Some time ago, when I read in your Inquirer of the theme of this Annual Meeting - Cherishing Our Unitarian Communities - I thought of you, British Unitarians: "Oh, lucky people, they can cherish their communities". Living in everyday difficulties and fighting for the future of our liberal religion in my country, I felt for the first moment as if it would be granted to somebody. Later, realizing that I will attend the GA and even address you, I had to think about cherishing in quite new aspects. Would you believe that, especially in time of transition from an oppressive regime to a liberal society, it would not be easy to cherish the Unitarian community? Even a religious community based on democratic principles consists of people who have had to listen false arguments, who were governed despotically and lived isolated for decades. The result is passivity. And in addition people tend to keep their habits.

The whole Czech society has been going through a hard time. Until recently it must have seemed to those living outside that it is a smooth process or a successful social and economical miracle, but unfortunately the reality is quite different. What can be seen now as essential political, social, economic and moral problems was probably hidden from you for a long time. But we Czech Unitarians had our own experience with it.

I would guess you know what has happened in Prague. In 1991 we appointed an emigrant from the USA, Vladimir Strejcek, as the Unitarian Minister hoping that he would be able to bring new life to the Czech Unitarian Society. He came on a three year contract signed by the IARF, the CUA and himself. Instead, as you certainly know, he seized control of the society in the middle of his "Ministry" and occupied the Unitarian Headquarters in Prague, expelled from it the Prague congregation, organized with his newcomers and without the now excluded Prague delegates, an illegal General Assembly and passed a new undemocratic constitution. The IARF therefore cancelled its contract with him.

At that crucial moment the Ministry of Culture, in spite of prior full information and a warning from the legal Unitarian bodies, registered the illegitimate document as the new constitution of the CUA giving Strejcek official recognition in our country.

The Rev. Cliff Reed, your President, has also had his own experience with our transition, taking part in the top level delegation of UU leaders last June trying to sort out the situation we are in. You can read his 'President's Piece' about our case on the Inquirer front page, August 1997. The delegation met at the Ministry of Culture a cold wall of Eurocrats, defending their own interference in the internal matters of the Czech Unitarian Religious Society by the said registration, and ironically defending themselves with the argument that nothing can be done by the Ministry because it would be an interference into the internal matters of a religious society, which is prohibited by law. President Buehrens commented on the finished negotiation that it seemed as if they were taking part in Franz Kafka's "Trial".

When in 1993 the whole Prague Unitarian Congregation with its board of trustees stayed on the pavement of their locked Unitarian church without a Minister, without a ground, without a members' card index and without any financial resources, cherishing really was not their first idea. The forcibly expelled Prague congregation consists mainly of the core of the Czech Unitarians, pupils of Capek and their descendants and of sincere brothers and sisters for whom the Unitarian church became a shelter during the times of nazi and communist oppressions. The Prague congregation was the main resisting obstacle for Strejcek to seize the full control of the CUA. Well, we had to concentrate ourselves on keeping the life of the congregation and to strengthen broken relations and regain the lost confidence. And thus little by little the more active people from our community were attracted to serve others and to share our common joys and worries.

Cherishing has started again to find its home among us slowly.

The Prague Unitarians' openness towards relations with Unitarians abroad significantly influenced their gradual finding of the starting point for their future vision. Cherishing grew among us with every further visit of a Unitarian Minister bringing us the certainty that we are a part of wider Unitarian community, from which we were cut off for years and years. We were strengthened in our endurance step by step. And listening to the sermons of the English and American Unitarian Ministers we were attracted back to our lost democratic principles and reminded ourselves our own theological and humanistic roots of the Czech Unitarianism.

In November 1995 the Rev. Ashley Hills suddenly appeared among us on the hill, where we have been gathering for couple of hours in a rented room at the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. Since then he has come twice a year to give a sermon, to lead a discussion, to bring kind Ministry and cherishing the Unitarian community. And he also brought his nice family with him to Prague. And as the important part of his Ministerial mission Ashley was able to bring again among us confidence in the Ministry. During his last visit, moved by his approach, we, the Prague Unitarian Congregation "... expressed our deep appreciation to the Rev. Ashley Hills for Ministering to our community with such great kindness, for his personal participation during a time of fateful travail, and for his gracious understanding and genuine humanity" giving him this acknowledgement. In response to our letter about Ashley's great tribute, Jeff Teagle wrote "I am very pleased that Ashley's visits are appreciated by your congregation. He was deeply moved by the warmth of your reception during his first visit. I know that Ashley feels that it is very important to bring true Ministry to Prague following the betrayal of trust by Vladimir Strejcek. ... We are proud that one of our Ministers, the Rev. Ashley Hills, has been able to give you so much support. He is a good example to us all.", Jeff Teagle closed. "This year Ashley will give the Flower Communion in Prague. Halleluya!" (Hosana!)

Since the sixties there has been somebody among you who has fallen in love with sunflowers, the symbol in our Unitarian seal: Annette Percy - Anicka in Czech. She has not only fallen in love with the Czech sunflowers - sending them to us on cards every time - she found her husband in our country and she remained loyal to the Czech Unitarians for years. She stands alongside us during all the hardships in our case and it is she who is organizing the present financial support for the Czech Unitarians. Your last year collection of the IARF British Chapter was donated to the Prague Unitarian Congregation. I'd like to thank you for your extraordinary generosity and to assure you, that without it, progress could hardly be achieved. In spite of growing activities and the generosity of our members, we could not rent without your help two rooms as a firm foundation for our activities and build our Unitarian Club there.

Your expressed generosity is cherishing our Unitarian communities, isn't it? I'd like to express the Prague Unitarians' deep thanks for your collection. And special thanks we owe to Anicka and I'd like to thank her now, passing her the beloved Czech Unitarian sunflowers on the scarf. (Here, Iva presented Annette with a beautiful silk scarf printed with sunflowers - Ed.)

When Ashley and Anicka submitted their applications to become members of the Prague Congregation last year we all were again cherishing our Unitarian community. You could hardly imagine the warmth of the response of people in Prague to their membership.

Czech Unitarianism is certainly known to you, thanks to our long-lasting relationship. Prague was the seat of the IARF Congress in 1927 which was organized that time, together with a new religion very close to us, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church (which had to leave the IARF later during the time of the communist oppressions). The founders of the Liberal Brotherhood (since 1930, the Czechoslovak Unitarian Association) and of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, Norbert Capek and Karel Farsky were close friends as well as our religious communities. We can suppose that some of your predecessors or relatives, as well as mine, attended the congress.

British Unitarians supported their Czech fellows many times in our common history and our relations were quite close. In time of rebuilding our headquarters in the 30s our people were so much generous, giving their last savings to finish it. But it was enabled only with your help - with the mortgage to the Czech Unitarians (as well as the American mortgage).

In 1934 representatives of the British Unitarians took part among others in the festive ceremony held in occasion of conferring an honorary degree of Meadville/Lombard Theological School on Norbert Capek in Prague. Rev. MacLachlan, Rev. Phillips and Dr Hurn brought a letter from your President, Ronald Jones, with him. He wrote to Dr. Capek, "We remind ourselves with pleasure of the facts that since your movement was established, the religious communion of a friendly and intimate sort in particular has grown among your people and Unitarians in America and England."

The close relations continued at the IARF conferences - as for example in 1938 when my husband Milos was as a boy rewarded for his anti-nazi poem and went together with the Rev. Karel Haspl to the IARF conference to Netherlands. Did somebody of you also attend the conference?

And then in time of the second world war there were British Unitarians - the MP - who helped the Czech Unitarians to flee from my country to British exile.

There were also close relations with the IRF youth in the 60s and Czech Unitarians will come to the IRF meeting to Great Hucklow this summer.

Now the Czech Unitarians are known as the Unitarians in exile. I spoke about it in my new year address on - What are Our Expectations in the New Year? Even exile can bring new ideas and a concern on the main tasks as well as the fundamental understanding of our situation. I compared our historical predecessors' exile and persecutions with our present exile, which is hardly comparable with Bequines' stakes or Deists' exiles and splitting-up of their families. Our exile in a friendly church is the paradise garden in comparison with it. Every exile brings along a sacrifice. I asked my people: "What each of us had to bring as the personal sacrifice?" Even our founder was urged to leave the country in the time of the second world war. He preferred not to leave his pupils, but to help them through the time of the war. His personal sacrifice is well known among Unitarians in many countries. His fearless ministry and spreading of liberal religion took him to the martyr's death in the hands of the Nazis.

I showed the sincere interest of Unitarians abroad in our case and the confidence in our ability and strength to work on the future vision of the Czech Unitarianism. I called upon everybody to take part in every ordinary and necessary work, even small ones, to enable us to start new activities, as for example: the programme for children and their parents and grandparents; counselling for the elderly; fighting against racism. We started to gather for singing, listening to music, or for a cup of tea and so cherish our community again.

It is very bad that our headquarters are used by a few individuals who bring people to a maze of superstitions, untruths and meanness of spirit. This is quite opposite to Capek's intentions, ideas and results in his liberal religion - Czech Unitarianism. Bad creeds and no positive deeds. The fair fight for justice to be officially recognized and to return the Czech Unitarians' property to its true aim is one side of our existence. But there would be no future for the Czech Unitarians if we would be idly waiting till we get the church in Karlova 8 back, or for the final positive court decision. - That would be waiting for Beckett's Godot. - Passivity is certainly a stumbling block, and to live in a society which breaks the Human Rights Charter by its own government is neither encouraging nor cherishing.

We agreed that more important than to fight at the courts and wait for the result, is to create the brotherly communion of people who are seeking themselves, who organize themselves as human beings, who like to contribute, to sacrifice and to pay something for their doings, and so they create the communion from within. And these people will seek and find themselves in gathering to seed a germ of a new society.

Finally I would like to quote Dr. Capek, "Everything, that is valuable in a religion, can be done by an ordinary man without any scholarship. First of all it is love, it is sincerity, it is an ethical integrity and a pureness, it is the noble character."

And so I realized that cherishing is the hard process and since 1989 we have been learning it step by step again. I am grateful for your invitation and for your generosity in helping me to come. I am grateful to be sharing everything with you and cherishing our Unitarian communities.

Iva Kocmanova,
Prague Unitarian Congregation
Zelivskeho 16,
130 00 PRAHA 3,
Czech Rep.

Tel: (420-2) 6440362
Email: Ivanka.Kocmanova@pr7.pm.ds.mfcr.cz

Editor's note: Unfortunately HTML cannot reproduce the correct diacritical which looks like a small 'v' over the letter 'c', converting it to a 'ch' sound (as in 'chap'). The names affected are Capek (Chapek), Anicka (Anichka) and Strejcek (Straychek).

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