In 1904, a Free Reformed Church congregation was formed in St. Helena with its own minister, which was joined by some local Protestants. After World War I, the negative attitude of the Romanian state towards this church caused some of the believers to turn to the Baptists, with whom most of the Free Reformed Church members merged during the 1920s. The remaining evangelicals of St. Helena gradually joined the Baptists by 1979.
In 1913, the Free Reformed Church set up a house of prayer in the village, which was also used by the Baptists for joint services from 1923. In 1937, a new Baptist house of prayer was built in its place, largely funded by voluntary donations from members of the congregation. However, it gradually became too small for the growing congregation. In 1979, the St. Helena Baptists got the local evangelical church and the original house of prayer was closed.
A view of the house of prayer with the members of the congregation in the 1950s. (Václav Pek’s family archive.)
The house of prayer is a modest, yet very impressive piece of sacred architecture. The main impression is created by the distinctive street frontage, which is decorated with several horizontal cornices and a pair of shallow niches on the sides of the main entrance. The niches are emphasised from above by a semi-circular cornice.
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Projekt byl podpořen z prostředků Ministerstva zahraničních věcí ČR v rámci projektů veřejné diplomacie.
