Szekelyszentmiklos Unitarian Church

537 322 Nicoleni, Harghita County, Romania

Community Profile: Szekelyszentmiklos is a small Transylvanian village with approximately 60 people. It is located in the southwest side of Harghita County. Major cities in the area are Segeszvar/Sighisoara (50 minutes away), Szekelykeresztur/Cristuru Secuiesc (25 minutes) and Szekelyudvarhely/Odorheiu Secuiesc (45 minutes.) Before the Protestant , this small village was a center of Catholicism, serving as the spiritual center for six villages. Today there is just one Catholic in the village, eight members of the Reformed Church and 51 Unitarians. Fifty village residents are ethnic Hungarians and the remaining ten are Romas. All speak Hungarian and very few speak or understand well the official Romanian language. The daughter of the bell ringer can speak a few words of English.

The majority of the villagers are older than 65-70 years old and live on small pensions because they can no longer work. Those who do work are primarily farmers with a couple of livestock and a small farm plot. Wild pigs cause a big problems for local farmers because they eat most of the seeds they plant. There are two village residents who have jobs at an airbag factory.

Since there are almost no children in the village, there is no school there. The children attend classes in Simenfalva.

The local roads have been in a terrible state of repair for a long time; this has caused the isolation of the villagers and the need for many of them to move elsewhere. Presently there is some work being done to improve the roads. The only public service is electricity. There is no water system in the village and this can lead to serious difficulties in dry years. The closest medical consulting room is in Simenfalva (1.5 kms.) which also has a communal government.

The celebrations of this village are related to the church year and celebrated in the church: they are Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.

The Congregation: The Unitarian community here is over 400 years old. The leaders of the congregation are the lay president and the executive committee. They meet twice a month for worship, however in the wintertime they only meet once a month. Their way of worship is very traditional and led by the minister. The congregation has few social events outside of those related to the church. They enjoy visiting ministers and spending time together and with their minister. They plan to fix the organ and to automatize the bells. They collect money for several social and religious funds and take part in community works. The congregation numbers 51 individuals. There are 19 families, 10 unmarried young adults, 6 youth (aged 12-20) and 4 children (aged 11 and younger.)

The Minister: The minister is Pito Attila Zoltan who lives ten kilometers away in Tarcsafalva. He is seminary trained. His main church is in Tarcsafalva and he is paid for his work there. He receives compensation for his fuel costs to travel to Szekelyszentmiklos. Pito Attila Zoltan is the president of the Tarcsafalva Association (NGO) in his home village.

Contact Person/s for this Partnership: For more information, contact: UUPCC Headquarters at 781-275-1710 or office@uupcc.org.

Balint Sandor (lay president) is an additional contact. 537 322 Nicoleni, Jud. Harghita, Romania. He speaks Hungarian.

Why would the Unitarians of Szekelyszentmiklos like to be in a congregational partnership?
They were previously partnered with the Toronto Unitarian Fellowship but that partnership ended 3 years ago for objective reasons. They would like to have an active partnership and if possible, common programs or projects.