And Transylvania is … where?

My friend Jill and I had sworn to one another that no matter where we were in ministry in the summer of 2000, we would take youth on a trip somewhere. So when I got a call from her in the fall of 1999 asking me if I wanted to take youth to Transylvania come summer, I said, “Sure!” And then got off the phone and looked up where Transylvania was on the map. I was still in the United Church of Christ at the time and was not aware of the importance of Transylvania to Unitarianism. By the end of that trip, I was well aware of the importance and on my way to becoming a UU and leaving the UCC.

I learned many things about Unitarianism and Transylvania that summer. The whole Dracula thing is just so annoying and frankly, offensive- though we did visit the supposed castle. Unitarians in Transylvania celebrate communion and use the Lord’s Prayer. They also affirm a God and on many pulpits, you will see these words: “Isten egy” which means, “God is one.”

Interior of the UU wooden church of Cizer

Interior of the wooden church of Cizer, Cluj*

The ministers wear heavy black capes to preach in. There is a societal pecking order in Romanian society: Romanians at the top, then the ethnically Hungarians (which the Transylvanians are) and then the Gypsy or Roma people. When the 40 or so of us all went camping, there was no fancy gear. The main tent was an old Russian Army tent. The “cook stove” was a huge cast iron kettle where many of our meals were made. There were several cultural differences between the American youth and the Transylvanian youth. The one I was most aware of was that when U.S. youth were asked anything in a discussion, they automatically jumped in and answered. The Transylvanian youth were slower to speak, spoke with their heads down, and spoke softly. Under the dictatorship of Ceausescu, neighbors spied on neighbors. People hid their beliefs and their feelings. A concept totally foreign to the youth from the U.S.

Two years later, the UCC church I served and the local UU church as well as Jill’s church in Michigan worked together to bring 16 Transylvanian youth and 4 adults to the states. Many of you may be aware of the Partner Church Program that was started after Romania began to open up again after Ceausescu was deposed. UU Churches in the U.S. were matched to Transylvanian churches. The program consisted of many Americans visiting their partner churches in Transylvania and sponsoring Transylvanian ministers to visit the U.S. But no one had raised money to bring Transylvanian youth to the states. The UCC and UU churches raised $30,000 to make this happen. Given the difficult economic situation in Romania at that time (2002), this sort of trip would forever been out of reach for the Transylvania youth.

Merry Cemetary of Sapântsa by Spiridon Ion Cepleanu

Merry Cemetary of Sapântsa by Spiridon Ion Cepleanu

One of the things we did was set up an entire day of volunteering at the animal shelter and at the Food Bank. This concept of service or volunteerism was entirely new to the Transylvanians. The youth had also requested to see a hospital and a farm. We took them to both. As it was June, strawberries were in ripe so we all had a blast picking them at an organic farm. We then contrasted that experience by visiting a factory farm. One of the young women on the trip said that tasting the strawberries was familiar but new- a way to connect an experience of home to an experience in the U.S.

This summer, Paige Marler, Kensi and Kylie Hartman, and Ashley Lacy will join a national youth trip to Transylvania. While there they will do many of the things I got to do in 2000 such as visiting the historical Unitarian sites. They will also have the chance to do a service project. In support of this project and to raise awareness of our Transylvanian roots, the youth will be holding a Hungarian dinner on Saturday, April 16 at WUUC. Rosemary Lowden will be showing her photos from her trip there this fall.

I would encourage as many of you as possible to attend this event; more information can be found here. And then, to come to church on Sunday, August 21 to hear these youth report back to us about the trip and their experiences.
Rev. Lo

* Photo Credit Original uploader was Albabos at ro.wikipediaTransferred from ro.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Kurpfalzbilder.de usingCommonsHelper.

Oops and Ouch

multicultural wordleIn our YRUU programs they have a way of calling out hurtful words or things that are said where the impact might not match the intent. “OUCH” reminds the speaker to check their language to be sure that it is inclusive. I was reminded of this on Sunday morning as I tried to fumble my way through a difficult Time for All Ages with the children. If you were there, you wouldn’t know that I spent more time preparing that TFAA than most. I went back and forth during the week about the best way to approach the subject of racism with children of such a broad age range, and what I ended up with was a bit of a jumbled mess, and hoped I didn’t have any “OUCH” moments, even though there were definitely some “OOPS”.

Recently I heard someone say that our youth are living in a post-racial world. I don’t agree. While huge strides have been made to educate children about racial equality, racism still exists in this country and at some point in their youth or young adult future they will come face to face with it, particularly if they are a child of color. Understanding racist actions and their impact isn’t a 5 minute speech or story relatable in a Children’s Moment during worship. It requires personal study, reflection and then practice in talking about it, both within our predominantly white congregation and with people of color. As a privileged white person, I need more practice and I suspect that most of us do. How can we teach our children to comfortably navigate a multicultural world if we aren’t comfortable ourselves?

Maybe you were raised with the old model of seeing us as all the same, being “colorblind”. The truth is, we aren’t all the same, and operating from that old model diminishes the beauty of our differences. We come from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, different parts of the country, have different family experiences, learn different ways of communicating. All these and more shape the person we are and influence how we navigate the world, particularly in times of stress. This applies to all of us, but because being white holds more power in this country, the responsibility for listening deeply to the marginalized populations falls to us. We must be open to the conversation and prepared to engage in a meaningful way.

If we can remember and aspire to live our first Unitarian Universalist principle – affirming and promoting the inherent worth and dignity of all people – we have the opportunity to engage in healing conversations and stand alongside people of color in their struggle for justice. We let them take the lead and support their efforts. We don’t do this because it makes us feel better, we do this because we believe that justice for all leads to peace for all.

So if there are “OUCH” moments in our conversations, let’s kindly note them for each other. Not to shame or blame, but in the interest of moving forward in our journey together. If you want to better understand one model of intercultural sensitivity and the developmental path that we are all on, please join Rev. Lois on Saturday, January 10, from 9-5. It is an amazing opportunity to begin to understand where you are personally and how to shift your thinking about living faithfully in a multicultural world.

Peace

Carrie