title: THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN UNITARIANISM – AN ADULT RE COURSE

authors: Jeanne Kocsis < cjkocsis@aol.com > and Flora Majumder, Unitarian Society of Northampton and

Florence MA and several other members of the Partner Church Committee

(partnership: Northampton MA/Homorodkaracsonyfalva TRAN)

file length and location: PDF file 204 KB, MS Word file 56 KB

purpose:

· study continental Unitarianism in its historical and cultural context, from its antecedents in western and central Europe through the Reformation to the present day, with an emphasis on Transylvania.

· see how our spiritual forbears began to formulate and practice the principles of freedom, reason and tolerance, and how their attempts at ongoing innovation were suppressed.

· consider the questions

· What (if anything) does European Unitarianism have to do with us?

· Does “Unitarianism” suggest core beliefs, values, or principles which have arisen independently, in the midst of diverging national cultures?

· examine in more detail the situation of the Unitarian Church in Romania since the Ceausescu era

for ages/grades: adults

# of sessions: six meetings, 2 hours each

1. The 20th century to 1989. 2.The early Reformation; Servetus. 3. Life of Socinus; Socinianism in Poland. 4. Francis David; development of Unitarianism in Transylvania. 5. International Unitarianism and Unitarian Universalism. 6. Unitarianism in Transylvania today; the Partner Church Program.

possible uses: contains a Selected Bibliography, Quiz on Unitarianism in Europe, and List of Important Dates in European Unitarian History of use in any (Early) Unitarian History Course

cautions: Jeanne says: “One shortcoming is the lack of attention to Czech Unitarianism. This is something we need to work into the curriculum.”

where this has been used: Jeanne says the course, “THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN UNITARIANISM,”

has only been taught as a study group of the Partner Church Committee itself in order to develop the course It was proposed for Adult RE but not enough people signed up. Informal feedback has been very positive. Tentative plans are to offer the course every 2 years.

contact person if you want to learn more: The Partner Church Committee of the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence would be thrilled if other groups could use any of the material or ideas included in this packet. We would welcome an exchange of similar materials and would especially like copies of adaptations of our work. Please send communications to: Jeanne Kocsis, P.O. Box 128, Whately, MA 01093, USA, or email <cjkocsis@aol.com>.