Where have all the partners gone?

It's been a long time since I have posted anything. My connectivity is problematic here in the village.

I recently got to visit with some North Americans visiting and doing some volunteer work at the partner church here in Transylvania.

One thing that I am hearing too often is about congregations who may have not heard from their American partner churches in a long while. Maybe the partner church work was the turf of some eccentric who has since left or maybe it was a pet project of a previous minister.

I would ask any UU readers who are not sure if their church has a partner church to check the list of partners and see if your church may have a dormant partnership. Also there are churches in India and the Philippines looking for partners.

During the summer I saw lots of people visiting their partner churches and have seen some of the projects made possible by partner churches. But really I hear that people want to know that you know they exist and are still here living their lives and living out their faith and traditions. Transylvania is not the Unitarian version of the Amish country or Colonial Williamsburg. There are real people here living real lives. Most people living in villages never travel outside of the local area and it means a lot to hear from people around the world.

So please, check and see if your congregation has a current partnership. And if it does, see if you can make sure there is communication more than once or twice a year. Send pictures of your people and your church. See if you can find out how many kids are in confirmation this year or how many baptisms there have been. Try to share information about the highlights of your church year and get information about the major Transylvanian events (especially Easter, Pentecost, Thanksgiving and Christmas). It will matter to someone here more than you might think.