This year, 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Fellowship’s relationship with our Partner Church in Sinfalva, Romania (Transylvania). This relationship was initiated by Rev. Paul Ratzlaff in September 1993, in a letter written to Rev. Dénes Pálfi. You can see a copy of the letter displayed in the Partner Church Corner, in the Library, or at this link https://muuf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/First_contact_Sinfalva_1993.pdf
That link, and much other content about our Partner Church relationship, is on the Partner Church Committee web page. You can find the page by searching muuf.org for the word Partner, or at this link https://muuf.org/pcc/ . Here is the Mission Statement of the PCC:
The Partner Church Committee maintains the relationship with the Fellowship’s partner church in Sinfalva, Romania (Transylvania (Erdély)), which was Hungary until after WW I. Sinfalva is about 15 miles from Torda, the birthplace of Unitarianism. The committee raises funds, disseminates information about the origins and history of Unitarianism and its state in modern-day Romania, and encourages contacts between the members of the two congregations.
Please take some time to explore the web page and in particular look at some of the videos and photo collections and songs in English and Hungarian which are featured there. A recent video is an Overview of Hungarian Language lesson which was offered this year as a Service Auction item. There are also wonderful videos which were sent from Sinfalva to us.
Over the decades there have been several trips to Sinfalva and many of the photo collections were taken during those trips. This year there will be two contacts with Sinfalva, if all goes according to plan. Don and Diane Marks will be in Spain in May and will take a side-trip to Cluj (Kolozsvar). Cluj (Kolozsvar) is a major city in Transylvania, and only 45 minutes from Sinfalva. Then in August Diane Koslow will travel to Romania and Bulgaria on a commercial tour. One of the stops on the tour is the Torda Salt Mine (Salina Turda https://www.salinaturda.eu/en/ ), in the same city where Francis David, whose image hangs on a banner in the Meeting Room, preached “You need not think alike to love alike,” and where King John Sigismund proclaimed the Edict of Torda in 1568, the first formal declaration of religious liberty. By happy chance, our partner village is only 20 miles from Torda, and Diane will be able to visit Sinfalva and meet Rev. Pálfi, who is still the minister there.
The Partner Church Committee is currently planning a lay-led service, scheduled for August, to commemorate our long-lived relationship. If you have any interest in participating in this service, please contact Gabor at PCC@muuf.org.