The first CE Union was founded on the 2nd of February 1881 by Congregational Pastor Francis E. Clark in Williston, Portland. 58 other young followers of Christ from his congregation joined him. They called the newly founded entity Christian Endeavour (letters CE from Christian Endeavour have a slightly different meaning in every country. For Hungarian speakers CE means “Célegyenest Előre” (i.e. straight forward) or another meaning, derived form the expression Pro Christo et Ecclesia, For Christ and His Church). The main objective of the CE movement was to carry out youth mission and one of the goals within this objective was to help converted young people to stay faithful to Christ and the church. Translating this goal into today’s practice we could say they meant to change young people’s mentality, which says that once confirmed all their duties within and towards the church are over.

In 1886 the United Society, the national federation of CE Unions was formed. In that same year Francis E. Clark founded the first CE Union in Europe, more precisely in Great Britain under the protection of the British Sunday School Union.

In 1889 other CE Unions were founded almost at the same time in: Turkey, Japan, Spain, France, Mexico, South America, Switzerland, Germany, Syria and Iceland.

In 1896 the national federation of British CE Union was formed in Bristol.

By 1902 there were 52 000 CE Unions in the world having 3, 5 million members.

In 1906 the European Federation of the CE Union was formed in Geneva.

The results of a survey showed that by 1925 there were 75 000 CE Unions functioning within 80 different congregations and having more than 4 million members throughout the entire world. The first CE World Conventions took place in Washington, London, Geneva, Agra (India), Chicago, London, again (in 1926), Berlin and Budapest (in 1935).

On the 2nd of February 1903 the Hungarian CE Union was founded under the leadership of Aladár Szabó, bearing the name Bethany Association. At the moment of its foundation the Association had 16 regular members, 20 honorary members and 3 assisting members. The board of the Association was made up of the following members: Aladár Szabó, seminary professor, President, István Kecskeméthy, seminary professor, Vice-President, Irma Pauer and Gyula Forgács, Secretaries, Mrs. Aladár Szabó (Irma Biberauer), Member, Mrs. Géza Antal, Member, Richard Biberauer, Member, István Csűrös, Member and Piroska Fülöp, Member.

On the 25th of February 1895 István Kecskeméthy Csapó was invited by Bishop Domokos Szász to teach one semester at the Old Testament Department of the Theological Institute of Nagyenyed (Aiud) until the seminary of Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) would start to function.

In 1896 Kecskeméthy founded the Evangelical Union. As a result of the Union’s work the White Cross Association was founded, whose main objective was to fight against prostitution and conduct a mission towards prostituted girls. Another form of mission supported by the Union was mission within the army. During the period of 1896-1903 he was the pastor of the newly formed congregation of the Reformed church members in the Monostor quarter of Kolozsvár. He regularly held services and Bible study meetings in the old place of gathering (presently the Reformed Church members of Monostor have a new, modern church building) in the house of a peasant farmer in 12 Kisgereblye Street. In the period 1899-1901 he delivered children’s services in the Main Hall of the Theological Institute of Kolozsvár. His most constant helper in his work was his wife, Irma.

In 1903, after the Bethany Association of Hungary was founded Kecskeméthy, being one of the Vice-Presidents, talked about the evangelical work done by the CE Union in Hungary. The first Transylvanian CE Unions were founded at Zilah (Zalău), Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureş), Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) and the Zsil Valley (Valea Jiului). Several pastors attend the newly founded Unions: Géza Kádár, Gyula Bácsy, László Erdélyi, Árpád Magyari, György Konrád and others. During the first one and a half decades of their existence the newly founded Transylvanian CE Unions had a strong relationship with the Bethany Association, considered to be the central unit of the Hungarian CE Unions, Transylvanian CE Unions were also reading and spreading the publications of the Bethany Association. They participated every year at the national CE Convention and wherever there was a possibility and enough CE members, branch associations of the Bethany Association were formed.

During World War I, in the bigger towns (Marosvásárhely, Kolozsvár, Zilah, etc.), CE Unions sheltered and helped the orphans and widows of war.

On the 20th of August 1918 at Kolozsvár in the Main Hall of the Theological Institute of Kolozsvár István Kecskeméthy founded the Transylvanian Union of Evangelical Workers (TUEW), an evangelical unit, which was also meant to be a central unit for the Transylvanian CE Unions. When the TUEW was founded, the first statute of the Union was sent to the Royal Ministry of Internal Affairs to Budapest to be approved.

On the 4th of June 1920, due to the decisions of the Trianon Treaty, Transylvanian CE Unions were permanently separated from the central unit, the Bethany Association of Hungary. Due to this historical fact the TUEW needed to formulate a new statute in the Romanian language (the new official language) and to send it to the Romanian Government for approval. The new statutes of the TUEW were approved in 1923 under Minister of Home Affairs’ Order nr. 80833-1923 and Minister of Culture’s Order nr. 61315-1923. This meant the Romanian Government approved the activity of the TUEW. From that time the TUEW, in its capacity of national organization for various evangelical ministries was in permanent contact with other organizations, like the World Federation of Sunday Schools, the World Federation of the CE Unions, the Evangelical World Union (Alliance) and the World Federation of the Blue Cross Associations.

On the 24th of November 1923 the Transylvanian Church District, lead at the time by Bishop Károly Nagy, abolished all associations, which had been functioning within the Church. The TUEW had the status of a legal entity, thus it could continue to function. The Union had a serious home mission program: teaching Sunday school classes, participating to the White Cross mission (among prostituted girls) and the Blue Cross mission (among alcoholics), advertising possibilities for foreign mission, Jewish mission, mission for maids and literature mission. Since its new start in 1926 the official paper of the CE Union was the widely known evangelical coloured magazine for the entire family Kis Tükör (Little Mirror). In 1933 due to the difficult times of the Great Depression the magazine stopped being issued. Its place in Transylvanian reformed public life was taken over by the Keresztyén Élet Magazine (Christian Life) edited by Dean Géza Kádár at Zilah.

In 1926 at the World Convention of CE Unions in London the executive committee of the European Federation of the CE Union accepted the application of the Transylvanian (Romanian) CE Union within the European CE Movement.

In 1928 the board of the TUEW decided to employ Artúr Tompa K. who had had the position of volunteer traveling secretary and mission publication salesman since the foundation of the Transylvanian CE Union as a full time worker for the same position. His work was richly blessed: during the 1930s there was a great boom both regarding the number of members and regarding the services and ministries done to the glory of the Lord.

In 1928 the board of the Transylvanian Church District issued circular nr. 2746-1928. IV. to the pastors within its jurisdiction asking them to report on the type and impact of the TUEW activity on congregational life within their jurisdiction.

During the period of 30th august – 1st September 1931 at the national convention at Marosvásárhely the name of the Union, TUEW was proposed to be changed to CE Union. The proposal was accepted. The greatest CE Unions were at Marosvásárhely, Kolozsvár and Zilah, thanks to the proper congregation government of their Pastors György Konrád (Marosvásárhely), Artúr Tompa K. (Kolozsvár) and Géza Kádár (Zilah).

In September 1933 the CE Union introduced its modified statutes to the board of the Transylvanian Church District in order to be approved. According to the content of the statutes the CE Union intended to continue functioning within the TUEW, but with different statutes. The objective of the Union was to fully support the objectives formulated by the Church, but in order to be able to do that at its full capacity, it intended to maintain a legal form independent from the church.

The first President of the Transylvanian CE Union was István Kecskeméthy until his death (at 10th May 1938), then Artúr Tompa K. took over until 1944 followed by András Nagy, a seminary professor, until 1947.  The CE Movement started to spread and develop greatly from the 1930s. The number of participants attending the national conventions reflects this fact clearly. Growth did not stop even during World War II, except for the fact that many stalwarts of the Union were killed during the war, e.g. Artúr Tompa K. who was murdered along with his entire family at their place of service in Kendilóna (Luna de Sus) and Géza Kádár who lost his life during a bombing in Budapest.

In 1947 the CE Union was abolished under the pressure coming from the state and was forced to function illegally until 1990.