Four years ago, I arrived here as a stranger and now, on my third visit, I feel like a member of this community, which has become a part of my life.
It is an honor and a privilege to meet Rev. Kim Beach and Barbara after many years, to see Rev. Carol Haag again and to embrace Ruth Vogler and all our friends. I am bringing the greetings, good wishes, warmth and love from your fellow Unitarians in Barot, Transylvania, to all of you.
The words in Psalm 133 -- "Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity" -- are true, because our common faith, love and hope unite us in a greater family. Since 1989, we have learned also that the Transylvanian saying "In storm even the trees lean on each other" is absolutely true. We have been leaning on each other since then. On the base of this relationship stands our common faith, as we can read in Ephesians 2:8: "For by the grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God…"
Today I will talk about the Transylvanian Unitarian Church, its past, present and future. Most of you have some knowledge about Transylvania, now part of Romania, but I think that we should review its history and background briefly.
More than 40 years ago, Transylvania became known to the American people through Dracula, when his story was presented in American films. Ten years ago, Romania and Transylvania once again became the focus of interest, as the result of the so-called revolution. But for us, Transylvania is more than the place of historical changes, revolutions or the homeland of Dracula. It is the birthplace of Unitarianism. By the way, I read a joke from a Unitarian minister that makes fun of the tendency in some Unitarian churches to avoid using any Christian symbols. It goes like this: What are the two things that Dracula and Unitarians have in common? First, both Dracula and Unitarianism were born in Transylvania; second, when you wave a cross in our faces, both Dracula and Unitarians cringe.
To understand the rise of the Unitarian movement, we must go back into our history and note that the main characteristics of the 15th and 16th centuries were that more and more people realized "they had the legs with which to walk, reason to use and eyes to discover beauty." This process of discovery started with the momentous changes brought about by the rise of Renaissance humanist movement, which was a triumphal revolution against the dogmatism of the Middle Ages. This movement created a new spirit for European thought. Following the humanist movement, the Reformation strove to assert the rights of the individual on religious grounds, against the views of the Roman Catholic Church, which considered itself to be the sole guardian of truth.
At that time, Transylvania (which means "beyond the forest") was an independent Hungarian country in Eastern Europe, surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains. John Sigismund, the country's young king, was an enlightened ruler. Transylvania became a fertile ground for humanism and the Reformation.
Francis David, the founder and first bishop of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church, was a product of these two movements. "He unified in himself everything that was of real value in both of these movements." According to tradition, Francis David was born in 1510 in Kolozsvar. He was educated first in his hometown in Catholic schools and then, supported by patronage, was further educated at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, where he came in contact with both the Renaissance and Reformation. After his return home, he continued to follow the spirit of these two movements in his activities.
At first he accepted the Martin Luther reformation and soon after the Calvin reformation. But he considered the reformation movement to be prophetic in its mission -- as the will of God -- that must continue. Having taken the path of reformation and basing his faith on the Bible and reason, Francis David examined the doctrines of Christianity and kept only those that conformed to the Bible. So he rejected the doctrine of the Trinity as a merely human creation and began to preach his conception of "One God" as it is found in Jesus' teaching. That was the radical step in the Reformation and brought about the beginning of Unitarian theology in Transylvania in 1566. During this time, debates were very common and were carried on with the permission of King John Sigismund. One of the chroniclers wrote:
If you were listening, you could hear the great disputes all over Transylvania, in the villages and the cities and even among the ordinary people during meals, in the pubs, in the evening and the morning, at night and during daytime, both in common talk of the people and between the representatives of the different confessions from the pulpit.
I have presented this observation of the chronicler to give a picture of the spirit of religious life in Transylvania in the 16th century. People could speak openly about their faith while bloody wars and intolerance among the confessions raged all over the rest of Europe.
The most important development came in 1568, when the Diet of Torda proclaimed freedom of religion as follows:
Our Royal Highness, as he has decreed on matters of religion together with the Diet, now confirms again that in every place the preachers shall proclaim and explain the Gospel each according to his understanding, and if the congregation likes it, then it shall be considered good. If not, no one shall compel them, but they shall keep the preachers whose doctrine they approve. Therefore none of the superintendents, or others, shall annoy or abuse the preachers on account of their religion, in accordance with the previous resolutions of the Diet, or allow any to be imprisoned or punished by removal from his post on account of his teachings. For faith is the gift of God. This gift comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God.
This law of 1568, along with the law of 1571 proclaimed in Marosvasarhely, was always regarded as the legislation of Unitarianism. At that time, the majority of the Hungarian population, and King John Sigismund as well, became Unitarians.
Unfortunately, King John Sigismund died in 1571, soon after the law was passed, and his successor, Stephan, and later Christopher Bathory, inaugurated the Catholic Counterreformation in Transylvania. Although none of the earlier laws was abolished, the new king and his successors pursued policies for the restoration of the Catholic Church as the accepted religion. Francis David was removed from his office as court preacher, the publishing house was confiscated and all Unitarians were dismissed from the court of the king. Any further religious reform was forbidden and any innovators were threatened with punishment. This "Innovation Law" played a decisive role in the fate of the Unitarian Church. Some years later, in 1779, Francis David was put under house arrest and in the same year sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison in the castle of Deva on the 15th of November 1579. According to tradition, he carved his testimony in the wall of his prison cell: "The sword of popes, the cross, the image of death, nothing will hold up truth on its way … I am convinced that after my death the teachings of false prophets will collapse…"
After the death of Francis David, a very difficult period in our church history followed. Beginning with the intolerance of Jesuits of the Roman Catholic Church and later with political suppression, life became hard for the Unitarian Church. Instead of enjoying a period of growth and development, our ancestors had to concentrate their energies on self-defense. In this difficult struggle, we lost many of our churches, congregations and more than three-quarters of our members. Only the providence of God and the heroic persistence of those Unitarians who struggled against all odds and remained loyal to Unitarianism saved the Unitarian Church from total destruction.
This difficult period lasted for nearly 300 years. It was followed by a period that was less repressive and permitted more religious freedom. New churches were built through the generosity of church members and the membership increased.
A very important year in our church history is 1831. During this year, the first contact with the American Unitarians was established. Sandor (Alexander) Boloni Farkas, a famous and enlightened Unitarian writer, met Unitarians during his journey in North America, and he presented them with the history and a view of the actual life of Transylvania Unitarians. Through his efforts, correspondence started between the two churches. Regular communication was established and in 1868, the American Unitarian Church made it possible for Transylvanian students to continue their studies in American seminaries.
The end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century was a period during which the Transylvanian Unitarian Church underwent continued development and was able to perform its mission. Because of the spiritual and material sacrifices of its members and with foreign support, the church expanded with the construction of new church buildings, the founding of new elementary and secondary schools and the publication of books, journals and a quarterly.
After the Second World War, when Transylvania was permanently attached to Romania, the situation of the Unitarian Church, as well as that of other churches, was fundamentally changed. In 1948, the state nationalized all church possessions, except church buildings, parish houses and cemeteries. The new law forced the relationship between church and state to conform to the fundamentals of the socialist order, which regulated the functions of the church. As long as all Unitarians in Transylvania were ethnic Hungarians, services in both church and administration were in our mother language, but the state controlled all activities in the 122 Unitarian congregations and 40 fellowships, as well as those of all other churches. During that period, life in Romania in general, and especially in Transylvania, became more and more difficult. By the end of the 1950s, many of our Unitarian theological professors and ministers were imprisoned for political reasons, as were theologians of other denominations.
After 1945, Romania became one of the members of the Warsaw Pact in Eastern Europe. Thereafter followed a period of 45 years during which the region was politically socialist. In 1963, Ceausescu became president of the country and during the following 25 years, known as the "Ceausescu Era," the country moved to near-disaster economically and politically. People were continually deprived of their fundamental human rights and their freedom. The well-known Securitate did everything possible to frighten and control people, especially educated people. For example, I was checked almost every week by an officer and forced to give information about my foreign connections and contacts. In fact, they wanted me to work for them and because I firmly refused, I had to suffer. Once in 1986, when a friend of mine from Chicago paid me a visit, the Securitate arrested both of us and interrogated us for more than three hours. My friend was expelled from the country and prohibited from entering the country for five years. I was told that I would not get a passport or visa to leave the country for the rest of my life.
Church life also was being smothered by Ceausescu. His decree for the destruction of thousands of villages and their churches, for limiting the number of theological students permitted to train each year to two, meant that more and more of the remaining churches would be without ministers. The prohibition to either publish or import religious books, periodicals and even the Bible made church life very difficult.
As we know, the political and economic situation is totally changed. The grip of the socialist and Communist ideology in Eastern Europe has been broken. The Ceausescu dictatorship has been overthrown and the new governments have promised a democratic and free way of life. This was to be a change for the better. But this did not happen. Since then, governments have not kept the promises they made. Inflation is terrible, political life is unstable and the economy has not recovered. Of course there are also positive changes, freedom of speech, freedom to have meetings and freedom to travel.
Regarding the Unitarian Church, I can say that the changes have been invaluable. All of us are much more relaxed. We are no longer controlled by "officials" and can make our own decisions at all levels. Since 1990, several new Unitarian churches have been built or are under construction. Many church buildings and parish houses have been renovated and in the life of the church we experience a new, more democratic wave.
I think that one of the most important changes in church life after 1989, which touches most of our congregations, is the renewal of the partner church system, as it was in the 1920s. As a district representative or networker, I know well what this means, but I also know it simply as a minister who since 1992 is connected to the Summit Unitarian Church and its members. Your spiritual and financial support has made it possible to change our church life. As you know, we began building our new church in 1990 and it was dedicated in 1995. Two years later, a bright new bell was dedicated in our steeple, thanks to you. Last year, we furnished a room in the church basement for the youth and women's group.
We still have projects for the future: guestrooms and a bathroom in the parish house, which we know will be completed because we have enough energy and support from you and our own congregation.
Why have I been talking about our projects, hopes and prospects? Because it illustrates the present as well as the future of the Unitarian Church as a whole.
At the end, I want to thank you for your kind hospitality and your valuable support. Our gift that we offer to you is symbolic: It is the spiritual gift of our hearts and our faith, which is the gift of God.
May our images, our history, struggle and hopes enrich you and may God bless and strengthen our relationship.
Amen.
The sermon in a Unitarian Universalist setting is never the last word on any subject, but rather an invitation to further dialog.
You may want to read other visitors' comments on Rev. Alpar Kiss's "The Transylvanian Unitarian Church: Past, Present and Future" .
If you wish to add your own comments on this sermon, please enter your name, e-mail address, city, state or province, country, and of course your comments into the following form: