Convocations
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Cluj-Napoca is the capital of Romania’s Transylvania region and the second-most populous city in the country. Currently ranked the 10th most livable city in Europe, it is a major academic center, with a thriving arts and culture scene and a booming tech sector
The venues of the Convocation were the János Zsigmond Unitarian High School and the First Unitarian Church of Cluj/Kolozsvár, conveniently located next to each other in the city center.
The most famous son of the city, from a Unitarian perspective, is Francis David (Dávid Ferenc), the founder of the Hungarian Unitarian Church. Under the influence of his teachings, Prince John Sigismund (János Zsigmond) of Transylvania became a Unitarian; in 1568, at the Diet of Torda, an unprecedented decree of religious tolerance and denominational diversity was proclaimed, laying the foundations for freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
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Zsuzsanna Kardos
I live in Cluj (Kolozsvár) but I am from Rimetea (Torockó). When I was little, my grandmother taught me to sew cross stitches in Torocko, but I was very bored. At 30, I concluded that I should sew the Torockó patterns to keep them and sew them until I had someone to learn from. I started with small tablecloths, one after the other, with small plates, peonies, lilies, and parsley and so I collected one after the other until I started with big tablecloths. In an arts camp, I came across the technique of sewing cross-stitch patterns on a bag, and then I thought why not a Torockó pattern, so I started to decorate bags, and other accessories. I even tried to cross-stitch on a Christmas globe. Since then I have made a lot of them and I have given them all as presents. I work as an accountant, it is hard and it takes a lot of my brain cells, but when I get home and I sit down to sew after half an hour I am already rested and I start to do other things. Not a day goes by that I don't sew in the morning and in the evening.
Since I first started I have sewn many different patterns from different collections. For me, it is very important that the pattern is accurate and that there are no mistakes in what I sew.
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Our Faithify campaign to support several young activists' costs to attend the 4th Convocation in Transylvania has surpassed its goal - thank you to all who made this happen!
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Over 230 women and some men from around the world attended the Third International U*U Women's Convocation in Monterey, CA, USA, February 2017. An additional 32 people participated in an afternoon and evening program featuring Dr. bell hooks and emma’s revolution. Attending from outside the United States were 41 women (18%) from 13 countries: Australia, Bolivia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, New Zealand, Philippine Islands, Poland, Romania, and Switzerland. Participation included 31 young adults (13%), 18 from the U.S. and 13 from other countries. 24 U.S. states were represented.
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The Second International Convocation of Unitarian*Universalist Women was held in Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș, Romania, October 2012. Of the 250 registrants, 80% were from Eastern Europe: Romania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. 13 countries were represented: women from Unitarian and other liberal religious groups in Belgium, England, France, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Scotland, and the U.S. One day 350 women joined the four-day event participants to observe the Annual Meeting of UNOSZ, the National Unitarian Women’s Association of Romania.
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Approximately 600 women from 38 U.S. states and from 17 countries outside the U.S. attended the First International Convocation of U*U Women in Houston, TX. USA. The continents represented were Africa (Sudan, Zambia); Americas (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Nicaragua, and the U.S.); Asia (India, Japan, the Philippines); and Europe (Czech Republic, England, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Romania, and Scotland). The Convocation raised $100,000 (exclusive of UU Funding grants) for women to attend. In addition, discounts were offered to ministers and youth.
Participants met four times during the event in Global Sisters Groups (GSG) led by facilitators who received training immediately prior to the Convocation. The Global Sisters Process is a group decision-making process modeled on community capacity building. The process brings interested parties together to talk in small, facilitated groups in order to build a shared understanding of issues impacting their lives, prioritize the issues identified, and set up action plans to address them.