Our Partner Church

Rev. Levente, Erika and family are now living in Berkeley, CA so that Levente can attend Starr King School for the Ministry.

The Partner Church Program
Our Partner Church
Sovata church staff
Strengthening Ties With Our Partner Church - 1998-2008
Strengthening Ties With Our Partner Church - 2009
Strengthening Ties With Our Partner Church - 2010
Background on Sovata and maps

The Partner Church Program

Information from Partner Church Council (UUPCC)

The UU Partner Church Council was founded in June 1993 to focus and coordinate the enormous grassroots energy of dozens of UU churches which had formed partnerships with Unitarian churches in Central Europe following the collapse of Communism in December 1989. The truly significant activities of the Partner Church program are carried on by hundreds of volunteers at the congregation and district levels.

Mission Statement: The Mission of the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council is to foster and support partner church relationships between North American congregations and congregations in all other countries where partnering is sought and welcomed. This includes countries where partners are already active, such as Romania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, as well as other countries where new partnerships are now beginning, such as the Philippines, India, and Poland.

Our Partner Church

Note: Sovata and Szovata are 2 spellings for the same city. Sovata is used here for consistency.
Our partner church is the Unitarian Church of Sovata. The Unitarian community in Sovata, Romania came together in the 1950's. At the end of the 1980's they decided to build a church on land which they owned. In 1997 a competition for the plan for the church was held. A plan was accepted and in 1999 they applied for building permits. The first service in the new church was held on Thanksgiving, Sept. 2005. The rough brick exterior has now been stuccoed and a new front entrance has been built. (photo on UUCM bulletin board) UUCM makes a quarterly donation of $105 for the church and its minister, Levente Lazar.

Sovata is famous for its warm salt water lakes, which serve as a natural spa and are considered very healing for many conditions. The church hopes to build a small bed and breakfast type hotel to go with the new church. Membership in the church is largely passed down by heredity. There are about 400 listed members. Many members of the congregation were relocated to Sovata after their village was flooded by Ceausecau in his move to destroy a place where several religions coexisted peacefully.

This emblem, the "Címer"  is popular in Hungarian and Transylvanian Unitarian churches and the device of Unitarian denominations in both areas. It depicts a dove encircled by a serpent - "Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16, NRSV), and often bears, or is accompanied by, the motto

Egy az Isten
("Edge uzh Eesh'ten")

[God is One]

Sovata church staff

Levente Lazar is the minister. His wife is Erika; they have a son, Levente Jr. born in August 1999 and a daughter Reka, born in February 2003. Levente is the minister for 2 churches and his wife is also a Unitarian minister and has 3 churches. Levente is the 2010-2011 Balazs Scholar at the Starr King School in Berkeley, California.

Orbán Pál and Fazakas János are the Co-presidents.
Orbán Pál is in his 40s. He is from Zsákod, a small village. His wife is Marika. Both of them are wood industry engineers. Pal works at a wood industry company and his wife teaches at the high school. They have 2 sons in college, Szilamér and Csongor. They have a small business also.

Fazakas János is in his 60s and married to Maria Magdalena. They have two sons Zoltan and Mihaly. Both sons are veterinary doctors. Janos presently runs an herbal tea factory.

Rev. Levente Lazar, Marin, 2010

Interior of the Szovata church with new crown over the pulpit.

Strengthening Ties With Our Partner Church

We can maintain ties with our partner church through e-mail. The following individuals would love to hear from you:
Levente Lazar: minister of our partner church in Sovata;
Orbán Pál: lay president of the congregation;
Fazakas János : lay president of the congregation.
Reminder when e-mailing: Be patient regarding responses. Most people do not have computers in their homes, but rather are using Internet cafes in big cities. Pal and Fazakas probably have office computers, though. Sometimes their servers go down for long periods. We have to remember that Romania's telephone system is unstable, as is all their technological infrastructure.

We are presently exchanging information with our partner church including parts of our newsletter. We hope to have the Religious Education program become involved by being pen pals with the youth. We are also hoping to have the minister come visit UUCM some day.

In 1998 we made a banner (on the photos page) to give to them. It was taken there by Cathleen Cox Burneo (formerly McCarroll), former chair of UUCM's partner church committee, on a trip to Transylvania sponsored by Project Harvest Hope. They visited Budapest, the Polish Castle, Dracula's Castle, the "drowned village", numerous Unitarian churches including Sovata.
In 2001 Cecilia Kingman Miller (our former UUCM intern) led a trip for Project Harvest Hope and visited our partner church. The Sovata church gave us a beautiful banner. This was presented to our congregation on Feb. 3, 2002. View photos of all trips.
In 2004 we raised $1870 to help pay for a car for our partner church.

In September 2005, 2 UUCM members (Scott and Terry Merrick) visited Transylvania on a Thanksgiving trip sponsored by UUPCC Pilgrimage Service. They stayed with our partner church minister and one of the lay presidents. They attended the Thanksgiving service in the new but not yet completed church. View photos from their trip and read a summary by Terry Merrick.


Besides the quarterly $105, we sent $300 for gas heaters for the new church in 2006 and $200 for a new pulpit in 2007.

In Sept. 2008 we arranged to ship a laptop computer for Levente's use. In Nov. 2008 the computer finally reached levente's hands after many travel mishaps.

2009

In Feb, 2009 the Partnership Committee and the Finance Committee approved the idea of sending $300 to our Partner Church for the benefit of their talented art student, Attila Balazs. See one of his drawings.

On June 5 Levente acknowledged receiving the money for the student and thanked us. He also invited us to the inauguration ceremony, sometime in September. The minister's house is being finished and he requested money for the final furnishing.

If you want to visit Transylvania and spend time with our partner church, there are trips there every summer and fall sponsored by Project Harvest Hope or UUPCC Pilgrimage Service. You may stay with Levente, the minister, and meet many members of the congregation.

If you have questions about the UUPCC travel service or need more information about one of their tours, please contact John Dale.

Christmas message from Levente


Christmas services in Transylvania

Dea Friends
We all wish you all Marry Christmas and Happy, Joyful New Year from Kiskukullo Valley, starting from Gyulakuta, via Erdoszentgyorgy, Csokfalva up to Szovata.

This year we had a very aglomerated Christmas. We started at Christmas Eve - we had 3 services with children in 3 different churches. Our children loved it because after all they sang and told Christmas poems 3 times but also they received 3 presents to :-)

Then we continued with the first day communion services in 5 places. But all this is usuall dureing hollydays, but this year we have today - on second day 3 sevices - and we are going to have tomorrow on 3th day, and the next day beeing Sunday we also have services. So we are going to have almost a week celebration.

Yours Erika, Levente, Levente Jr. and Reka

2008-09 Balazs Scholar The Rev. Endre Nagy and his wife visited UUCM on Feb. 8. Endre is completing a year of study at the Starr King School for the Ministry and was with his wife Eva Patko, a theater director. As a duo, the young couple sang a lovely Hungarian song for which Endre wrote the music.  Endre's special interest is in church music. After the service, they had an opportunity to meet some of our members and to join the Partnership Committee and a few interested members in a small luncheon. Endre will be giving the sermon for UUCM on June 21. We are planning to have a luncheon with them after the service, and all are invited.

June 21 service

Chalice Lighting by some members of the Partner Church Committee.


Rev. Endre Nagy                                                      Rev. Endre Nagy giving sermon

The Partner Church Committee wishes to thank all those who helped make the Hungarian Luncheon on June 21st a success. The list includes Marilyn, Lou Anne, Terry, Scott, Joanne , Kristin, Don, John (and others) who cooked, set-up and cleaned-up. We served 36 people with a menu of chicken paprika, stuffed cabbage (vegetarian), pickled beets and cucumbers, mixed green salad and cherry cake. The luncheon was to honor the '08-'09 Balazs scholar, André Nagy, who was our speaker that day. In his sermon he spoke of differences and the history between Transylvanian Unitarianism and that of the United States. His home city in Transylvania is not very far from our partner church (Sovata), and he knows the minister of that church, Levente Lazar. We also thank the congregation for their donations that day to the basket share which will go to our partner church and for donations to the luncheon as well (which go to the General Fund).

Message from the Partner Church Committee, September 2009
To say "Happy Thanksgiving Day" in September may seem to be too early but not if you are Transylvanian. Öszi Hálaadas Sunday, the traditional Transylvanian Unitarian Thanksgiving, is in the last part of September. Scott and I went on the Thanksgiving Pilgrimage several years ago and really were impressed, not only by the nice people in our partner church in Sovata, but also by the beautiful scenery and interesting places. Take a look at our bulletin board in the foyer for
UUPCC travel services. Some tours are still available this fall, and it is not too soon to be thinking of next year.

2010


Message from Levente- INAUGURATION CEREMONY SOVATA

Our latest letter from Rev. Levente Lazar, pastor of our partner church in Szovata, includes an invitation to the Inauguration Ceremony for the new church on Oct. 2, 2010.

We are forming a group of interested people go on a tour to Transylvania for this and also to see World Heritage buildings, important places of Unitarian history and lovely landscapes. Now that the bustle of Christmas activities is over, and you plan for future vacations --think about Transylvania!
Anyone interested in going contact Scott.

The inauguration will be postponed as Levente is the 2010-2011 Balazs Scholar at the Starr King School in Berkeley, California.

Mar. 28, 2010: Rev. Balint potluck luncheon, 12:30

This years's Balazs scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry is Robert Bálint, minister of the Alabaster Village, Meszko, Transylvania (Romania). We have asked the Rev. Bálint and his family to visit us on Palm Sunday, March 28, simply as guests at the service and to stay after for lunch (potluck) and discussion. He will be happy to answer questions.

April 10, 2010 Balázs Scholars Program Fundraiser

August 2010 Rev. Levente, Erika and family are now living in Berkeley, CA so that Levente can attend Starr King School for the Ministry. The Partner Church committee has met the family and Levente will come speak at UUCM in October.

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Levente, Levente Jr.,Reka and Erika in the backyard of a UUCM member.

Background on Sovata and maps