Our Partner Church in Gyulakuta, Romania

Unitarian Church of Sharon
4 N. Main St.
Sharon, MA 02067

781-784-3652
E-mail UCS

Partner church congregation What is our partner congregation in Gyulakuta, Romania like? Their minister, Erika Demeter, expressed it well in a letter to Deborah. “We have nothing. We haven’t a church. We haven’t capital. We are just 48 people come from different Unitarian places, but we exist and we want to have a spiritual religious life together.”

There are over 200 Unitarian congregations in Romania, in cities, small towns, and villages. Our partner congregation, Gyulakuta, is in some ways typical and in others not. Unlike many of the Unitarian churches which date back centuries and occupy simple but beautiful old buildings, the Gyulakuta congregation is very small and fairly new, in a town with no Unitarian tradition, and has no building. Now a town of 6000, the village of Fintinele/Gyulakuta was chosen by the government in the '60s as the site of an enormous power plant and other industry, built right in the center, with large concrete apartment blocks to accommodate the workers. Thus although it is in a beautiful, picturesque rural area, it is not a particularly scenic town. Like a number of state-owned industries started under Communism, the plant is now partially abandoned, poorly maintained, and operating at only 10% of its capacity.

Most of the 48 members of our partner congregation moved to Gyulakuta from other small towns for work. They include teachers, office and factory workers, a few small farmers, and retirees (who live on small pensions badly eroded by Romania’s chronic inflation). Like many people in Transylvania, their first language is Hungarian. Transportation to other towns with Unitarian churches is not easy, so they formed this small and struggling fellowship, which meets on Sunday afternoons in the hall of the local Calvinist church. Their minister, Erika Demeter, conducts their services once a month and on holidays. They have little in material goods, but are rich in strength, good will, good humor, and friendship for each other.

Supporting Our Partner Church

The Partner Church Program

A Visit to Our Partner Church

About the Unitarians of Transylvania

A Day in the Life of Our Partner Minister