Partner Church
Our church is part of the Partner Church Council, which coordinates programs of over 150 partner churches in the U.S. (five Unitarian Churches in New Jersey).
Magyarandrasfava is a small village in the South-East part of Transylvania—belonging to Hargita County in the land of Szekelys, situated in the valley of the Gagy River. For 500 years, the inhabitants of Magyarandrasfava didn't have a church of their own, though they were denominationally belonging to the Unitarian Congregation of Szentabraham. During this time, they gathered in private houses and in the churches of neighboring towns to attend services. Finally, in 1995, they started construction on their own church. This effort was supported (financially and otherwise) by neighboring villages, Romanian immigrants, and the Hungarian Jllyes Foundation. Most of the financial aid came from two American Sister Churches: the Congregational Unitarian Church of Harvard and the Unitarian Church of Montclair. The new church was inaugurated in September 1999. We are proud to be Magyarandrasfava's Partner Church.
The Partner Church Committee has been very active in the past year. In June of 2003, we hosted the choir from the Kolozsvar Unitarian high school when they toured the United States and made a stop in Montclair. The students in the choir, a number of their teachers, and the high school principal were hosted by various families from our church, the Summit UU church, and the Morristown UU congregation. The students gave an outstanding performance at our church on Saturday, June 14.
In July of 2003, five members of our congregation went on a pilgrimage to Transylvania. Bruce Anderson, Yukiko Anderson, Emily Conger, Steve Murphy, and Judy Tomlinson visited a number of historic Unitarian sites in Transylvania. The group visited the Kolozsvar Unitarian high school, and they were able to meet several of the students who stayed in Montclair. They also visited the Unitarian denomination headquarters, which is housed in the high school building. The group spent three days in our partner congregation in Szentabraham, and visited other churches in Andrasfalva, Homorod Szentmarton, Brasov, Mezko, and Torocko. They also had a chance to visit the citadel where Francis David was imprisoned.
The group presented a tapestry made by Mary Kennedy to the congregation in Szentabraham, and Andras Jakab, son of Reverend Denes Jakab, presented a painting of his to the congregation in Montclair.
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