uupcc newsletter - spring 2011

A publication of the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council

Connect ing Uni tar ian and Universa l is t congregat ions around the g lobe

Volume 18 Number 1 Spring 2011

Virtual Conference Calls, schedule 2

Inside News...

UUPCC Board Chair

Goals and Strategies for 2011

Nihal Anton Attanayake leads a breakout group at

a Community Capacity Building workshop in

Ulay, in the Philippines. (See stories on pages 9

and 17.)

by RichaRd Van duizend

your uuPcc board meets in per-son twice each year in addition to

monthly teleconferences. We werehosted for our meeting in early Febru-ary by the uus of San Mateo (ca)congregation where our Vice-chair,Rev. Vail Weller, has been the leadminister. i would be remiss if i did notsay thank you to uuSM for theirwarm, caring, hospitality.

The main focus of our meetingwas setting goals and prioritizingstrategies for meeting those goals. itwas a vibrant time with much thought-ful discussion. in order to chooseamong the many good ways in whichwe could invest our energy and

A Process for the People 3

Nominees to UUPCC Board 4

UUPCC Ad for General Assembly program 6

UUPCC Program at GA / Cornish Award 7

Steward of Partnership Awards /Project Harvest Hope Partnership 8

New Partnership Model 10

PCC’s New Facebook 1

UUPCC Donors 12–13

Reports, News & Travel Stories 14–17

Pilgrimage Postings 18

UUPCC Travel Services 20

Notices 21

Gift Form / “How to Send Money” 22

Membership Form / UUPCC Contact Lists 23

Vision & Mission 24

The Mission of the Unitarian Universalist Partner Cand congregations in all other countries whe

A young Khasi Unitarian translates for visiting

pilgrims in February 2011. (See a traveler’s story

“Tugged into Relationship” on page 14.)

resources, we used the “pair-wise rank-ing” process, one of the tools devel-oped for community capacity build-ing methodology. after refining aproposed list of priorities, the boardcompared each possible priority to eachof the other priorities and discussedwhich should be addressed first. deci-sions regarding each pair were madethrough consensus rather than formalvoting. Quite frankly, this was not easy.Often we had to choose which of twovery important and beneficial items isthe most important. Margot Fleisch-man, our Staff assistant of many tal-ents, proved herself a superb facilitatorby asking questions at key moments tohelp us find a path.

We set four goals for this year:• Retaining and revitalizing currentcongregational partnerships• Growing the number of individualand congregational partnerships• increasing the number of individualand institutional members of theuuPcc, and• addressing key governance, admin-istrative, and policy issues

Many of the strategies we decidedupon are intended to achieve two ormore of these goals. For example, ateam of uuPcc members, includingseveral from the board, are looking athow we can enhance interest and

hurch Council is to foster and support partner church relationships between North American congregations

re partnering is sought and welcomed. This includes countries where partners are already active.

(Continued on page 2)

Keep up to date on the latest partner church news without leaving home!

tuesday, May 3, 8:00 pM eastern • 5:00 pM paCifiC | Wed., May 4, 8:00 aM philippine zone

Community Capacity Building update

Presenters: Dr. Richard Ford, Rev. Nihal Attanayake, and Cathy Cordes.

Join this call to hear about the latest Community Capacity Building projects in the Philip-

V i r t u a l C o n f e r e n C e C a l l s

Goals and Strategies

(Continued from page 1)

(Continued on the next page)

participation in partner church activitiesby using social networking. (For thoseof you as old as i am, that means medialike Facebook and Twitter.) not onlyare we developing a uuPcc presenceon Facebook, but we will also be creat-ing a template that partners can use toexchange messages, photos, videos,etc. more quickly and easily. in addi-tion, we will be updating our website tomake it even more informative andinteractive – visit www.uupcc.org earlyand often to watch the progress.

in addition, the uuPcc educationcommittee is going to be preparingsome exciting new Re materials fornorth american congregations,explaining what a Sunday morning islike for children in Transylvania, india,the Philippines, and elsewhere; and the

2

issn 1936-0517

Partner ChurCh news is the newsletter ofthe UU Partner Church Council, an independentaffiliate organization of the Unitarian UniversalistAssociation, started in 1993.This newsletter supports the mission and goals

of the Partner Church Council.

Editor: Nancy Daugherty

Publication Advisors: Barbara Kres Beach,Cathy Cordes, Leon Hopper, Emery Lazar, andPat Rodgers.

Articles for the next newsletter may be mailed tothe editor at PO Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730; or emailed to [email protected]. Telephone: 781-275-1892 Fax: 781-271-9254The UU Partner Church Council is a 501(c)(3)

charitable tax-exempt organization.

For information about membership, contactCathy Cordes in the UUPCC office,

PO Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730.

For any other information, contact

the UUPCC office at 781-275-1710, or

[email protected], or

PO Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730

Visit the web site at: www.uupcc.org

Next PCC Deadline:

September 2, 2011

(

community capacity building com-mittee will be working on ways tomake our partners better aware aboutthis powerful approach.

another board team will beexploring ways to increase the opportu-nities for those studying for the uuministry to experience our dynamicfaith as it is practiced in other nations,and share what they are learning withtheir colleagues here and there. We also

to register for a

[email protected] or cat 781-275-1710.

Include * your name * attend. You will be sendays before the call (paccess to email).

Feel free to submit quemail: [email protected]

Spring 2011 •• www.uupcc.org

(

pines, Transylvania and Africa. Capacity buildingwhat they already know, and mobilize what theyfacilitators help communities identify strengths, dsolve basic needs, alleviate poverty and strengthour role is to listen, bear witness, and lend assis

To register for the call, see below. It will also be posted on the uupcc.org website, about one wee

Wednesday, May 11, 8:00 pM eastern

annual Call with the pCC leadership

Presenters: Richard Van Duizend and Cathy Co

Please join Partner Church Council Board ChairDirector, Cathy Cordes, for our Annual Call with us on activities during the past year, share dreamupcoming General Assembly in June, and engagperiod. This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to

To register for the call, see below. It will also be posted on the uupcc.org website, about one wee

Recordings of most previous conference cal

Virtual Conferences and post them on the webs

recordings—www.uupcc.org, click on Resources

Conference Calls—and listen to them on your c

Topic suggestions from UUPCC m

anticipate that the uuPcc will soonsign a Memorandum of understandingto establish a new program of partner-ship with classes at the new LifeSchool operated by the uu congrega-tion in Kampala, uganda.

The uuPcc will be continuing towork collaboratively with other uuorganizations that operate internation-ally. To that end, the board had an

Call, send an email to

all the office 9–5 Eastern Time weekdays

city/state * the topic/date of the call you willt an email with the call-in information 2–3lease let the office know if you don’t have

estions to the speakers ahead of time byrg.

Partner Church News

enables local communities to organize already have. Easy-to-use tools and localesign action plans and locate resources toen community development. As partners,

tance if opportunities arise.

recorded and can be listened to once it isk after the call.

rdes.

, Richard Van Duizend, and Executivethe Leadership. Dick and Cathy will updates for the future, discuss plans for thee participants in a question and answer

speak to your leadership.

recorded and can be listened to once it isk after the call.

ls are available. We routinely record our

ite after the call. You can download those

/ Virtual Conference Calls / Past Virtual

omputer.

embers are always welcome!

http://www.uupcc.org


mailto:[email protected]



[email protected]

Goals and Strategies


by caThy cORdeS

From the exeCUtive direCtor

A Process for the People


Rev. Noémi Moldovan-Szeredai, minister in Cseke-

falva and her daughter have a Skype meeting with

Partner Church members in Hopedale, MA.

informative and productive discussionwith beverly Smrha, who serves on theboard of Project harvest hope.

We met as well with arliss ungar,chair of the balázs Scholar Program,and the current balázs Scholar, Rev.Levente Lázár. a large part of our dis-cussion with them concerned ways ofstrengthening current partnerships. Levente said three things are impor-tant—Relationship! Relationship! Rela-tionship! Just communicating by emailis not enough. Travel is not within thereach of most of our overseas partners,so it is important for north americansto make the effort to visit their partnercongregations. Furthermore, the visitsto the congregations are often too short.an overnight visit is not enough. Oneidea would be to have the minister or amember of the local congregationtravel with the north american visitors,perhaps as a translator, to create anopportunity to deepen relationshipsduring a trip. Other ideas generatedinclude more use of Skype and texting

Partner Church News

rather than e-mail. Some congregationsuse Skype plus a projector to talk as agroup with their partners. board mem-bers shared their ideas for sustainingpartner church committees for the long-term, including:

• promoting youth trips and socialaction projects, • giving lay people opportunities totell their stories, • increasing spiritual bonds throughquarterly prayer exchanges betweenpartners,• lighting a special partner churchchalice during services, and/or • engaging in simultaneous activitiessuch as bell ringing.

Let us know your practices and ideas.Finally, the governance, adminis-

trative, and policy priorities selected arerefining the uuPcc Travel Program asit expands beyond Transylvania toensure that pilgrimages are alignedwith spiritual, relationship, and com-munication goals of partnership; revis-ing our by-laws to provide greater flex-ibility when the annual meeting is held


and how voting is conducted to preparefor the likelihood that General assem-bly will becomes a biennial rather thanan annual event; and working to furtherensure financial accountability whenfunds are transferred. The board, afterconsidering all the perspectives alsodecided to discontinue the position ofhonorary president so as to avoid con-fusion on who speaks for the uuPccand to whom concerns should beexpressed.

as you can see, there will be a lotgoing on this year. Stay tuned and letus hear from you. ••

Seven years ago this July, uuPccjoined forces with First unitarian

church in houston and ProfessorRichard (dick) Ford to conduct the firstcommunity capacity building (ccb)program in Árkos in Transylvania. This“experiment” was funded with a grantfrom the uu Funding Panel.

There were six people from thehouston church, dick Ford and mefrom the u.S. and three local facilita-tors who spoke both hungarian andenglish. after coaching the local facili-tators and inviting the community ofÁrkos, we gathered the first evening inthe community center. dick was theonly one of us who really had any ideaof what to expect.

The people came and sat on

benches in the hall. dick, working witha translator, explained that we hadcome to listen to them and that wewere going to ask them to do the talk-ing. he explained the exercises thatthey would do in small groups andasked them to choose one and moveinto small groups.

no one moved. They had come tobe polite and to listen to what theamericans had to say. We had come tolisten to them. Fifteen minutes passed.no one moved. dick told the facilita-tors to be patient. They explained againwhat the exercises were. no onemoved, until finally the young peoplein the crowd got up and took somepaper and pens and announced thatthey would draw a map of the village.The others were invited again to jointhe other two facilitators and slowly

people started to join one of the groups.Soon they were all in animated conver-sations, drawing a map of Árkos or out-lining the organizations of the village.

Over the next two days, the com-munity members present workedtogether to prioritize the needs they hadidentified in their conversations the firstnight and to design the beginnings ofan action plan. The process had begun.in the end a list of priorities wereagreed to by consensus, potentialresources identified and an action plansketched with people responsible forseeing to it that it happened.

The rest of the official part of thestory is written in the first case studyand then in the recent follow-upprogress report, but there are two sidestories that i want to tell.

at the end of the third day, i wasstanding with the minister at the dooras people left. an older woman

3

Nominees to UUPCC Board of directors and to the Nominating Committee

The election of Board and Nominat-

ing Committee will take place at the2011 uuPcc annual Meeting at General assembly in charlotte, northcarolina on Saturday, June 25, 2011 at12:45 p.m. Voting members willreceive a call to meeting in May andan annual Report in early June.

Nominees to the UUPCC Board of

Directors 2011

We are pleased to announce the follow-ing nominees to the board of directors:

FOR 3-YEAR TERMS UNTIL 2014

(Four positions available)

The Rev. Roger Bertschausen, appleton, WiRoger bertschausen is the Senior Min-ister of the Fox Valley unitarian uni-versalist Fellowship in appleton, Wi, acongregation he has served since 1990.he is a graduate of bowdoin collegeand the university of chicago divinitySchool. Roger’s congregation has beenthe partner church of the unitarianchurch in déva, Transylvania since1999. Roger visited déva in 2000, andshared in the joyous dedication of its’

4

Ma Jaureen Siwagan sings during the welcoming

ceremony of the UU Congregation of Banaybanay

for their new partners ... See story on page 21.

new church in 2008. Roger’s congrega-tion has recently entered into a secondpartnership with the church in banay-banay, the Philippines. Roger has beena uuPcc board member since 2008.

George Davenport,

Tulsa, OKGeorge davenport has been a uuPccboard member for the past six years,and has served as its Treasurer for thepast four years. a geologist, Georgeresides in Tulsa, where he is an activemember of the all Souls unitarianchurch which is partnered with Énlakain Transylvania and Kampala, uganda.he has traveled to Romania on severaloccasions, including once with 45members of the all Souls’ youth choir,and has also visited uganda.

Cathy Perry,

bellevue, Wacathy Perry is an active member ofbellevue, Washington’s east Shoreunitarian church’s Partner churchMinistry team which enjoys threevibrant partnerships in Transylvaniaand the Khasi hills and is currentlychair of the Transylvania team. cathyhas made many visits to overseas part-ners and has participated in three com-munity capacity building Workshops.She serves as a networker for theKhasi hills and promotes partnershipactivities in the Pacific northwest dis-trict. cathy has been a uuPcc boardmember since 2009 when she wasappointed to fill a vacancy.

Richard Van Duizend, Falls church, VaRichard Van duizend is a court Man-agement consultant and has pursuedhis work throughout the united Statesand its territories, and internationally incountries such as bangladesh, canada,egypt, Lebanon, and nigeria. Richardhas been a member of the Partnerchurch circle of the uu congregationof Fairfax (Va) for 20 years, and hasvisited both its Transylvanian partner,


Szentgerice, and its partner in theKhasi hills, Puriang. he participated ina community capacity building work-shop in Puriang and has traveled to thePhilippines to meet with congregationsand the leadership of the uu churchof the Philippines, and to indonesia tomeet with the leadership of the unitar-ian christian church of indonesia.Richard has been on the uuPccboard of directors since 2006, servingas chair since January 2010.

Nominee to the UUPCC Nominating

Committee 2011

The nominating committee is responsi-ble for submitting names of nomineesto the uuPcc board of directors andto the nominating committee.

FOR 3-YEAR TERMS UNTIL 2014

(One position available):

The Rev. Barbara Pescan

barbara Pescan is completing her min-istry with the unitarian church ofevanston, iL this June and moving tojoin her partner of 32 years, ann Tyn-dall, a hospital chaplain, in La crosse,Wi. barbara served on the uuPccboard for two terms, and has been toTransylvania two times to visit herpartner church in Medgyes, and to tourto several other partner churches. Sheis a “thoroughbred Romanian,” and onher first trip, she was glad to be able tofind her maternal grandparents’ vil-lages near Oradea. barbara is glad tobe nominated for a second term on theuuPcc nominating committee; shebelieves that continuing to make theseinternational connections and keepingthem strong is good for our mental andspiritual health and the health of ourassociation. ••

Partner Church News



A facilitator for the Ulay, Philippines CCB work-

shop works with the group on an action plan

analysis.

approached us. She took my hands inhers and with tears in her eyes said,“Thank you. no one has ever asked myopinion before.” it was a powerful lesson in listening for me.

The other story is what happenedwith the young people—remember thefirst night: they were the ones whomoved first. There were some prettytough problems on the list of prioritiesand they were not going to be easy tosolve. Some of the priorities that theyoung people had, like building a play-ground, were further down the list.They really could not to help get a newwater system for the village. but withinweeks they had organized themselvesto clean up the stream in the village.They built trash cans and distributedthem around the village to keep the lit-ter from reappearing. They workedwith the local mayor to arrange for thetrash from the cans to be collected bi-weekly. and eventually, they built aplayground.

dick Ford recently returned toÁrkos and several other communitiesto do a follow-up report seven yearslater. you can read the full report on the uuPcc website atwww.uupcc.org/casestudies.html

Partner Church News


The first exercise of this CCB workshop was introduced

Village residents: mapping and institutional analysis. All

bers of this village actively participated in the program a

interest and enthusiasm about the first exercise. All the f

busy with guiding the people on how to sketch the map.

bers were divided into four groups: two groups were give

sketching the map and the other two groups were charg

the institutional analysis of their village.

Back in the Beginning

So how did all this start? uuPccfolks wanted to find a way for ameri-can partners to support their overseaspartners, and improve their churchesand their communities in an ethicalway that is non-patronizing and non-charity based. a tall order! yet, thesewere the values identified in uuPcc’sFairness and awareness guidelines thatwe wanted to promote.

at General assembly in 2003, sev-eral of us were invited to a meetingwith dr. Ford. at that meeting, hedescribed the work he had been doingin numerous countries for over 40years. dick was a retired clark uni-versity professor with many years offield experience in community partici-pation and sustainable development.he adapted the methodology of RapidRural appraisal to include local com-munity participation. This methodol-ogy uses simple organizing tools withcommunity participants to help themidentify their strengths and needs, pri-oritize those needs through consensus,and then design an action plan toaddress those local needs. The com-munity identifies the resources it has,and begins to identify the resources itneeds.

it occurred to us, as dick spoke,that these tools mightbe a useful way forpartners to worktogether as equals inan authentic andaffirming way. Wedecided to test thattheory and the ccbconcept was born.We wrote a grant tothe uu FundingPanel and werefunded for the firsttest of the theory.Árkos was that firsttest case.

Current Successes

Since that first time,there have beenalmost 20 ccbworkshops with

to the Nongtalang

the attending mem-

nd showed keen

acilitators were

The village mem-

n the task of

ed with creating


partners in five countries. not all ofthem have been as successful asÁrkos. We are working constantly tounderstand both the successful and thenot-so-successful in order to adapt theprocess in ways that make it evenmore helpful for communities.

eileen higgins, now working forthe u.S. State department, wrote ourinformational brochures, worked withdick to train facilitators, and has beenthe lead advisor for ccb workshopsalong with dick. Facilitators have nowbeen trained in Transylvania, thePhilippines, and india so that the workcan continue without american advi-sors present. We continue to supportand consult with them as needed.

having been an observer at four ofthese, i can tell you that i am amazedby the work that communities can dowith a few simple tools. here are mytop reasons why:1. The people who live in the com-

munity understand their needs andknow their own resources betterthan any outsider ever can—regardless of how well intentionedthe outsiders.

2. The process focuses conversationon the task at hand so that every-one is working together to accom-plish something. This is no trivialmatter if the community has hadlittle opportunity in the past towork together this way.

3. it gives the participants a way tohave their voices heard.

5

http://www.uupcc.org/casestudies.html

6 Spring 2011 •• www.uupcc.org Partner Church News

UU Partner Church Council

“The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all”The UU Partner Church Council supports action on the Sixth Principle by helping to build

international partnerships between individuals, small groups and congregations.

UUPCC Annual Meeting & LunchSaturday, June 25 • 12:30–2:00 Pm • North Carolina Hall — Hilton Hotel

2011 Louis C. Cornish Living the Mission Award to be presented to Rev. Gretchen Thomas; the

Steward of Partnership Awards will also be presented. Tickets available at the UUPCC booth #612 through Thursday 5:00 Pm

Thursday, June 23 • 10:45 am • Room 203 aB — Convention Center

International Worship Service

Back to the Future Rev. Dr. Justin Osterman, Main Line Unitarian Church,

Devon, PA • with Rev. Erika Demeter and Rev. Derrick Pariat

Co-Sponsors: UUPCC, ICUU, UUa IRO, ICUUW

Thursday, June 23 • 4:30–5:45 Pm • Room 207 a — Convention Center

Beyond Boundaries and Borders: Walking the TalkRev. Levente Lázár, Rev. Derrick Pariat, Richard Van Duizend, and Rev. Jill McAllister

Co-Sponsors: UUPCC, ICUU, UUa IRO, ICUUW

For more information on our programs and to learn how you can participate in building relationships with Unitarians andUniversalists around the world visit our booth (#612) in the Exhibit Hall and visit us online at www.uupcc.org.

Booth# 612

Break the cycle of poverty—

Educate an international

UU child

UU Partner Church Council Student Sponsorship Program

www.uupcc.org/studentsponsors.html • 781.275.1710

2011–2012 Pilgrimages

Transylvania On a Budget (May)

Transylvania/ Budapest Pentacost (June)

Transylvanian Thanksgiving (September)

Philippines/ICUU Council meeting (January)

India: Khasi Hills & Golden Triangle (February)

Itineraries and registration information:www.uupcc.org

We will customize a trip for your congregation:[email protected]

Travel with other UUs onlife-changing journeys

Witness our denominational history, worship at our

sacred places, and forge bonds of friendship with

our partners in faith around the world!

Pilgrimage Opportunities

UU Partner Church Council Travel Service

www.uupcc.org/trips • 781.275.1710

http://www.uupcc.org/studentsponsors.html

http://www.uupcc.org/trips


General Assembly June 22-26, 2011


Here are some not-to-be-missedevents at General Assembly inCharlotte. We look forward to seeing you.

uupCC annual Meeting &lunCh

Join other Partner church folks at ourannual lunch and meeting. Lunch tick-ets are available on our websitewww.uupcc.org—click on buy LunchTickets on the homepage. We willhonor the cornish award recipient,Rev. Gretchen Thomas and the Stewards of Partnership (see relatedarticle on page 8.)

international WorshipserViCe

Rev. dr. Justin Oysterman, Main Lineunitarian church will deliver the hom-ily and will be joined by visiting inter-national ministers including Rev. der-rick Pariat, President of the unitarianunion of northeast india and Rev.

Partner Church News

Cornish Award Recip

erika demeter from Transylvania. Thisis always one of the highlights of Part-ner church presentations and not to bemissed. This event is co-sponsored byinternational council of uu, uuainternational Resources Office and theinternational convocation of uuWomen.

Workshop

Beyond Boundaries and Borders: Walkingthe talk

u.S. congregations partnering withuus around the world find commonthemes of liberal religion and some-times bump into spiritual, political,economic and social issues. how havewe connected with our partners inmeaningful ways? What issues arise,how have we reached out in love, andwhat have both partners learned? JoinRev. eric cherry, uua, Rev. JillMcallister, icuu, Richard Van distend, uuPcc Rev. derrick Pariat,


ient: Rev. Gretchen Th

india and Rev. Levente Lázár, Transyl-vania as they discuss their partnershipconnections.

international VillageBooth #612 ConVention Center exhiBit hall

Stop by, meet uuPcc staff members,see your friends, find resources, buybooks, ask questions or just relax withus in the booth area. There is alwayssomething going on and it is where allthe international guests hang out at Ga.Join us!

speCial eVent

in Celebration of Michaelservetus

Friday June 24, 7 – 9 p.m. Westin Hotel Trade RoomThis year marks the 500th anniversaryof the birth of Michael Servetus, a contemporary of Martin Luther. Serve-tus published several books, the last ofwhich was “On the Restoration ofchristianity.” it was a treatise that

omas

The Board of Directors of the UU Partner Church Councilis pleased to announce that at its March meeting the Rev.Gretchen Thomas of Fitzroy Vic, Australia was named therecipient of the Louis C. Cornish Living the Mission Awardfor 2011. In so doing, the Board recog-nized Gretchen’s outstanding contribu-tions, both past and ongoing, to thePartner Church Council and to thepartner church movement.

In nominating the Rev. Thomas,the Rev. David Keyes, former Presi-dent of the Partner Church CouncilExecutive Committee, wrote, “She wasa stalwart from the earliest days of thepartner church movement. In SanJose and Homoródszentmárton sheand József [Kászoni] created a modelof partnership that inspired many,many of us. The Francis David YouthHouse was one of the fruits of thatpartnership, as was József’s evangel-

ism for partnership to various tours in North America.Next, Gretchen created the Canadian partnerships withHungary. All the while, she served on the PCC Exec.where she brought a level head and the perspective of a

minister of religious education.”Gretchen designed the networkers sys-tem of the UUPCC, served on the part-ner matching committee and continuesto serve on the Religious Educationcommittee.

The Rev. Thomas was one of the firstNorth American UUs to visit Transylva-nia following the 1989 revolution whichbrought down the Romanian dictatorshipof Nicolae Ceausescu. With the recentpublication of the Rev. Thomas’s inspir-ing new book, Walking in Others’ Shoes,

and a recent article in the UU Worldmagazine, this recognition of GretchenThomas’s contributions to partnershipseems timely, if not long overdue.

7


Annual Steward of

Partnership Awards

The uu Partner church council ishappy to announce the recipients

of the 2011 “Steward of Partnership”award. This award is given annuallyto recognize those in our congrega-tions who provide exceptional care forpartnerships. uuPcc knows long-term partnerships do not automaticallysustain themselves. it takes attention,time and loving care to maintain longdistance connections and nurturefriendship. Often this work is not pub-licly recognized even though it is thiscrucial grassroots work that keeps thepartnership thriving and keeps the con-gregations involved.

The people being recognized thisyear have kept communication going,organized worship services, kept theircongregations engaged, made friends,shared stories–and their lives–withtheir partners in other countries. They

8

Project Harvest Hope An

with Székelyudvarhely C

by WiLL SaundeRS, PReSidenT

PROJecT haRVeST hOPe

have cooked and served and cleanedup at countless events. They have vis-ited their partners and helped theirpartners come here. Many have organ-ized major programs that have foreveraffected their lives and the lives oftheir partners.

We honor and treasure all theyhave done and continue to do for uni-tarians and unitarian universalistsaround the world. We are pleased toaward the 2011 “Steward of Partner-ship” award to the following people:

• Jackie albay-yenney, Monte Visa, ca

• Joseph brisben, iowa city, ia

• carol cook, San Mateo, ca

• Fran corn, bellevue, Wa

• Roger corn, bellevue, Wa

• Richard daugherty, bedford, Ma


nounces Partnership

ommunity Foundation

• Lori Fox, San Mateo, ca

• Flora Majumder, northampton, Ma

• Sharon Mcdonald, bedford, Ma

• barabara Owen, newburyport, Ma

• Mary Pugh, berkeley, ca

• Marta zsemberovszky, Jacksonville, FL

congratulations to all. it is a joy torecognize these people for the dedica-tion and commitment they haveshown over the years to keep theirpartnerships strong and thriving. Weknow there are many more whodeserve to be recognized. This will bean annual award. ••ReV. KeLLy cROcKeR, chaiR

STeWaRdShiP aWaRdS cOMMiTTee

FOR The uuPcc bOaRd OF diRecTORS

The “Unitarian Community Fund”

represents a new phase of community

development work in Transylvania

For almost 20 years, Project harvesthope (Phh) has sought to be agile

and flexible in response to the rapidlychanging economic and social land-scape of our unitarian homelands inTransylvania. Since the fall ofceauscescu in 1989, our unitarianbrothers and sisters have been workingto rebuild their communities whileadjusting to the opportunities and chal-lenges of membership in the europeanunion and early-stage free market capi-talism. This has provided Phh withample reasons to review and revise itswork while remaining true to its core

vision of economic and communitydevelopment.

Phh began with a project to helpbuild a mill and bakery in Okland. Thenext phase involved development of adairy barn in Karácsonyfalva. in 2006,Phh began a partnership with ciVi-TaS: Foundation for civil Society, tobring development tools to unitariancommunities. Working with ciViTaSdemonstrated the desire and ability ofour unitarian brothers and sisters todevelop and lead their own initiatives.

A New Phase for PHH

now, Phh is excited to announce anew partnership with the Székelyud-varhely community Foundation (SzKahttp://www.szka.org/), a community-driven grant maker founded in 2007.SzKa has an impressive record ofwork with youth and young adults, of

environmental activism, and of renew-ing philanthropic culture in thehomoród valleys.

Working with SzKa, Phh hasestablished a donor-advised “unitariancommunity Fund”; the initial fundingis $40,000.

SzKa will advertise broadly theavailability of grants for unitariancommunity development, work withpotential grantees to prepare excellentproposals using a strategy called “out-come mapping,” and present those pro-posals to Phh for approval. Thisprocess will assure professional man-agement, financial transparency, andexcellent resources for communicationwith Phh donors. SzKa will workwith grantees from any unitarian com-munity in Transylvania.

Phh believes this is the logical nextstep in honoring and respecting our co-religionists in their efforts to design andmanage their future. ••

Partner Church News

Partner Church News

General Assembly Events




4. The process of the workshopshelps to identify new potentialleaders in the community.

5. it encourages them to take chargeof addressing their own needsrather than waiting for someoneelse to do it.

6. it provides them with clearly-defined, documented needs theycan use with government officialsto get action where there has beennone before.

7. ccb helps define the role for u.S.partners as listeners and supporters,not problem solvers.

8. They are left in the end withknowledge of tools they can use inthe future to further organize theircommunity.

This is exciting work! it helps partnersapproach each other as equals andaffirms each community’s ability toaddress their own issues. i amreminded of a quote by Lilla Watson,indigenous australian activist, “If you have come here to help me, youare wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation isbound up with mine, then let us worktogether.”

This process works in communities everywhere. i haveused the tools in my own community. The houston churchhas used them to prioritize their


Villagers

LEFT: Richard Ford traveledCCB facilitators there. In histraining provided opportuniti

facilitate at least a portion of

techniques of leading group

the rationale for using partic

facilitator and ‘cheerleader’ r

See Dr. Ford’s full report at

social outreach program. dick has usedthem with his condo association. Theprocess is not proprietary and thanks toeileen higgins and her colleague annaToness, there is a new manual for train-ing facilitators that you can use to bet-ter understand the process. you canpurchase a full-color copy for $10 fromthe uuPcc store on our website ordownload a free copy by clickinghttp://www.uupcc.org/ccb.html

We have discussed the possibility of atraining session here in the u.S. forpartner churches. if you would be inter-ested in attending such an event, let meknow. you too can learn how to usethese tools in your own church andcommunity. ••

The UU Funding Panel, the UUA Inter-national Office, and generous individualdonors have made all this work possi-ble. If you would like to contribute to

the on-going work of the UUPCC Com-munity Capacity Building programplease send your contributions toUUPCC, PO Box 88, Bedford MA

01730. To contribute with a credit card,please call the office at 781-275-1710.

called for major reforms in the christian church, including the use ofreason and conscience and the tolera-tion of others’ beliefs. he was burnedat the stake in Geneva in 1553 alongwith what was thought to be all thecopies of his book. Three survived.

Out of the Flames, by Lawrenceand nancy Goldstone is a historicalaccount of Servetus and his life andwork. They will be the guests of honorand speakers at this special event atGeneral assembly. This event is opento all and is co-sponsored by The inter-national Resources Office of the uuaalong with the international associa-tion of Religious Freedom—u.S.chapter, the uu partner church coun-cil and the international council ofunitarians and universalists.

NOTE: This is not in the programbook so be sure to mark it on your calendar!

“long strange trip”

Friday 2:45 p.m. Room 213 ABC Convention Centera new film on the life of MichaelServetus will be shown on Friday at2:45. Ron cordes is creator of thisvideo that will be part of a series on thehistory of unitarian universalism andliberal religious thought. ••

9

drawing a community map.

to the Philippines in March to train 12 new report Dick comments, “The Dumaguete

es for every member of the group to

an exercise and to become familiar with

exercises. We also had time to reflect on

ular exercises and to discuss the role of

ather than lecturer.”

www.uupcc.org/casestudies.html.


http://www.uupcc.org/ccb.html

neW partnership Model launChed

UUPCC has created a new model of partnership in conjunction with All SoulsUnitarian Church of Tulsa, OK. All Souls is partnered with Kampala, Uganda.There is an elementary school in Uganda—New Life School (NLS)—that isassociated with the church. New Life School does not receive any governmentfunding and it does not have any long-term source of sustainable and reliablesupport. The idea of a Partner School relationship between American UU con-gregations, NLS, Rev. Kiyimba, and the UUPCC was launched in 2010.

UUPCC will help establish a consortium of nine churches to partner withNLS. Each church will partner with one class or grade of students and will staywith that group as they move upward through the school’s grades year-by-year. In essence, each grade will have its own partner church.

As with all UUPCC partnerships, the Partner School Consortium willemphasize building relationships with the children and families at NLS. Wehave as much to learn about the realities of their lives as they do about ours.Getting to know each other is the best part of a partnership and our congrega-tional life will beenriched as we con-nect with anotherculture in friendship.

We are veryexcited about thepossibilities for thisnew model of part-nership. If you wouldlike more informationabout the consortiumand/or if you thinkyour church wouldlike to participate atsome point, pleasewrite to [email protected].

Students at the New Life School line up to wait for lunch to be served.Photo courtesy of D. Henderson

CCB in Transylvaniaby caThy cORdeS

in February, Richard Ford made afollow-up visit to three communities

in Transylvania where we had con-ducted ccb workshops 5–6 years ago.Felsörákos, Árkos and bencéd have allaccomplished much since then and it iswonderful to see how many of theirpriorities have been addressed. in eachcase, much of the progress these com-munities have made is due to their owninitiative and local resources. The fullreport is available on the uuPcc web-site www.uupcc.org/casestudies.htmlif you have been curious about thepotential of the ccb process, i encour-age you to read the report.

here is an excerpt about Árkos fromdick Ford:

“The 2004 planning workshop createdan action plan that identified the com-munity’s highest priority needs. Thesepriorities included: income generation,education, water and sanitation, health,community services (such as trash col-lection or cleaning streams), and socialactivities such as “Árkos days.”

“in response to meeting its identi-fied needs, the community launchedseveral activities. The largest and mostcomplex was to replace their localwells and individual household sewagesystems with a modern community-wide water and sanitation system. Theywere able to work with the county

10

This is one of the latest projects that the minister, the m

of Arkos are working on. It is a funeral house in the cen

The design honors every religion so all residents of Arko

council and tap into the water and sani-tation system of the nearby city of Sep-

siszentgyörgy. Theywere also able tosecure assistancefrom the eu. Theplanning andfundraising efforttook five years butlast year they wereable to begin con-struction. Their accessto the funds evolvedfrom the plan createdin 2004, persistentleadership of the vil-lage committee andmoral support from

ayor and the people

ter of the village.

s can use it.


Árkos’ partner church in houston. Thestrategy also helped some of thesmaller projects they were completingincluding their trash collection andstream cleanup—and some of the edu-cational work such as expanding thesize of the school and creating the daycare facility. Success breeds successand Árkos was on a roll to achieveeven more.” ••

Partner Church News



CommUNiCatioNs

PCC Facebook Page Now Open for Business!
by ReV. ScOTT PRinSTeR
The Partner church Program’slively exchange of questions,

ideas, and success stories from aroundthe world is made possible by a net-work of communication that invites allour members—not just the leadershipand staff—to participate. Rather thandepending on “official” content to keepour program running, we are enrichedby an enormous web of wise and cre-ative people, all of whom are commit-ted to nurturing partnerships world-wide.

We’re pleased to announce thatwe’ve added one more strand to ourweb of communication—the Partnerchurch council Facebook page. nowyou have one more way to share yourexperiences and excitement with otherleaders of Partner church programsaround the globe.

if you’re already a Facebook user,then you know how easy it is to sharequick messages and resources online—

Partner Church News

listen to past VirtualConferenCe Calls

Here's the link—http://www.uupcc.org/confcalls.htmlto the UUPCC’s conference callpage which has further links to theserecent calls:

Wednesday, March 9, 2011international updateSpeakers: Peter Morales and EricCherry

Wednesday, March 2, 2011participating with partners in transylvanian summer CampsSpeaker Panel: Sarah Dorer andSharon McDonald (First Parish UUin Bedford, MA), Rev. Jennifer Lentzand Ann Swardlick (First UniversalistChurch of Yarmouth, ME)

... as well as calls further in the past,and information about upcoming calls.

just log into Facebook, begin typing“unitarian universalist Partner churchcouncil” into the search field at the topof the page, and you should quickly seethe link to the Partner church Face-book page appear. When you arrive atour page, just click the “Like” button atthe top of the page, and you’re ready toshare the news about partnershipsaround the world—add your own sto-ries, photos, links, and even videos!you’ll see how Facebook gives us theopportunity to liven up our partner con-nections. (nOTe: You can find and viewthe UUPCC Facebook page but, if youdon't have a Facebook page, you won’tbe able to post comments.)

if you’re not a Facebook user andyou aren’t sure whether you’d like tosign up, here’s a brief introduction tohow connecting through Facebook canadd a new dimension to our network ofinternational partnerships. Facebook islike a lively bulletin board with mate-rial that is always changing. you andthose whom you have accepted on yourFriends list can share public and privateupdates, notes, pictures, and videos, sothe content is much more diverse anddynamic than a newsletter or an e-maillist like our Pcc-chat.

The Facebook format provides youwith two basic views: your Wall andyour News Feed. your Wall showsitems that are specifically yours: mes-sages, updates, or other items that youhave sent or that others have sent toyou. your News Feed shows themessages, updates, and other itemsposted by all of the people who are onyour Friends list; because this canresult in a lot of activity, you can alsolimit this view to Most Recent.

One of the concerns voiced by ourmembers who are not already usingFacebook is the issue of privacy, andwe take this concern very seriously.Once you’re set up as a member ofFacebook, it’s worth a few minutes tomake sure that your settings are provid-ing a high degree of protection, whichyou can always adjust as you become


more familiar withthem. Facebook’sdefault setting iscompletely public, so you need to thinkof your participation as visible toeveryone unless you explicitly set itotherwise. To adjust your settings, clickon “Account” at the upper right ofyour Facebook page, and select “Pri-

vacy Settings” from the drop-downmenu. This Privacy Settings page is agood one to explore, and we recom-mend that you set your controls to themost conservative settings until youfeel more confident with your new net-work. For example, under “Sharing on

Facebook,” you’re likely to see thatthe level of privacy is set to “Every-

one,” the most public setting; changingthat to “Friends Only” will restrictyour communications to the circle ofpeople you have approved as Friends.

another important item on the“Account” drop-down menu at the topright of your page is “Account Set-

tings.” One of the tabs you should seeon that screen is “Notifications,” whichcontrols when Facebook sends you ane-mail to notify you of activity on yourpage. i personally uncheck essentiallyall of those check-boxes on that page,because my email’s inbox would befilled with messages in no time! again,these settings are worth experimentingwith, but i suggest that you keep yourcontrols restrictive at the beginning,and adjust them as necessary when youfeel more comfortable.

One of the things we’d most liketo encourage the users of our Facebookpage to do is to post activities, successstories, pictures, and videos of theirPartner church relationship and com-mittee. This is a new feature that we’reall learning how to use together, so weencourage you to experiment alongwith us. as we like to say in the Part-ner church council, “the most radicalthing we can do is to introduce peopleto one another,” and our new Face-book page offers one more excitingway to nurture these connections! ••

11

http://www.uupcc.org/confcalls.html


Ferenc Dávid Friend ($1,000 +)

Diana Bowering Sue Boyce Katherine Cave Lawrence & Gabriella K.

Coburn Carol Cook & Susan Grieger Cathy & Ronald CordesDee & Govind Idnani Liz Jones Rev. David KeyesHeather S. & Scott Kleiner Edward Law Vickie & Mike Milde Michael Miller Len Pellettieri H. deForest Ralph, Jr. Ruth M Shaw Rev. Vail Weller & Bob Hardy

Norbert Çapek Friend($500–$999)

Eric & Nanny Almquist Dorothy Andrews Rev. Harold & Sabrina

Babcock Fred Cox Barbara & Richard Davis Barbara & Charles

Du Mond Anna Máthé Foss Rev. John Gibbons Rev. Richard & Joyce Gilbert Catherine Healy Eileen Higgins Donna Loveland Irene Molnar-McKee Beverly Moore Andreas Uthoff & Madeleine

Altmann Richard & Sharon Van

Duizend Frank & Barbara Weber

Béla Bartók Friend($100–$499)

Abie Alexander Laurel Amabile Fred Ames George Anthony Marjorie Babcock Constance Baker Elly Kelly Baker Kimberly Bares Teri Barr Eniko Molnar Basa Jonathan Bass Dorothy Bergin Betsy Bicknell Kathy Birnbaum Clint & Sue Blandford Lee Boeke Burke & John

Burke Dana & Kathleen Booth Virginia Bourne Pat & John Bower Rev. Daniel Budd Linda Lu Burciaga &

Rev. John Burciaga Carol Byrne & Bruce WilliamsElisabeth Campbell Susan Caravello

Ernest & Marion Carlson Peg Carpenter David & Kate Carr Jennifer (Sally) Cassells Mary Castiglia Maria CastilloJohn Cavallero Rev. Barbara Child Charles Chilton Barbara Coburn Peter & Vicky Coccoluto Helen & Don Cohen Marion Connell Roger Corn Dwight Cramer Jean Crichton & Robert

Gunhouse Rev. Kelly Crocker Tom & Mary Darner George Davenport Cynthia DavisRichard & Eleanor Dawson Rev. Alan Deale & Kathleen

Hunter Kenneth & Helen

Deffenbacher Frances Dew Douglas Dick Sarah DorerIrvin EmanuelJudith Emmons Janice Fitzpatrick Michael Fosburg & Patricia

Skibbee Dr. Noelle Foster Hal Fuller Julie Gerrard Janet Gersh Rev. Ruth Gibson Lisa Gillispie Bob Goodman Rev. Beth Graham &

Rev. Bill SchulzJay Hanks Barbara Hannemann Howard & JoAn Hansen Tom Hazzard & Gillian

Backus Kenneth Herman Rev. John Hickey Rev. Leon Hopper Leonard Howard Jim & Betty Hulse Rev. Doris & Howard HunterLois Hybl Heather Hyde Gretchen & John Jackson Andrew Janos Rev. Roger JonesSherry & Ralph Jones Julie & Jerry Jose Pat KahnMaureen Killoran Bruce & Jane King William Klock Jeanne Kocsis Donald & Ruth Lamphiear Spencer & Susan Lavan Rev Jennifer & Craig Lentz Cora Leukhart Bill & Erica Licea-Kane Ruth Little Debra Locklear Neal Lockwood Sharon Price Love

Josef Machac Marjie & Peter MarionAnne Mark Phyllis Marsh Eva Marx Sharon Lawrence McDonald Robert & Beverly McGaughy Beth McGregor Irene Mehnert Beverly Montgomery Carol Nestor Judith O’Keefe & Peter

Bellincampi Don Pearson & Lynne

ChampionKimberly Perry & Charles

Manley Rev. Barbara Pescan Nancy J. Peterson Hugo & Marilyn Pfaltz Anne Pikolas & Jean Charles Donald & Lois S. Porter S. Brown & Lois Pulliam Jeanne & Robert Reed Gene Reeves Vicki Roberts-Gassler Pat Rodgers Brian Rogers Jay Roller Rev. Carol Rosine John & Maggie Russell Max D. RussellColleen Sanders Rev. Russ Savage Rev. Ann Schranz Doris Smith Donald Smith Emily Smith Shirley Smith & John Shonle Beverly Smrha Rev. Donald Southworth Mimi Stevens Virginia Falk Stout Lok Tin Alexander Szeto &

Hoi Yiu Lee Frances Tanaka Adriana & John Terebessy Ethel Mae Theriault Rev. Gretchen Thomas Del Tweedie Larry Underwood Peter Van Demark Nancy W. Van Dyke David Verwolf & Lou McKee Bob ViscountRuth VoglerPat Wand Samuel Warner Julie Waser Carol & Robert Waser Suzanne Wasilczuk & Tim

Stratton Giana Wayman Dixie Welch & Peter

Schwandt Janet West Beth & Stuart Williamson

UUPCC Friend

Lorna Aaronson Mardi Abuza Katherine Acenas Alyssa & Brad Adams Deborah Allen

Grace Amborski Eleanor Anderla Lillian Anderson Enika Anderson-Young Lyssa Andersson & Jack

Butterworth Raymond Angelo Sue Ashwell George & Lucy Bailey Sara & Stonewall Ballard Linda Banez-Kay & Jay

Hilton Kay Rev. Beth Banks Lou Bartolomucci Ivan Baumwell Rev. Joseph Ben-DavidCarol & Julia Bertaut Rev. Roger BertschausenMark Binnig & Kathleen

Binnig Jane Blackwell Doris Blaisdell Elizabeth Blake-Hedges Connie Bloch Cynthia & George Bluh Catherine Bocskor Irene Boczek Eva Bonis Robert Boone & Bonnie

Daines Mary Jane Borman Jim & Betty Bowie Rev. Howard Box Diane Boydell Julia & Arnold Bradburd Ginger Brewer Joseph BrisbenBarbara Brock Joan Butcher Joyce Bynum Ronald Califano Sue Camlin Doug Campbell Phyllis Carr Rev. Eric & Linda Rose

Cherry Stephanie Chiha Neil & Julie Chippendale David Clapp Paul Cohen & Romney Wright David Collins Cathy & Tim Conahan Mark Conaway John & David Cook Barry Copp Virginia Crocker Nancy Crow Diane Crowne Mary Rose Curtis John Dale & Csilla Kolcsar Sandra Danforth Lois M. DavisTheodora Davitt-Cornyn Steven Denison Toi Derricote Millie Dew Esther G. & Robert S.

Dickinson Eva Diner Irene Dinning Rev. Bonnie Dlott Mary Donald Emily Duensing & Ted

Bakamjian

Vicki DyerWyley Eaton, M.D. Gertrude Edge Jeanne Edwards Rev. Kathleen Ellis Dorothy Ellis Susan Ellsworth Chris & Karen Erikson Ken Estabrook & Linde Ghere Meryl Everett Gretchen Faulstich Janet Fernandez Andrew Ferrier Jacqueline & James Fesler Rev. Richard M. Fewkes Carol & John Findling Harriet Fisher David & Mary Fountain Mara & Brett Fournier Louise Friedenberg William Fry & Barrie OukesL. Gardner Michele GarsideRev. Nan & Richard GeerPamela Gehrke Thomas Getz & Margaret

Finn Ronald GlossopPierre Godin Polly Gould Ralph H. Graner Richard & Becky Groff Avery Guest (Carl) Rick Gumina & Judy

Walton Carl Haag Robert Hamilton Barbara Haring Sharon Harrell Fred Hatch Betty Hefner William Heier & Andrea Heier Ernestine Helseth Meagan Henry Lisa Hettler-Smith & Gordon

Smith Russ Heuckendorf Rev. Phillip Hewett Rick & Beverly Heydinger Richard High Christopher Hill & Susan

Luebbert Carol Hilton George & Geri Hogeman Rev. Olivia Holmes Valerie Holt & William Holt Rhonda Holt Kathy Horne Paula Horton Ben Horvay Regina Hugendubler Scott & Sandy Hughes Robert Irwin & Dolores

Powers Rhonda L. Jacobs Timothy Jacoby Gene Jahncke Don & Joan Johnson Richard Johnson

U U P C C D o n o r s

Continued, next page

Partner Church News Spring 2011 •• www.uupcc.org 13

training is underWay!On September 17, 2011, one weekbefore her 62nd birthday, Lee BoekeBurke plans to jump into the frigidwaters of San Francisco Bay nearAlcatraz Island and swim to the HydeStreet Pier in San Francisco. In aneffort to raise awareness and $25,000for the BUILD UU Philippines project,Lee will swim the chilly 1.25 milesacross the Bay. Over the next fewweeks, more information will be com-ing out about Lee’s swim on theUUPCC website (www.uupcc.org),Facebook pages for the UUPCC andBUILD, on the BUILD website(www.uucpdorm.com) and on the

PCC-chat. Help the UUs of the Philip-pines create a safe and eco-friendlydormitory for 180 young women whocome to the colleges and universitiesin Dumaguete City to advance theiropportunities in life. And help theUUCP create a project which will leadto a financially sustainable future forthe church.

Pictured at left, Lee had to drive

several miles in Wisconsin in

March to find an open, unfrozen

stretch of water to begin training

for the upcoming swim!

Rev. Bruce Johnson Richard Jolley Joseph Joy & Susan

Southwick Rev. Daniel Kanter Phyllis Kaplan Dan and Jan Karney Karen Kashian Phil & Claudia Kern Don KerrRev. Dan King Judy & Chris Kirby Gabor Kiss Audrey KochIvan & Ursula Kristoffy Marjorie & David Kroll Judith Lambert Tom Lancefield Eric Langhirt Elizabeth Leber & Andrew

Coveler Patricia B. LeeMichelle Leebens-Mack Patricia LeibyLucie Lenore MaryLou Lewis Marjorie Loehlin Jean Lovely Margaret Lowry & Laura

Steele Rev. Megan Lynes Kathleen MacLeod Alvin Macomber Barbara MadesFlora MajumderPatricia Manley Pauline Masterton Rodger MattlageMolly & John McClenon Beverly McFarland Tom McGuinness Donna McLain Susan & Roderick James

McLeod John & Mia McLeod Rev Wendy McNiven Scott & Terry Merrick

Tom & Sharon MerrittRev. Ben MeyersDavid Mezger Jeanne Mielcarek Laura Miller Gail MoizeauSarah Moldenhauer-Salazar Rev. Leonora MontgomeryRichard Moore Don Morgan Jeanne Morrel-Franklin Carol Morrison Russ Myer Carol Myers Judith Navratil Jane Nelson Mary Neumann Beth & Peter Norton Bill Norton Nancy Dean & Leonard

Nowak Barbara Owen Nelta Owen Lowell O& Marjorie Owens Revs. Carolyn & Tom

Owen-Towle Julia Oyen-Keller Rev. David B. Parke Carolyn Patierno Don & Judy Peters Rhonda Peterson Lennart Peterson & Anne

Margoluis Dr. Eugene & Helen Pickett Jacqueline & Allen Pulsifer Ogden Ramsay Timothy Ransom Janis Rapp Daniel RatelleBill & Gwyn Reid John Rex Mildred M. Reynolds Rev. Peter Richardson James & Diane Robertson Barbara Robinson & Carlos

Fraticelli Elizabeth Rose

Andrea Rosenfeld William & Kathleen Rousseau Lynann RudertLeah Schultz Elaine Schwartz Rev. Craig Scott Gail and James Seavey Jane Sherman Glenn Short Kathy Smith Rev. Gary & Elizabeth Smith Deborah & Donald Smith Karlin SobolewskiCharles Sollinger & Dorothy

Sollinger Jean Sorrells-Jones Rev. Dr. Richard Speck Jane Stallman Rev. Dr. Betty & Thomas

StaplefordJulie SteinbachElizabeth Strausz Hillary Marie Stucker Rev. Elwood SturtevantBill Suiter Jodi Tharan Hazel Thomas Jean Thompson Christina Thomsen-ParkSusan Thomson Amy Thorne Marjorie & Peter TitcombPeggy Tlapak Tom TothImre & Eleanor Toth Bob & Mary TrippAnne TrueArt & Arliss UngarSteve UrseRev. Arthur Vaeni & Sally

GovePhyllis Valentine

Marilyn Vialle Irmgard Voss Mary & Robert Walker Sue & John Walko Greg WardMary Welch J. Brian Weller Anne Whittenbury Rev. Bets Wienecke Rev. Ann Willever George Williams Thomas Wilson Kathleen Winters Paige Wisotzki William & Brenda

Witherspoon Sherry & David Woessner Eldon Wolf Glenn Wootton Rev. Mark & Michelle Worth Isabella Yannoni Meg York Rev. William Zelazny Rev. Dr. Sara Zimmerman Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern

Honorary Gifts

Alyssa & Brad Adams, inhonor of Dick Van Duizend

Lee Boeke Burke, in memoryof Robert Boeke

Toi Derricotte, in honor of J.Brian Weller

Mara & Brett Fournier, inhonor of Dick Van Duizend

Rev. Daniel Kanter, in honorof the S.F. Giants and Rev. Vail Weller

Hillary Marie Stucker, inhonor of Len Pellettieri

Elizabeth Rose, in honor ofLen Pellettieri

Sharon Van Duizend in honorof Dick Van Duizend

Supporting MemberCongregations

First Church in Boston, MAFirst Parish in Arlington, MAFirst Parish in Bedford, MAFirst Parish Church in

Weston, MAFirst Unitarian Church of

Cleveland, OHFirst Unitarian Society of

Madison, WIFirst Unitarian Universalist

Society of Albany, NYKitsap UU Fellowship,

Bremerton, WAKing’s Chapel, Boston MAMain Line Unitarian Church,

Devon, PANorth Parish Unitarian

Universalist Church, North Andover MA

Unitarian Church of Castine,ME

Unitarian Church of Westport,CT

Unitarian UniversalistChurch of the North Hills,Pittsburgh, PA

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta,GA

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix, AZ

Unitarian Society ofNorthampton and Florence,MA

U U P C C D o n o r s (continued)

Thank you to all of you who so generously responded to our Annual Appeal. Your continuedsupport helps UUPCC to strengthen and grow international partnerships and sustain ourglobal vision. This list of Donors covers donations between April 1, 2010–March 15, 2011.

http://www.uucpdorm.com


R e p o r t s , N e w s & T r a v e l S t o r i e s

ndra Fees and Pearl Green in Shillong.


Székely Áldás (szekler Blessing)by GabOR KiSS, MORRiSTOWn (nJ) uniTaRian FeLLOWShiP

avery common sight in Transyl-vanian homes are the words of

the Székely Áldás (Szekler blessing)also called Házi Áldás (house bless-ing), embroidered and framed, hang-ing on the wall. The words to it are inthe box at right, in hungarian andenglish.

The melody can be heard athttp://img.uua.org/stj/1043_Szekelyaldas.mp3. i’ve always found it haunt-ingly beautiful, and i find it lingeringin my mind for hours whenever i hearit. as you can see from the webaddress, this is song #1043 in the song-book. The songbook says “music byelizabeth h. norton 2002,” so themusic is very recent. i wonder if it waswritten specifically for the songbookversion of the Székely Áldás? it fits soperfectly.

We’ve used this song several timesin services at the Morristown (nJ) uni-tarian Fellowship, as you can see herewww.youtube.com/watch?v=ncG4zSvso-o (or search youtube for “MuFvideo”)

We have sold embroideries withthe words in both english and hungar-ian side by side in a single frame, as afund-raiser and as a way of gettingpeople in the congregation interested inour partner church relationship. if youwant to do that too, i can recommendGobeshop at www.gobeshop.com/.[Ed.Note: if the site is not already in Eng-lish, you can click on the American flagicon, as well as the $ icon.] if the item isnot on their website, they can do it byarrangement.

My favorite story concerning thissong is from a visit to our partner inSinfalva (cornesti) the summer beforelast. i was with two other persons fromMuF, non-hungarians, and excellentsingers both. i can’t sing too well but i

14

can speak hungarian, so i coachedthem using transliterations of the hun-garian versions of several songs. Onthe Sunday of our visit i told Rev. Pálfithat we would like to sing for themafter the service, and he said thatwould be fine. after the service westood up and sang the first of oursongs, Spirit of Life, in english, and thecongregation applauded politely. Thenwe sang it in hungarian, which gotsome appreciative murmers. Samething with Let It Be A Dance, thenSzékely Áldás, in both languages. ithink the congregation appreciated the


work we went to, preparing andrehearsing in both languages. Finallywe sang our last song, the Székely Him-nusz (Szekler Anthem), in hungarianonly. after the first couple of notes,when the congregation realized whatwe were singing, they all got up andjoined in heartily. it was a powerfulmoment. We were told afterwards thatit wasn’t that many years ago thatsinging the Tranylvanian anthem wasseriously illegal and it was very mov-ing to them that their guests from faraway could come to lead them insinging it. ••

Hol hit, ott szeretet;

Hol szeretet, ott béke,

Hol béke, ott áldás,

Hol áldás, ott Isten

Hol Isten, ott szükség nincsen

Where there is faith, there is love;

Where there is love, there is peace;

Where there is peace,

there is blessing;

Where there is blessing, there is God.

Where there is God, there,

there is no need.

by ReV. SandRa FeeS, MiniSTeR, FiRST

uniTaRian uniVeRSaLiST chuRch OF

beRKS cOunTy, ReadinG, PaPreface: In February, John Dale and CsillaKolcsar of the UUPCC Pilgrimage Service leda group of UUs from various churches to India.They visited Delhi, the Golden Triangle and ourUnitarian Partners in the Khasi Hills. Rev. Sandra Fees, on sabbatical from her church inBerks County was one of the participants. Shesays “I went on this trip as part of my sabbati-cal based on an interest in India and learningabout the Khasi Unitarians.”

Midway through my February2011 pilgrimage to india, i made

my first Khasi unitarian Facebookfriend. her name is Sunabi, and she’s amember of the Madan Laban unitarianchurch in Shillong. We met afterchurch. i was taking pictures andoffered to share them. Without missinga beat, Sunabi asked, “on Facebook?”

“yes,”of namthat d

i Mada

Tugged into Relationship

Rev. Sa

i smiled. an excited exchangees and emails ensued, and later

ay Sunabi “friended” me. had preached that morning at then Laban congregation from what

Partner Church News

http://www.gobeshop.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCG4zSvso-o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCG4zSvso-o

http://img.uua.org/stj/1043_SzekelyAldas.mp3

http://img.uua.org/stj/1043_SzekelyAldas.mp3


Nine teenagers and four adults from East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, Washington, traveled to Hungary and

Romania in July and August 2010. Highlights of the group’s three days and nights in Budapest were visits to the two

Unitarian churches and the Dohány Street Synagogue. The group then headed for Transylvania, spending a night at the

pension in Kiskapus before heading to their partner village, Torockószentgyörgy. The pilgrims spent four days and five

nights in the village, living with host families and exploring the beautiful surroundings. Each pair of youth was matched

with a village young adult who served as interpreter, and the American and Transylvanian youth became very close.

Highlights of the time in the village included making chili and chocolate chip cookies for the villagers, and hiking to the

ruined fortress overlooking the village. The trip ended with overnights in Déva and Kolozsvár.

—Elizabeth Kelley

BelleVue, Washington/toroCkószentgyörgy

Tugged Into Relationship


can only be described as an imposingpulpit. Pearl Green, the congregation’sminister, translated my words intoKhasi, the native language, thoughnearly everyone in attendance had astrong command of english. i spokeabout God’s love, describing howmembers of my Reading, Pennsylva-nia, congregation aspire to expressGod’s love in our relationships witheach other and how much we eachneed reminders of that love.

i also shared an experience i’d hada few days earlier during the touristportion of our trip that embodied theconcept. i was wandering around thecity of Jaipur ducking in and out of

Partner Church News

shops and keeping an eye out forhindu temples. at one point, i seemedto be walking around in circles, tryingto find my way. i realized i was tiredand feeling a long way from home. asi walked through a courtyard, a littleboy ran right up to me, “namaste!namaste! Please come with me.”before i could even respond, hegrabbed my wrist and tugged me hard.i was a little startled. he pulled me towhere his brothers and cousins weresitting in the shade on folding chairs.They pulled up a chair while asking,“Where are you from? What is yourname?” They were eager to speak withsomeone from america. They eveninvited me to an engagement party thatnight. i didn’t go to the engagement


party; i had dinner plans with my uni-tarian universalist group. halfwayaround the world, a little boy reachedout to me when i was feeling a littlelost.

When i preached that morningabout God’s love, my knowledge ofKhasi unitarianism was mighty thin. iknew that the tradition was founded onthe idea that “God is One,” but i wasn’texactly sure what that meant. i soonbegan to learn. i got what may be thesimplest and most direct statementfrom arky, a Khasi unitarian collegestudent studying mechanical engineer-ing—who is also now a Facebookfriend. arky traveled with us andserved as guide and translator when we

15

Reports, News & Travel Stories


visited unitarian villages. On one ofour jeep rides, i asked him about whatunitarianism means to him. not toosurprisingly, he said, “God is One.”When pressed, he added, “we need tolove one another,” and “the youth learnabout the right path.” From churchleaders, i learned how those ideasemerged from the tradition’s rich his-tory. Khasi unitarianism blends indige-nous religion with unitarianism. God isSpirit, which permeates nature, all ofcreation, and all life.

When i think of our uu kin innortheast india’s Khasi and Jaintiahills, i think of Sunabi and arky. ithink of the church leaders, ministers,school children, and teachers we met,and also a little boy in the streets ofJaipur who called out to me,“Namaste.” each deepened my under-standing of divinity within all and ofthe way in which divine love makes usone. each tugged me a little deeper intorelationship. and that just may be thebest expression of God’s love and myexperience in india. ••

16

Rev. Fees poses with her translator friend, Arky.

Sunabi Nongpiur and the Madan Laban church, in Shillo

hopedale/CsekefalVa prayer exChangeRev. Noémi Moldovan-Szeredai, who is the minister at the Csekefalva UnitarianParish and Rev. Paul Hull, newly installed minister in Hopedale, Massachusettshave just completed the second of their planned quarterly prayer exchanges—each of them sending a prayer via e-mail to share with their respective congre-gations. This is a way for partnership to be present in our worship services andto strengthen our spiritual connections.

This is the prayer that Rev. Hull sent Rev. Noémi:

O God, as the Earth’s turning this Sunday morningBrought dawn first to the rich valley of fields and woodlands where lies

Csekefalva,Then turned—on in its inexorable journey of emerging life and wonder,To light the rich wooded valley where lies Hopedale,Let us remember that the light is one, always shining, always there—Egy az Isten, God is one, always present, always light. Always!Help us to know, O Spirit, that the darkness comes only from the turning,The light is always there, and it will come in more turning.As the Earth turns, always toward the light, may we always turn to you, O God.May we know, as the one light and life came from you,We are connected in that one light—experienced in our innermost hearts

as love.For it was written “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God,and God abides in them”

1

As we turn towards the light of love again this Sunday morning,May the longing of our deepest prayers come true, as we plead to you:O God, make us one. Amen.

1 1 John:4

Reverend Noémi translated Rev. Hull’s prayer for her congregation and sent thefollowing prayer for sharing at Hopedale Unitarian Parish:

God! In our prayers we share a lot with you—feelings from deep down,thoughts which we can formulate in words and in the emotions of our heart.Today we are grateful to you.

Near our many everyday presents gotten from you we are grateful for our con-nection and spiritual awareness with our sisters and brothers from the other sideof the world.

We are grateful that, through having you as our partner church, our vision aboutlife, connections and Unitarianism has gotten wider.

Until a new face-to-face meeting, may we feel our Csekefalva-Hopedale part-nership connection as part of our everyday church life.May God bless us all. Amen.

Spring 2011 •• www.uupcc.org Partner Church News

On a UUPCC tour to India’s Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur) and

NE India—Rev. Fees poses with her travel group.

ng.

saN mateo, Ca/Ulay UU

visiting our Partners in theUlay UU Congregation ofNegros island, Philippines,

by caROL cOOK, uuS OF San MaTeO

The last two thirds of a mile on theroad to our partner church in ulay

is a muddy, slippery, uneven, rocky andsteep path. On the previous two visitswe had arrived by van. Luckily, thisyear our drivers didn't want to risk it—so we walked!—perfectly framing the 3days of our visit. The calls of birds andfarm animals accompanied our arrival inthe mornings; the bubbling chatter andlaughter of the children accompaniedour return in the afternoons.

We were there for the ulay com-munity’s first community capacitybuilding workshop led by four talentedlocal facilitators, well trained by dr.Richard Ford in only three days. The

Partner Church News

COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING: breakCaballero of the Aquino/Casayan congregat

Our daily walking meditation, eyes firmly onwatching for each slippery stone.

process took place over two days—what an honor to be witness to thebirth of this new chapter in our part-ners’ lives!

On Sunday, the third day, we hadopportunity to worship with our part-ners in the morning and socialize in theafternoon. Lots of singing and gameswith the children, taking of photos and


out groups, led by Rey Minasalvas of the Uion.

the ground, Beautiful families from

shared conversations. Later thatevening we attended the graduationceremony of the college student wesponsored through her last two years ofcollege via the uuPcc’s Pathways toPartnership program.

Perhaps these photos will conveysome of what my words are inadequateto express. ••

17

lay congregation, and Myrnalyn

the community.


P i l g r i m a g e P o s t i n g s

a new column by the recently-formed pilgrimage Committee.

by ann GaRy, uuPcc bOaRd MeMbeR and chaiR OF The PiLGRiMaGe cOMMiTTee

New Pilgrimage Policies Nowin Place

The Pilgrimage committee has beenreviewing the policies regarding

all aspects of our work. This is an on-going process and the work will con-tinue. We wanted to share this with allof you so that you will know how theexpenses for trips are calculated andhow we compensate for homestays.

Here is a summary of

two new policies:

Fees paid for partner church home-stays have been reviewed and clarified.This information is being shared withboth trip organizers in congregationshere and with our partner congrega-tions. Our purpose is to clarify pricespaid to partner congregations for home-stays by the uuPcc Pilgrimage serv-ice. We conducted a price review ofavailable guesthouses and updated ourfee structure to be in line with guest-houses in Transylvania.

The results are that partner congre-gations will be paid $15 uSd per per-son for bed/breakfast plus $8 uSdeach for lunches and dinners. Partnerministers will receive a rate sheet at thetime that the trip is being planned. Themoney is given to the minister of thechurch and the minister then distributesit.

The second policy is directedtoward partner ministers. They will beinvited to join parts of our Transylvan-ian pilgrimages. The purpose of thispolicy is

• To get to know their partner minister better—and vice versa• To best prepare the group for their partner congregation stay• To have the voice of their partner minister on their pilgrimage tour to help provide religious history and contextWe will phase in the inviting of

18

partner ministers to join in-country vis-iting. This will be built into the tripcosts. This policy will be fully imple-mented in 2012 as many of the 2011pilgrimages were developed before thiswas adopted. Two planned pilgrimagesfor summer 2011 will include this. Oth-ers are in discussion and will be asinclusive as possible.

The uuPcc Pilgrimage commit-tee welcomes volunteers. We meet viatelephone or Skype conference calls. ifyou would like to volunteer to be onthis committee please write to cathycordes at [email protected]. and ifyou have additional ideas about how toimprove the services we provide,please let us know. ••

the sUrvey resUlts

2010 transylvanian Pilgrim-age Feedback

For the first time, a survey of pil-grims to Transylvania and their

host partner ministers was conductedlast fall with the goals of listening toour travelers and their hosts, learningfrom that feedback and improving ourofferings. We especially wanted tomake sure that we were providingopportunities for personal connectionsand relationships to be made amongunitarians and unitarian/universalists.here are some of the highlights:

Feedback from North American

Pilgrims“This trip was deeply moving in a thousandways. I loved getting to know and love thepeople in our partner village, and to learnabout their life. I also treasured the chanceto understand the Unitarian side of our his-tory and visit places of historical signifi-cance… our leaders were fabulous and thegroup was mellow and enjoyable. I wouldn’tchange a thing about our experience. Thankyou for making this life-changing experiencepossible. I hope many more people have the


chance to make a pilgrimage like this. It isso important that the world knows aboutTransylvanian Unitarians. I feel so lucky tohave been a part of this adventure.”

—2010 american Pilgrim

We had 31 respondents from our2010 traveling season. For 70% ofthem, it was their first trip to Transyl-vania. 75% were extremely satisfiedoverall with the pilgrimage, with theremaining 25% quite satisfied. Similarpercentages resulted for the satisfactionwith the value of the pilgrimage:• all felt that the information and itin-erary they received before the trip werevery good or excellent• 95+% felt that their visit with theirpartner congregation was both mean-ingful and enjoyable. a similar highpercentage enjoyed the families theystayed with, the food, and the activitiesthey did in the village/town.• 70% were satisfied with the lengthof stay in their partner village. (Thesestays did vary by trip.) Those who hadshorter stays with their partner congre-gations were less satisfied and wereless able to make as meaningful per-sonal connections with their partnersand partner ministers as did the others.When everyone was asked to rate theirinteractions with members of theirpartner congregation:

° 54% said outstanding, 36% verygood, 7% acceptable and 4% could usesome improvement• 90+% rated the tour leaders and tourguides as outstanding with 96% sayingthat the organized touring was eithervery good (55%) or outstanding (41%). • The stay in Kolozsvár was rated aseither outstanding (50%) or very good(46%).

hotels were rated as follows: verygood (51%), outstanding (24%) andacceptable (21% ). (Please note thathotels are not planned as luxuryaccommodations!) Restaurant mealswere rated very good (48%) and out-standing (41%).

Partner Church News


Pilgrimage Postings


share the News...We encourage you to share UUPCC

News articles with your church.

Churches have permission to duplicate

and circulate this newsletter and/or to

reprint portions of it in their own newslet-

ters. If you are reprinting an excerpt,

please credit the UU Partner Church

News and include our website address

(www.uupcc.org) for those who might

want more information.

• 60% rated the shopping opportuni-ties as very good.

“Absolutely spectacular planning and logis-tics. Wonderful cultural and historic com-mentaries by our guides. Well paced.”

“I had the expectation that things would bemore difficult than they were. I was pleas-antly surprised to have my expectationsdashed.”

We asked people what their trip high-lights were and we received long listsfrom most pilgrims. The warm wel-comes received from partner ministerand congregation members were onmost lists.

“I enjoyed the whole atmosphere of the vil-lage life, it is an experience few tourists getto have. The food was great, the village waslovely. I can’t speak highly enough of thetrip.”

“Our hosts were kind and gracious andmade every effort to make us comfortable.”

“The village stay was the highlight for me.It exposed me to the living conditions in theTransylvanian village as well as their rela-tionship to Unitarian beliefs.”

“Our shared stories were amazingly under-stood despite the language barrier.”

“Socializing at the parsonage, group mealsand the communion service in the church.”“Lots of wonderful people we met andenjoyed. I would have like more time withour partner church because that time felt abit rushed.”

“The hiking and walks, the downtime andbeing at the river, the day trips and time towander around and meet people.”

“The beauty of the countryside was a sur-prise and a delight.”

“The only thing I would have skipped wasthe Unitarian festival, but that’s onlybecause the day was hot.”

“Every moment was meaningful, meetingthe people, sharing their way of living andbeing the recipient of such generosity. Feel-ing so very appreciated. I could list some-thing about every single day, the experiencehad that much of an impact.”

“Our visit to Déva and the tour we got therefrom the local minister was a highlight.”

When asked what one thing theywould change about the Pilgrimage, ofthe 24 comments made, 9 mentionedthat they would have liked to havespent more time with their partner con-

Partner Church News

gregation. a few mentioned that theywould have flown out of Kolozsvár orsomewhere else in Transylvania toavoid bucharest. and one person saidthey would have studied more historyand hungarian language before theirtrip.

We noted that not every northamerican congregation was in directcontact with their partner church incoordinating their visit. instead someused the Pilgrimage Services as a liai-son. While some of that coordinatingwork will certainly go on directlybetween the partner minister and thePilgrimage Service, we urge northamericans to be in direct contact withtheir partners before any planning ismade and to involve them with theplans and the time organized for home-stays.

“It was a wonderful and fulfilling experiencethat I would recommend to everyone.” “I now know people in our partner churchvillage. And although I was not able to com-municate to the depth of my desire, I’minspired to be a leader in strengthening ourpartnership.”

Partner Minister Feedback

all nine Transylvanian ministers whoresponded noted that their expectationsabout the partner’s stays were veryclear and that they knew just what toexpect about payments, transportation,and dates. Many highlights were pro-vided:

“The whole visit was great, we’ve had awonderful time together; as a first meeting, Iwould say it was very useful and pleasant.”

“When we were able to create moments, weall fully participated in: joint meetings, shar-ing our ideas and thoughts, activities involv-ing both sides.”

“I was there when our partner visitorsarrived in the county. We spent some memo-rable days traveling around the country, vis-iting some very nice places in Romania.During these few days I had the opportunityto better know each member of the group,so, in this way I was able to prepare moreefficiently for the home stays and the pro-grams when we arrive in my congregation.”

“It was very good that I had nothing to dowith the financial part of the trip.”

“John Dale was with us, helping on transla-tion and helping with any other problems. In


this way the American visitors could get aclearer view of how our church is working,because they could get something seen withan American eye. This was a great help.

Most rated the partner visits as mean-ingful for the congregation and enjoy-able for the host families:

“Everything went well. I had not much to doabout the whole visit. I have previous experi-ences when I tried to make all the arrange-ments for the visitors by myself, and I knowhow hard and difficult it was, and there weremisunderstandings too. So I am able tounderstand the difference.”

“We are living in a country where almosteverything is done in a so called “Balkanic”or “Romanian” way. I am happy that theUU pilgrimages are done in an “Americanway”! I can learn a lot about how the workhas to be done!”

The main thing that some of the Tran-sylvanian partner ministers wouldchange about their partner stay was toextend the duration of the visit to thepartner congregation:

“I think a group has to spend at least 2-3days, not including the arrival and leavingday, to have time to start personal relation-ships and to know each other, and to havetime for fun and to visit the old friends andthe village.”

We plan to take these results,looking at all the details provided anduse this information to help formfuture trips and interactions with part-ners in Transylvania. and as more pil-grimages to the Philippines, Khasihills and now africa happen, we willuse surveys to gather valuable feed-back about those trips as well. Thanksto aLL who responded with this veryhelpful information. ••

19


U U P C C T r a v e l S e r v i c e s & R e s o u r c e s

Congregational Pilgrimages–Travel with us on a life-

changing visit to your partner church in Eastern Europe, India,

or the Philippines. Low-cost all-inclusive land packages

include transportation, meals, lodging, guide(s), interpreter(s).

Our in-country experts work with groups of 5 to 50 to develop

a customized itinerary that fits your interest, budget and

timeframe.

Concert tours for Choirs & musical Groups–Looking

to expand the horizons of your music program? The UUPCCcan facilitate your choir’s international concert tour. Buses,performance venues, hotel arrangements, and side tours areall part of our large-group service portfolio.

youth & service trips–Bring your youth group on a low-

cost/high-return pilgrimage to Transylvania. They can follow inFrancis David’s footsteps in Torda, Kolozsvár and Déva, perform a service project in your partner village, make theworld a better place, and come back better people.

Group tours for individuals & “space available”travel on UU congregational pilgrimages. We know that not

every UU congregation is capable of organizing their owntravel group. For small churches, churches without partners,or just interested individuals, we offer Spring and Fall GroupTours at Pentecost and Transylvanian Thanksgiving. If you wish to travel during the summer months we havenumerous congregational groups with extra space and a variety of itineraries and dates.

À la Carte services for individuals and independent travelers include:• Guides & Interpreters • Car rentals or • Car & driver

• Airport – village – airport van/car transfer (Budapest BUD, Bucharest OTP, Kolozsvár CLJ, Marosvásárhely TGM)

• Hotel, B&B, Guest house and home stay accommodations.

w w w . u u p c c . o r g / t r i p p l a n . h t m l

UUPCC Pilgrimages: Bringing People together

For more than a decade the UUPCC Pilgrimage Service has helped to cement the bonds between North American UU andtheir partners overseas. We provide multiple and varied pilgrimage opportunities for Unitarian Universalists of all ages. Formore details on any of the following services or to begin planning your pilgrimage contact our travel coordinator, John Dale, [email protected] and visit our website at www.uupcc.org/tripplan.html.

UU Festival Choir2011 european Concert tour

august. if you were not able to sing with us thissummer, please mark your calendars for thesummer of 2013. We are already making plansfor our second Festival choir european tour.

transylvania Quilting retreat—Part 2! september 8–19, 2011

12-day land package $1335

after rave reviews for last year’s inauguralQuilting Retreat from both the north americanparticipants and the local women of Transylva-nia, Lou McKee of Spokane, Wa has agreed torepeat the concept again this Fall. Lou hasrecruited the noted quilting teacher Patti eaton toact as the instructor/facilitator. under Patti’sguidance the trip will feature two contrastingproject venues. after a day of sightseeing in thecarpathian Mountains there will be a five-daysession in the unitarian village of Felsörákos,Romania where the group will work side-by-sidewith the women of the village in this pastoralsetting. Felsörákos is located near the small townof barót in a beautiful rural area surrounded bythe foothills of the carpathian Mountains andnoted for its local artisans. afternoons will fea-ture day-trips to visit nearby crafts people and

uneScO World heritage site) and Árkos, andthe Reformed church & model village at illye-falva. you will spend a long weekend with yourpartner congregation and worship on this specialÖszi hálaadás Sunday—the traditional Transyl-vanian unitarian Thanksgiving. The tour alsoincludes two nights at a mountain resort high inthe carpathians, architecture as varied as Pelescastle (home of the former King of Romania),the sprawling black church in brassó, and theSaxon fortress church at biertan (a uneScOWorld heritage site). you will also participate indiscussions with local ministers about life undercommunism and with local experts about theTransylvanian unitarian church today and thefuture of the unitarian villages.

Ne india Pilgrimage—march 2012

Planning is already underway for what isbecoming the annual uuPcc late winter pil-grimage to ne india and the Khasi hills. We arein the process of finalizing dates with the unitar-ian union of ne india, but plans are for anoptional 7-day/6-night Golden Triangle (delhi,agra, Jaipur) pre-trip extension in early Marchfollowed by an 8-day Shillong-based pilgrimagein ne india. if your congregation has a partnerin india or you are interested in experiencingthis unique part of the world and learning more

places of interest. Following Felsörákos thegroup will spend a long weekend in the beautifulcentral Transylvanian city of Marosvásárhely(Targu Mures) exchanging techniques and ideaswith the women of the city. beginning inbucharest and ending in Kolozsvár (cluj), thetrip will also include tourist destinations such asPeles castle and cultural events (symphony con-cert and folklore show). The uuPcc PilgrimageService will once again organize the trip logis-tics. For the detailed itinerary and registrationmaterials visit the uuPcc travel page atwww.uupcc.org/trips.html.

transylvanian thanksgiving Pilgrimage september 20–30, 2011

Eleven days, $1,450 per person, double occupancy +$150 registration fee. (Add $250 single supplement).Includes ground transportation, meals, lodging, guides,interpreters, and fees. Cost does not include airfareto/from Bucharest, Romania, gratuities, alcoholic bev-erages, departure airport transfer, or expenses incurredduring free periods.

eleven days of spectacular scenery, loving hospi-tality, and unique architecture in SoutheasternTransylvania. discover the singular beauty of thecarpathian alps and the fascinating history ofthe walled churches of the region. beginning andending in bucharest, this tour will visit thewalled unitarian churches of Székelyderzs (a (Continued on next page)

Festival Choir Tour

—SOLD OUT!

http://www.uupcc.org/trips.html

http://www.uupcc.org/tripplan.html


http://www.uupcc.org/tripplan.html


U U P C C T r a v e l S e r v i c e s / N o t i c e s

Order online atwww.uupcc.org/onlineOR send a check —$25 per copy+ $5 shipping to: uuPcc / PO box 88 / bedford,Ma 01730 Church bookstores—call the uuPcc office for quantity discounts (781-275-1710)

in a timeless story of courage, christineMorgan recounts the years she and her hus-band, hungarian unitarian minister Ferencbalázs, battled political oppression, socialupheaval, poverty, and religious oppositionin post-World War i Transylvania. Thisamazing story is presented in both englishand hungarian.

Alabaster Village: Our Years in TransylvaniaTravel Services & Resources


Ma Jaureen Siwagan sings

during the welcoming cere-

mony of the UU Congrega-

tion of Banaybanay (see the

larger photo on page 4) for their new part-

ners from the Fox Valley UU Fellowship

and other Pilgrims during the recent

March visit to the Philippines. FVUUF

recently decided to take on a second U*U

Partner and are elated that this new part-

nership is opening them to a whole new

world of loving connections and deepen-

ing understanding and faith. The song Ma

Jaureen is singing is an anthem to the

responsibility we all have to protect our

planet’s health and the rights of all the

common people who struggle to survive.

—submitted by Lee Boeke Burke

Children of the Bicutan UU Church in Metro Manila are thrilled to watch a DVD

created by the UUs of San Diego. A young woman from this congregation was

the worship leader during our visit this March. It is always amazing and heart-

warming to see how many young people move into leadership roles within the

UU churches in the Philippines.

meet the Unitarian Universalists ofthe Philippines—march, 2012

Similar to the inspirational “uucP 101s” of pre-vious years, this trip will be an in-depth intro-duction to the people, programs and hopes of theuu church of the Philippines. it will be a joyfulfeast for your mind and your heart. you will getto know the culture and history of the Philip-pines during a tour of Manila, then worship withthe uus of bicutan and meet the progressiveyoung uus of Quezon city. next, you will fly todumaguete where you will be warmly wel-comed at the uu church of the Philippinesheadquarters and have an opportunity to learnabout the dreams and realities of the uucP. Thenext day you will tour the fascinating universitytown of dumaguete. a road trip to explore thelarge, beautiful, tropical island of negros andvisit many of the 27 uu congregations locatedin its small fishing and farming villages will fol-low over the next several days. The uu commu-nities you visit will warmly welcome you, oftenwith their joyful dance and songs. your negrostravels will also include a stay at a lovely low-key beach resort, and the opportunity to get toknow well the others you will be sharing thisadventure with. Pilgrims on this tour will returnto dumaguete after their travels around negrosand have a farewell ceremony at the uucPheadquarters before their return to Manila andsubsequent travel home.

exact dates are yet to be determined. The cost ofthe trip includes all in-country transportation,accommodations, meals, drivers, interpreters andentrance fees. it does not include your airfare toManila, gratuities, alcoholic beverages, gifts,personal expenses, airport transfers as you leavethe country and extra in-country expensesbefore/after specified tour dates. Trip program-ming will probably involve about 13 days,although travelers often choose to arrive at leasta day early to help with the time adjustment. Theexact cost of the trip is also yet to be determined,but will probably fall in the range of $1450-1550per person, double occupancy + a $150 registra-tion fee.( add $300 for a single supplement.)

Children of Banaybanay quietly play. The Banay-

banay congregation is a very active congregation

located in the mountains of Negros Island. This

congregation is highly energetic, child-oriented

and recently partnered with the UUs of the Fox

Valley in Appleton, WI.

Meeting the unitarian uniVersalists of the philippines

about our co-religionists in india, watch thisspace and the travel page on the uuPcc web-site. We will once again limit the number oftravelers to 12 people. if you would like toreceive the detailed itinerary and costs as soon asthey are finalized please [email protected] to be placed on theinterest list.


http://www.uupcc.org/online


P a r t N e r C h U r C h t r a N s F e r F o r mFOR TRANSFER OF FUNDS THROUGH THE U U PARTNER CHURCH COUNCIL

Please enclose a form with each check for funds to be transferred. Please type or print clearly.

Note: Funds transmission is a benefit of membership in the U. U. Partner Church Council

Make check payable to: UU Partner Church Council Mail to: UU Partner Church Council, PO Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730

Date____________________ transferor is: o Church o Individual o Other Organization

Name____________________________________________________________ Phone (____)____________________________

Address _____________________________________________ City/State/Zip_________________________________________

Contact Person____________________________________________________ E-Mail __________________________________

transfer is: Total US$ Amount_______________ Check #______________

recipient(s) is (are): o Partner Church o Other Church o Individual(s) o Other Organization (Please check all that apply)

Name_________________________________________________________________________________________

Church, City/Town, Country Name___________________________________________________________________________________

Contact Person____________________________________________ Title_________________________________

purposes—deliVery instruCtions—other instruCtions (please be explicit and concise):

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Download the Transfer Form from our web site: www.uupcc.org/services.htm (or use the form below)

Note: Funds transmission is a benefit of UUPCC membership. A transferor of funds should make sure that her/his/its dues are up to date.

If your church is not a UUPCC member, dues will be deducted ($50 for churches under 100 members, $150 for churches over 100 members).

iNdia

uuPcc is now processing transfersfor churches partnered with uuneichurches in the Khasi hills in india.We will process checks as they comein, and will do the actual transfersevery 3 months. The schedule in 2011is the end of January, april, July andOctober.

the PhiliPPiNes

We do not have a regular schedule fortransfers yet, as there has not beendemand for this. if you wish to transfermoney to your partner in the Philip-pines, please contact the office first at781-275-1710 to discuss.

traNsylvaNia

Transfers are done monthly from theuuPcc office between the 26th and30th of each month. Transferred fundsare wired from headquarters directlyinto the local church bank account.

Please make sure that you contact

someone in your partner village/

town/church to let them know that

the money is coming.

all traNsFerschecks must arrive at the uuPccoffice at least one week before thetransfer date. Please use the aboveTransfer Form or download one fromwww.uupcc.org/. click on Programs &

Services, then Fund Transfer. Thenselect the Fund Transfer Form. Pleaseinclude this form along with the check.Please send whole dollars only—nocents. Make checks payable in u.S.dollars.

PLeASe NOTe: This Transfer Form isfor use by the office staff in preparingthe bank transfer, which is done electronically. Paper copies of theforms are not sent to India or Transyl-vania. Therefore, please make sure thatyou contact someone in your partnervillage to let them know that the moneyis coming. It takes as long as 5–7 business days for the transfer to arrivethere.

Transfer Process: How to Send Money

http://www.uupcc.org/services.htm

http://www.uupcc.org/


U U P a r t n e r C h u r c h C o u n c i l

Board of Directors

Richard Van duizend, chair Term to 2011Falls church, [email protected]

Rev. Vail Weller, Vice-chair Term to 2012San Mateo, ca [email protected]

beverly Moore, Secretary Term to 2012Louisville, [email protected]

George davenport, Treasurer Term to 2011Tulsa, [email protected]

Rev. Roger bertschausen Term to 2011appleton, Wi [email protected]

Rev. Kelly crocker Term to 2012Middleton, Wi [email protected]

ann Gary Term to 2013upton, Ma [email protected]

Rev. bruce Johnson Term to 2013norwich, [email protected]

Rodger Mattlage Term to 2012Lincoln, Ma [email protected]

cathy Perry Term to 2011bellevue Wa [email protected]

Rev. Scott Prinster Term to 2013Madison, [email protected]

deForest Ralph Term to 2013houston, TX [email protected]

Staff

cathy cordes, Executive DirectorP.O. box 88 • bedford, Ma 01730781-275-1710 fax: 781-275-7008 [email protected]

Margot Fleischman, Office [email protected]

John dale and csilla Kolcsar, Travel [email protected]

carol burrows, [email protected]

Volunteer Staff

nancy daugherty, Newsletter [email protected]

Richard Ford and eileen higgins, Community Capacity Building Trainers/Advisors

[email protected]

Sharon Van duizend, Community Capacity Build-ing Committee Chair

[email protected]

Pat Rodgers, Membership Database, Matching,and PCC-Chat

[email protected]

Lisa Gillispie, [email protected]

If you or a friend wish to receive this newsletter three times a year and to support and participate inUnitarian Universalist Partner Church Council programs and goals, please fill out this form to join us.

DATE: _________________________ —o n e y e a r M e M B e r s h i p s— ¨ New Membership ¨ Renewal

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* Canadian members please send $28 for an individual membership or $47 for a family membership

in U.S. funds by check or USD money order to the UUPCC address below.

** A family membership consists of two adults residing at the same address (receiving one newsletter).

*** A “congregational subscription” provides you with up to four newsletters mailed to the church.

**** Your contact information will be used solely by the UUPCC and will not be shared with other organizations.

Make your tax-deductible check payable to Mail your invitation and check to: uu partner Church Council UU Partner Church Council / P.O. Box 88 / Bedford, MA 01730-0088

I n v i t a t i o n t o M e m b e r s h i p

BuildinggloBal CoMMunity

one partnershipat a tiMe!

















Partner Church NewsPUBLISHED 3 TIMES A YEAR

P.O. Box 88

Bedford, MA 01730-0088 USA

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

NON PROFITORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGEpaid

Bedford MA 01730Permit No. 10

Vision:

We envision a worldwide unitarian and unitarian universalist community that promotes peace, justice, andliberty for all, supported by partnerships that are integralto congregational life.

Mission:

The mission of the unitarian universalist Partner councilis to foster and support partner relationships between uucongregations and individuals in the united States andcanada with unitarian and unitarian universalist congre-gations, orphanages, schools and students in all othercountries where partnering is sought and welcomed.These will be mutually beneficial, responsibly sustained,and linked by joint and mutual covenants.

We will: • be a bridge that connects congregations around the

world;

• Reach across boundaries to collaborate with old andnew partners;

• cReaTe transformational opportunities for pilgrimageand hospitality, for learning and for service;

• chaLLenGe ourselves theologically and open our-selves to changed values and behaviors;

• iniTiaTe partnerships that promote global friendships,international awareness, human rights, and a betterworld; and

• SuSTain this global vision, enlarging and renewing itas new occasions teach new duties.

adOPTed aT The

annuaL MeeTinG OF The uuPcc June 26, 2010

U U P a r t n e r C h u r c h C o u n c i l V i s i o n & M i s s i o n S t a t e m e n t

uupcc newsletter - spring 2011

Documents