Partner Church Committee

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Partner church bannerThe Partner Church Program's purpose is to maintain and expand the relationship between First Unitarian of St. Louis and our partner church in Csokfalva, Romania (in the region of Transylvania). This partnership commenced in 1991 as a result of the pioneering efforts of First Church members Barb and Les Schmeding and the creation of the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council (UUPCC). In supporting our partner Unitarian church, we are promoting liberal religion, developing international friendships, learning about the historic roots of our own faith tradition, and creating opportunities within our own congregation for pilmgrimage, hospitality and service.

On-going activities of our committee include: encouraging travel to and from Transylvania, providing financial assistance with room and board expenses to students from our partner congregation attending Unitarian high school, university and seminary outside the village, supplementing our partner church minister's meager salary, and helping fund special projects. The latter have entailed such things as restoration projects focused on our partner's two-hundred-year old building and improvements to the vicarage housing or partner minister's family.

At the core of this international program is the development of lasting friendships across national boundaries and, in our case, on the other side of the world in an area once considered a part of the "Soviet Bloc." A central element of the program is to create opportunities for face-to-face encounters with our co-religionists across the world. 

The Partner Church Committee holds an annual fundraising dinner featuring goulash (please watch announcements for date) and fabulous bake sale in December.  Proceeds from these events support their activities.

Want to learn more? The informative list of files and links below contains the following information: our pictorial brochure and accounts by some of our travelers describing their experiences on recent visits to our partners in Csokfalva.   

PC brochure 2017 pg 1.pdf

Article for December 2016 Newsletter .pdf

Laura's Jan. 2017 Newsletter Article rev..pdf