UUFC's Partner Church in Korispatak, Romania

A Sense of the Greater Family:
Reflections on Korispatak

by Viki Shilaos (edited)

Visiting our partner church in Korispatak in the summer of 2001 gave me the unique opportunity to create memories and connections. In quiet moments, I can conjure up the sights, sounds, images, and feelings of what it was like to be there. Now, when I write to the congregation, I see the faces of the people who live there and they seem more real to me. I can see them sitting around a table sharing a meal, smiling, and laughing. I chuckle at the thought of cows plodding down the street and finding their way home at dusk, waiting patiently at the gate to be let inside. I recall the touch of the elaborate wood gates on my fingertips. I remember the smell of the daily bread at the local bakery. My mouth still recoils at the thought of the sharp, strong homemade palacsinta (an alcoholic drink) offered to me at every home I visited. And I can always hear the singing in the church, for music to me is an expression of the soul, and what better place to share both than during a service.

The experience led me to think of us not just as 'partner' churches anymore, but as 'sister' churches. This expresses more clearly the relational connection, the sense of the greater family, that has emerged as we get to know one another. It is one of those memories I conjure up at quiet moments or sometimes during one of our own services. I'm taken back to the church with the dirt floors and the hand-hewn seats and the unaccompanied singing, all so different from our church and yet so much the same.

Badge of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church

This symbol is found in every Unitarian church in Transylvania, embroidered on hangings, carved on wooden plaques, or set in stone above the church door, often accompanied by the words EGY AS ISTEN (There is but one God).

The badge has a distinctly heraldic appearance: a shield containing the Dove of Peace standing on top of the world, encircled by the Serpent of Wisdom; surmounted by the Crown of King John Sigismund of Transylvania. The dove is a powerful-looking bird with large feet planted firmly atop the globe in a far from meek stance. The serpent is the maned serpent of legend that swallows its own tail, symbolising the everlasting cycle of life.     (from--http://www.hibbert.org.uk/heritage/History/Dove.html

So Different, Yet so Much Alike

Sermon (edited) presented January 28, 2001
at the East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue, WA

by Botond Koppandi,
student at Starr King Seminary, Berkeley, CA;
Pastor of Torockoszentgyorgy Congregation, Transylvania (Romania).

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith,

... In Transylvania we, the Unitarians, are considered to be the heretics, too liberal, and, guess what, non-Christians. We just quietly say, it all depends on how you define Christianity. The classical definition is Christians are those who believe in Jesus as Christ, and so they believe Jesus is God and he died for our sins, and they believe in his resurrection, etc.

Our Unitarian approach is different. Christians are those who try to follow Jesus as a teacher and to try to live their lives according to his teachings. Considering this, yes, we the Unitarians from Transylvania are Christian. But this is very far from the Fundamentalist according to whom even Jesus could be considered a heretic. We are people whose faith arises from the Radical Reformation back in 1568 to the work of David Ferenc. And believe me, we will never betray the 433 years tradition of liberal thoughts and actions.

We Unitarians in Transylvania believe in one God. The name of our denomination comes from the Latin, "Unus est Deus," meaning "God is One," an inscription that you can see on almost all of our church steeples. We believe in God as spirit who not only created this world but who works in this world through his providence. He is a loving, caring father taught to us by Jesus, not the cause and origin of suffering as others would say. We also believe in Jesus who was a prophet and a human being, we think. We don't pray to him, we don't praise him as Lord, because this is not what he taught us. We try to live our lives according to his teachings. We try to put in practice his theology and his ethics which we consider to be valuable.

We don't neglect the other teachers--Buddha, Zarathustra or the others. But because our religion grows up from the Jewish Christian tradition we try to be faithful to it. We think of men as valuable creators. We think that God has given us gifts like faith, reason, free will, conscience and love and we try to implant them in our life. We believe we can accept ideas or different things only if our reason and conscience filter it first. We believe that we have free will to choose the path we wish to follow in our life. We believe that love is a powerful tool which can make miracles in this world. We use the Bible as a main reading at our services, but we often quote or read from other sacred texts, too. Religious freedom means a lot to us. We've learned about tolerance since the Edict of Torda 1568.

Now at the beginning of the 21st century, I am confident about our future. You see, in a village people's lives are connected to their religion. They pray to God to have the energy and strength to work, to plant seeds and to harvest in autumn, and to have the inner resources to become better people everyday. They come to church on Sunday to be alone with the divinity, to form and to feel the community. This is why we take communion--to find the spiritual refreshment to be able to start a new week with hope and confidence. They try to find the answers to the major questions of their life and they are so proud and happy that the Unitarian religion offers these answers in such a humanitarian way. They know that it is not easy to be a Unitarian. They know that they need to be open, tolerant, and people who are seeking always for the truth. They know that faith without action is dead. So they try to implant in their life their religious values they've got from their ancestors. Maybe this is the reason why we inherit our religion at home.

Let me ask you a question, "Are we different?" Yes, we are. Are we too much different? I don't think so. We have our own personal and characteristic conception. We have our wish, our values. We have our open minds and our open hearts. I think we have lots of things in common. I consider there to be a great opportunity to meet each other and to learn from each other. I think it is wonderful to have influence on each other as the reading says when we seek to discover the best in others we somehow bring out the best in ourselves. And David Ferenc, the founder of our Unitarian church, put it this way, " You need not think alike to love alike."

The Rom People: Let Us Strive for Justice for All

by Lorene Hales (edited)

Korispatak is a village of about 900 in the Transylvanian mountains of northeast Romania, a region which was, before national boundaries were redefined following World War II, a part of the country of Hungary. The people of Korispatak, despite their location in what is now Romania, speak Hungarian. The Unitarian congregation in Korispatak has about 158 members. The rest of the town is Reform (similar to Presbyterian).

The UUFC Partner Church Committee was surprised to learn that there is a settled group of Gypsies (Rom is the preferred term) who live in the area of Korispatak, including about 60 Rom children who are members of the Unitarian congregation. It is unusual to have Rom people in a Unitarian church, since most Hungarians look down on the Rom.

The Rom people suffer intense poverty and more prejudicial behavior than the Hungarians living in Romania. There are many economic levels among the Rom people, with musicians at the top and laborers at the bottom. The income of the Rom can be classified as "good," "livable," and "poor." The Rom families in our partner congregation are very poor: 30% are at the lower level of "livable" and 70% are "poor."

If, as Unitarian Universalists, we espouse the principle of the "inherent worth and dignity of all people," we cannot stand blindly by and witness an attempt to marginalize a group of people, wherever they live in the world. Our partner minister is trying to help the Rom by teaching them about Unitarianism and providing basic education. We hope to support him in this effort. As one minister said, speaking about Unitarians in Romania, "The very fact that you know about us and care what happens to us gives us hope and protection." The same holds true for the Rom. The very fact that we know and care can provide a shield from the hate or indifference of others. Let us step forth as proactive people in striving for justice for all.

Learning More about Rom (Gypsy) Culture

Books

• Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey, by Isabel Fonseca
• Uncertain Roads, Yale Stron
• Children of the Rainbow, by Moris Farhi
• Roma and the Transition in Central and Eastern Europe, Dena Ringold, 2000

Videos

• Latcho Drom, 1993
• We Have No War Songs: The Gypsies, by Izzy Abrahami, 1995
• The Romany Trail. Part. 1: Into Africa, 1992
• Hungary: Where the Water Is Deep, 1990