Follen Church Society

Follen was partnered with the Unitarian congregation in the village of Alsofelsoszentmihaly (which means “lower-upper-Saint-Michael” in Hungarian) in the early 90’s. Polly Guild, Follen’s minister at the time, visited their church and established ties with their minister, Imre Balint. The ministers exchanged letters for several years until Follen’s Partner Church Committee was formed in 1997 and our relationship expanded and became more concrete. Imre Balint and his family enjoyed a visit to the Follen Community in January 2001. We have supported their church in these ways:

• Raised funds to help renovate their church and parsonage
• Started a scholarship program to send high school youth from our partner congregation to the boarding Unitarian school in Kolozsvar

• Paying the salary for the congregation’s “cantor” ( youth choir director and organist). Maria Balint, the minister’s wife, has been cantor with no pay for over seven years. In the summer of 1999, a group of 13 of us went to visit our partner church where we received wonderful hospitality. We have arranged the Balint family’s visit to Lexington as an opportunity for the rest of our congregation to meet them, talk with them and strengthen our bond even further.