I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to Transylvania, Hungary, and Germany with my wife, daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren. As I shared on Sunday, our son-in-law Rev. Nic Cable, a UU minister in Columbus, IN, received a generous grant to fund his sabbatical focus on roots–his family roots, spiritual roots, and geographical roots in southern Indiana. My wife and I traveled so we could assist with our grandchildren (ages 4 and 11-months).
As I also shared on Sunday, we had the joy of visiting with many friends. The longest friendship dates back to 1999 when our daughter was in second grade! We also had the privilege of attending three Unitarian Sunday services–two in Transylvanian villages and one in an urban church just a few blocks from Parliament in Budapest. I brought greetings on behalf of WBUUC to each congregation. We also visited several other Unitarian churches.
Our trip included Nic’s and my visiting with the new Bishop of the Hungarian Unitarian Church (the organization that spans Transylvania and Hungary). He gave us each two copies of a beautiful new book that contains a brief write-up and gorgeous photos of every congregation in the Hungarian Unitarian Church. One of the copies he gave me is a personal gift, the other is a gift to WBUUC. I’m putting that copy in the Welcome Center and invite you to take a look.
Nic and I also visited the church in Déva, Transylvania. Déva is where Unitarian church founder Frances David (Ferenc Dávid) died while imprisoned for his beliefs. The congregation I served in Appleton has been partnered with the Déva church for nearly a quarter century. It was such a joy to see many of the people and the beautiful church building they dedicated in 2008.
In Budapest, we had the joy of spending a lot of time with the lay President of the Hungarian wing of the Hungarian Unitarian Church. He gave us personal tours of important sites in Budapest and, as a former Minister of Culture in the Hungarian government, had a wealth of stories and information.
I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. Just taking a three-week trip so far away with our grandchildren is a likely once-in-a-lifetime experience. My gratitude includes WBUUC for giving me space to be away longer than I ever have during a church program year, and especially the staff who so ably and wonderfully covered for me. I don’t think I had one work thing come up during the three weeks.
I hope you enjoy some photos from my trip!
With members of the Tordatúr church
With members of the Mészkö church
With members of the Déva church
With the longtime former minister and the new minister of the Déva church
With Bishop Kovács István, beneath a portrait of Balázs Ferenc, the minister of the Mészkö church in the 1920s and 1930s—and late husband of one of the nine founders of the Appleton congregation
At the First Unitarian Church in Budapest
The sculpture commemorating the 450th anniversary in 2018 of the Edict of Torda that granted religious freedom in Transylvania-just outside the church in Torda where the Edict was debated