu andreview progress.

Welcoming this involvement, aConference will be integrated with theCouncil Meeting offering both opportu-nities for learning about the many cul-tures and expressions that make up ourworldwide liberal religious communityand for advancing the objectives ofICuu through networking and collabo-ration. Pre- and post-conference tripsfrom Dumaguete are also available.Detailed itinerary, meeting scheduleand registration details are availablehere: www.icuu.net/

save the date:

OCTOber 4–7, 2012.

International Women’s Convocation

in Marosvásárhely/tirgu Mures intransylvania. uuPCC will be offeringpre and post convocation trips. Pro-ceeds from the trips will support schol-arships for the convocation. Moreinformation will be posted atwww.uupcc.org/trips.html

UUPCC grants $10,000 to help fund Unitarius Travel, Inc. initiatives.

In late August, the uuPCC wired $10,000 to the transylvanian unitarianChurch to help them develop the tourist capacity and services of unitarianregions there. targeted primarily at hungarian visitors to transylvania, theinitiatives this money will help include architectural plans for the restorationof properties in torockószentgyörgy, plans for a youth hostel in downtownKolozsvár on tuC property, and the registration fees needed for congrega-tional guest houses. the money granted was the result of fast-changing for-eign exchange rates as well as travel cost negotiations beneficial to theuuPCC. We are happy to announce this one-time grant of the funds.

Partner Church News

http://www.uupcc.org/trips.html

http://www.icuu.net

http://www.icuuw.com/PhilippinesGathering.html

http://www.icuuw.com/PhilippinesGathering.html

imPortant Change to the uuPCC funD transfer serViCe

Effective immediately, individual UUPCC members will no longer be able maketransfers through the UUPCC to overseas individuals. The transfer from a partnerchurch to a partner church is not affected by this change.

Due to IRS reporting regulations, the UUPCC Board has adopted the following policy:

It is a policy of the UUPCC that we will provide for the transfer of

funds from churches and individual members to partnered

churches through the Unitarian or Unitarian Universalist church

headquarters in those countries. We cannot transfer funds to any

individual in another country.

nominations sought for louis C. Cornish “livinG the mission” award

t he uuPCC Board accepts nomi-nations (due January 1) each year

for the annual louis C. Cornish “liv-ing the Mission” Award. A uuPCCcommittee will then make recommen-dations to the uuPCC Board. theythen vote on the award at their wintermeeting. We hope you will give carefulthought to whom you might wish tonominate for this great honor. the fol-lowing guidelines may be helpful inyour deliberations:

the award is named for louis C.Cornish, early twentieth century presi-dent of the American unitarian Associ-ation. Dr. Cornish was a visionaryinternationalist who devoted much ofhis life to forging global bonds for lib-eral religious groups. he headed a taskforce on human rights for ethnic hun-garians in Romania, and visited thePhilippines to initiate connections withunitarians there. In the spirit of Dr.Cornish, the award recipient shouldhave made significant contributions tointernational relationships.

the recipient should have made anoutstanding contribution to globalchurch partnership, and to the partnerchurch movement. the contributionshould be, as nearly as possible, of thesame magnitude as the contributionsmade by previous recipients. the recip-ient should not be a current member ofthe Partner Church Council Board ofDirectors.

Partner Church News

share the NewS...

We encourage you to share UUPCC

News articles with your church.Churches have permission to duplicateand circulate this newsletter and/or toreprint portions of it in their own newslet-ters. If you are reprinting an excerpt,please credit the UU Partner Church

News and include our website address(www.uupcc.org) for those who mightwant more information.

All nominations will be appreci-ated. Please include with your nomina-tion a brief statement describing thecontributions and attributes of the nom-inee. submissions should be receivedby January 1 each year and sent to theoffice address:

uuPCCCornish Award NominationPO Box 88Bedford, MA 01730-0088

they may also be sent via email [email protected]. Please DO NOT send any recommen-dations via PCC-Chat.

formal presentation of the CornishAward will be made at General Assembly during the Partner ChurchCouncil’s annual meeting luncheon.


This change simply means that UUPCC willindividual that is being sent to an individual othrough the destination church’s bank accou

Please note, transfers by congregations maddesignated for a specific individual such as aby this change.

For those who wish to send money directly taffordable options for overseas wire transferable at many CVS locations) and Western Ureport that these services are easy to use: gstore and is given a reference number that tthe funds at a local bank.

For questions regarding the transfer policy, p(781) 275-1710 or [email protected].

Previous recipients of the

Louis C. Cornish

Living the-Mission award:

2011 – the Rev. Gretchen Thomas2010 – Larry Coburn2009 – the Rev. John Eric Gibbons2008 – the Rev. Dr. Spencer Lavan2007 – Dr. Árpád Szabó2006 – Natalie Gulbrandsen2005 – the Rev. Richard Boeke2004 – the Rev. Peter Raible2003 – Ms. Patricia Rodgers2002 – the Rev. Richard F. Beal2001 – the Rev. C. Leon Hopper2000 – the Rev. Dénes Farkas1999 – Dr. Judit Gellérd

19

no longer accept a check from anverseas. All transferred funds will gont.

e to overseas congregations minister or student are not affected

o an individual, there are now several services, including MoneyGram (avail-nion. Members who have used themenerally the sender pays at a retailhe overseas recipient uses to receive

lease contact the UUPCC Office at

[email protected]

U U P C C T r a v e l S e r v i c e s & R e s o u r c e s

(Continued on next page)

International Travel for 2012

UUPCC and iCUUW Philippines: Culture, history,Partnership, and Women’s livelihood

January 30–February 6, 20127 days/ 8 nights $1,380 /person

UUPCC and ICUUW team up to offer this unique opportunity for anIntroduction to the Unitarian Universalists of the Philippines: theirlives and livelihood, their culture and history, and their faith. Theweek begins in Manila with a visit to the microcredit projects of theBicutan UU congregation. Explore Manila culture and history includ-ing the Ayala Museum and San Agustin Church (a world heritagesite.) Next, fly to Dumaguete on Negros Island, one of the mostbeautiful Philippine cities. With Rev. Rebecca Sienes as our guide,we will tour Silliman University and visit the UU Church of the Philip-pines Headquarters. Travel by van to Dauin for two nights at alovely seaside resort in an area famous for coral reefs. Visit thebamboo factory that is providing a sustainable livelihood for areafarmers. Meet the UUs of Caican, partner church of Honolulu, HI.

Philippine UU Partners Pilgrimage

march 10–22, 201214 nights/13 days from $1725

If you have a partner church in the Philippines, sponsor a student,are considering partnership or would just like to know more aboutthe UU faith in this culture, join us for this most memorable pilgrim-age. Travel with other UUs to explore the unique heritage and architecture of Manila, meet UUs in Bicutan, and visit with UU

20 Autumn 2011 •• w

Congregational Pilgrimages–Travelwith us on a life-changing visit to your part-ner church in Eastern Europe, India, Africa,or the Philippines. Low-cost, all-inclusiveland packages include ground transporta-tion, meals, lodging, guide(s), interpreter(s),and entry fees. Our in-country experts willwork with groups of 4-50 to develop a cus-tomized itinerary that fits your interests,budget and time frame.

Concert tours for Choirs and musical Groups–Looking to expand thehorizons of your music program? TheUUPCC Pilgrimage Service has 10 yearsof experience facilitating international con-cert tours for UU choirs and a variety ofother musical groups. Buses, performancevenues, advertizing, musical instruments,

hotel arrangements andpart of our large-group

youth service tripsgroup on a low-cost/higto Transylvania. They cDavid’s footsteps in TorDéva, perform a servicepartner village, cement years, and come back b

Group tours for ind“space available” tthat not every UU congof organizing their own small churches, churchand interested individuayear several public tripstral Europe, India, and t

w w w . u u p c c . o r g /

For almost 2 decades the UUPCC Pilgrimage Service has helpetheir partners overseas. We provide multiple and varied pilgrimagmore details on any of the following services or to begin planningJohn Dale, at [email protected] or visit our website at w

U U P C C P i l g r i m a g e s : B r

congregations on the Island of Negros. We will visit with many con-gregations—some who need partners—and also enjoy the beautifultropical environment of these lovely islands. Some of the oldestcoral reefs in the world lie just off the shore. Dumaguete, home ofthe headquarters of the UU Church of the Philippines (UUCP), isknown as the most beautiful city in the Philippines. Our hosts fromUUCP welcome us with open arms and smiling faces. You will havethe opportunity to make friends to last for a lifetime. The trip feeincludes a non-refundable $150 registration fee, domestic airfarefrom Manila to Dumaguete, all ground transportation, meals andhotels/resorts/inns.

ne india & Khasi hills Pilgrimage

march 13–21, 20129 days/8 nights from $1440/person

Experience first-hand this unique outpost of Unitarianism and enjoythe gracious hospitality of the Khasi people as they welcome youinto their homes and their hearts. If you have a partner church inNE India, are considering a partnership, or just want to learn moreabout this branch of our denomination—this is your opportunity totravel with other UUs on an intimate small-group encounter with ourcoreligionists. Based in the city of Shillong, the trip will feature day-trips to all of the significant Unitarian sites of NE India such as AnnieMargaret Barr “Children’s Village” in Kharang, as well as places ofgeneral interest like the spectacular Cherrapunji Gorge and a work-ing tea plantation. The trip will culminate with worship services on

ww.uupcc.org Partner Church News

side tours are allportfolio.

–Bring your youthh-return pilgrimagean follow in Francisda, Kolozsvár and project in youryour partnership foretter people.

ividuals andravel— We knowregation is capabletravel group. Fores without partners,ls we offer each to Eastern & Cen-he Philippines. The

itineraries for these are posted on the maintravel page of the UUPCC website atwww.uupcc.org/trips.html. If the dates ordestinations of these public trips do not fityour needs we often place individuals withone of the many congregational pilgrim-ages that has space available. ContactJohn Dale for a list and short description ofthe current opportunities.

À la Carte services for individualsand independent travelers include:

Guides & Interpreters, Car rentals or Car &Driver, Airport-village-airport van/car transfer (Budapest BUD, Bucharest OTP &BAN, Kolozsvár CLJ, MarosvásárhelyTGM) Hotels, B&Bs, Unitarian GuestHouses and home stay accommodations.

t r i p p l a n . h t m l

d to cement the bonds between North American UUs ande opportunities for Unitarian Universalists of all ages. For your pilgrimage opportunities contact our travel coordinator,ww.uupcc.org/tripplan.html .

i n g i n g P e o p l e T o g e t h e r

http://www.uupcc.org/tripplan.html


http://www.uupcc.org/tripplan.html

http://www.uupcc.org/trips.html

U U P C C T r a v e l S e r v i c e s

Travel Services & Resources


Sunday. Those participants with partner churches in NE India willhave the opportunity to visit their respective villages for servicesand home stays (where feasible). The trip fee includes a returndomestic Indian airline flight to Delhi and an overnight at a Delhi airport hotel prior to your flight back to North America or elsewhere.For first time visitors to India there is also a pre-trip “Golden Triangle” extension (described next) which begins in Delhi and joinsthe base trip in Shillong.

optional “Golden triangle” extension (delhi, agra, Jaipur)

march 7–13, 20127 day/6 nights from $1,350/personOld Delhi, New Delhi, the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, JamaMasjid, Raj Ghat (Gandhi’s cremation site), Agra Fort, FatehpurSikri (the Sandstone City), an elephant ride into the Amber Fort –this 6 day tour of Northern India checks all the boxes for first timevisitors. The pre-pilgrimage extension begins with 3 nights/2 days inDelhi and travels on to Agra for one night and finally 2 nights in the“Pink City of Rajasthan,” Jaipur. The trip fee includes a domesticIndian airline flight from Jaipur to Guahati and ground transportationto Shillong where it joins the base itinerary of the NE India & KhasiHills Pilgrimage.

UU transylvanian Pilgrimage (on a Budget)

april 14 - 26, 201213 days/12 nights - from $1,140/person 2 life-changing weeks in Transylvania for under $1,150! This is thesame quality Unitarian pilgrimage that the UUPCC has been facili-tating for 2 decades—but at 60% of the price. We have just

Partner Church News Autumn 2011 •• w

look for two more travelstories in the Winter issueof PC News

the response to the request for more“Reports, News and travel stories”was so overwhelming, that there wasno space left for two stories!

they are good stories, so youreditor wants you to be able to readthem. look for “transylvania tales”a report from 3 people about a 2010trip, and “Reflections on a visit”from a 2009 trip to transylvania ...in the next issue.

With apologies to the authors.Nancy Daugherty, editor

Coming soon

SOLD OUT!

replaced hotels with dorms & guest-houses, substituted villagemeals for restaurants, eliminated the long van ride from Budapest,and taken advantage of “shoulder-season” rates. (You could easilyadd days in Budapest onto either end of the pilgrimage). Beginningand ending in Kolozsvár/Cluj, this tour will visit the most significantof the Unitarian holy places including Torda, Mészkõ, Gyulafehérvár& Déva. You will also visit the frescoed Unitarian churches ofSzékelyderzs (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and Karácsonfalva,the spectacular 13th-century castle at Vadjahunyad, the medievalwalled city of Segesvár/Sighisoara, and the Saxon fortress churchat Biertan (Segesvár & Biertan are both UNESCO World Heritagesites). You will spend a long weekend with your partner congrega-tion—make new friends and revitalize your partnership. If you donot have a partner in Transylvania the UUPCC will arrange for youto stay in one of the many beautiful Unitarian villages with other pilgrims.

Unitarian Universalist Pilgrimage to transylvania & hungary

June 201215 days/14 nights - from $1,875 /person Join Unitarians from across North America on a journey to stir yoursoul. Visit historical Unitarian sites and places of general interestincluding Kolozsvár, Torda, Gyulafehérvár, Segesvár/Sighisoara,Sibiu, Déva, & Mészkõ in Transylvania. In Hungary you will have 3 days/nights in Budapest and 2 nights in the beautiful river city ofSzeged. Beginning in Kolozsvár/Cluj, Romania and ending in thelovely Hungarian capital city of Budapest, the trip will include threedays in a pastoral Transylvanian Unitarian village. UU pilgrims will discover the warmth and loving hospitality of Transylvanian Unitarian families during a home stay—attending church and experiencing rural village life.

ww.uupcc.org 21

! festiVaL Choir tour—summer 2013

By any measurement, this summer’sUnitarian Festival Choir tour was aresounding success. Wonderfulmusic, large enthusiastic crowds,loads of new friends and lots of fun!Plans are already underway toreprise the concept in 2013. Watchthis space and/or the UUPCC travelwebpage. This year’s tour filled up in2 ½ months. If you would like to geton the ‘interest list’ for 2013, send ashort email to John Dale at [email protected] and you willbe among the first to receive the itinerary and registration link onceplans are finalized.

John DaleUUPCC Pilgrimage Service


22 Autumn 2011 •• www.uupcc.org Partner Church News

P a r t n e r C h U r C h t r a n s F e r F o r mFOR TRANSFER OF FUNDS THROUGH THE U U PARTNER CHURCH COUNCIL

Please enclose a form with each check for funds to be transferred. Please type or print clearly.

Note: Funds transmission is a benefit of membership in the U. U. Partner Church Council

Make check payable to: UU Partner Church Council Mail to: UU Partner Church Council, PO Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730

Date____________________ transferor is: o Church o Individual o Other Organization

Name____________________________________________________________ Phone (____)____________________________

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transfer is: Total US$ Amount_______________ Check #______________

recipient(s) is (are): o Partner Church o Other Church o Individual(s) o Other Organization (Please check all that apply)

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Church, City/Town, Country Name___________________________________________________________________________________

Contact Person____________________________________________ Title_________________________________

PurPoses—DeLiVery instruCtions—other instruCtions (please be explicit and concise):

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Download the Transfer Form from our web site: www.uupcc.org/services.htm (or use the form below)

Note: Funds transmission is a benefit of UUPCC membership. A transferor of funds should make sure that her/his/its dues are up to date.

If your church is not a UUPCC member, dues will be deducted ($50 for churches under 100 members, $150 for churches over 100 members).

india

uuPCC is now processing transfersfor churches partnered with uuNeIchurches in the Khasi hills in India.We will process checks as they comein, and will do the actual transfersevery 3 months. the schedule in 2011is the end of January, April, July andOctober.

the PhiliPPines

NEW: the regular schedule for trans-fers is february, May, August andNovember. Please make sure checksand forms are mailed by the first of themonth so that we can transfer on the10th of the month.

transylvania

transfers are done monthly from theuuPCC office between the 26th and30th of each month. transferred fundsare wired from headquarters directlyinto the destination church bank account.

Please make sure that you contact

someone in your partner village/town/

church to let them know that the

money is coming.

all transFersChecks must arrive at the uuPCC officeat least one week before the transferdate. Please use the above transferform or download one fromwww.uupcc.org/. Click on Programs &

Services, then Fund Transfer. thenselect the fund transfer form. Pleaseinclude this form along with the check.Please send whole dollars only—nocents. Make checks payable in u.s.dollars.

PLeaSe NOTe: This Transfer Form isfor use by the office staff in preparingthe bank transfer, which is done electronically. Paper copies of theforms are not sent. Therefore, pleasemake sure that you contact someone inyour partner village to let them knowthat the money is coming. It takes aslong as 5–7 business days for thetransfer to arrive there.

Transfer Process: How to Send MoneySee important change to the uuPCC

fund transfer service on page 19.

http://www.uupcc.org/services.htm


Partner Church News Autumn 2011 •• www.uupcc.org 23

U U P a r t n e r C h u r c h C o u n c i l

board of Directors

Richard van Duizend, Chair Term to 2014falls Church, [email protected]

Beverly Moore, secretary Term to 2012louisville, [email protected]

George Davenport, treasurer Term to 2014tulsa, [email protected]

Rev. Roger Bertschausen, vice-Chair Term to 2014Appleton, WI [email protected]

Rev. Kelly Crocker Term to 2012Middleton, WI [email protected]

Ann Gary Term to 2013upton, MA [email protected]

Rev. Bruce Johnson Term to 2013Norwich, [email protected]

Rodger Mattlage Term to 2012lincoln, MA [email protected]

Cathy Perry Term to 2014Bellevue WA [email protected]

Rev. scott Prinster Term to 2013Madison, [email protected]

deforest Ralph Term to 2013houston, tX [email protected]

Rev. vail Weller Term to 2012san Mateo, CA [email protected]

Staff

Cathy Cordes, Executive DirectorP.O. Box 88 • Bedford, MA 01730781-275-1710 fax: 781-275-7008 [email protected]

Margot fleischman, Office [email protected]

John Dale and Csilla Kolcsar, Travel [email protected]

libby hanna, [email protected]

Volunteer Staff

Nancy Daugherty, Newsletter [email protected]

Richard ford and eileen higgins, Community Capacity Building Trainers/Advisors

[email protected]

sharon van Duizend, Community Capacity Building Committee Chair

[email protected]

Pat Rodgers, Membership Database, Matching,and PCC-Chat

[email protected]

lisa Gillispie, [email protected]

If you or a friend wish to receive this newsletter three times a year and to support and participate inUnitarian Universalist Partner Church Council programs and goals, please fill out this form to join us.

DATE: _________________________ —o n e y e a r m e m B e r s h i P s— ¨ New Membership ¨ Renewal

¨ $30* Individual Membership ¨ $50* Family** Membership ¨ $_______ Individual or Family Membership PlUs giftfor UUPCC program support

¨ $50 Congregational*** (under 100 members) ¨ $150 Congregational*** (over 100 members)

Name: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Telephone _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

City/State/Province _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Zip/Postal Code _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

E-Mail _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

o Please add my email address to the PCC-Chat list so I can keep up to date on the latest UUPCC news! ****

UUA Church Name/City _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

* Canadian members please send $28 for an individual membership or $47 for a family membershipin U.S. funds by check or USD money order to the UUPCC address below.

** A family membership consists of two adults residing at the same address (receiving one newsletter).*** A “congregational subscription” provides you with up to four newsletters mailed to the church.

**** Your contact information will be used solely by the UUPCC and will not be shared with other organizations.

Make your tax-deductible check payable to Mail your invitation and check to: uu Partner Church Council UU Partner Church Council / P.O. Box 88 / Bedford, MA 01730-0088

I n v i t a t i o n t o M e m b e r s h i p

BuiLDinggLoBaL Community

one PartnershiPat a time!

Partner Church NewsPUBLISHED 3 TIMES A YEAR

P.O. Box 88Bedford, MA 01730-0088 USA

Vision:

We envision a worldwide unitarian and unitarian universalist community that promotes peace, justice, andliberty for all, supported by partnerships that are integralto congregational life.

Mission:

the mission of the unitarian universalist Partner Councilis to foster and support partner relationships between uucongregations and individuals in the united states andCanada with unitarian and unitarian universalist congre-gations, orphanages, schools and students in all othercountries where partnering is sought and welcomed.these will be mutually beneficial, responsibly sustained,and linked by joint and mutual covenants.

We will:

• Be a bridge that connects congregations around theworld;

• ReACh across boundaries to collaborate with old andnew partners;

• CReAte transformational opportunities for pilgrimageand hospitality, for learning and for service;

• ChAlleNGe ourselves theologically and open our-selves to changed values and behaviors;

• INItIAte partnerships that promote global friendships,international awareness, human rights, and a betterworld; and

• sustAIN this global vision, enlarging and renewing itas new occasions teach new duties.

ADOPteD At the

ANNuAl MeetING Of the uuPCC JuNe 26, 2010

U U P a r t n e r C h u r c h C o u n c i l V i s i o n & M i s s i o n S t a t e m e n t

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