He loves sports, gardening, art, but most of all, life. From a young age, he trained to be a minister, and after thirty-five years as a minister and sixteen years as a bishop, he was planning to retire. But the Lord had a new chapter in store for him: Bishop József Steinbach of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District was elected as ministerial president by the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary at its spring session.
"A congregation is not alive because it organizes programmes, but because what happens there points to Christ,” says Levente Zoltán Hajdú Hajdú, head of the Missionary Service of the Reformed Church in Hungary. The aim of the Reformed prayer chain, which begins in 2024, the Year of the Living Word, is to pray for renewal, because in living congregations the community of Christ can be present in such a way that it then has an impact on the whole organization.
“Reserves are dwindling both spiritually and physically; women left at home are facing more and more tasks, families are torn apart, and peace is still a long way off,” - this is how the Reformed people of Transcarpathia sum up their current situation.
“The most important thing is that all people know the Good News and we pass on the love we have received” emphasized Márton Juhász, Executive Director of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA). In addition to talking about the HRCA’s services in the past year, he encouraged that anyone can help in their own environment. This interview was conducted before Christmas.
The Reformed Church in Hungary has declared 2024 the Year of the Living Word, which is closely linked to the Year of the Pastoral Profession, proclaimed in 2023. Interview with the Head of the Mission Service of RCH, Rev. Levente Zoltán Hajdú.
According to census data published last week, 943,982 people in Hungary declared themselves Reformed last year, which is 200,000 fewer than ten years ago. On this occasion, we spoke to Károly Fekete, Bishop of the Transtibiscan Church District about the reality of our congregations, the role of institutions, and authenticity.
A meeting of inclusive Reformed schools was held at the Scottish Mission in Budapest, with the primary aim of developing the Network of Inclusive Reformed Schools, sharing good practices and training in methodology. In two training blocks, participants reflected together on the possibilities of interviewing and factors influencing student success. An interview with Kriszta Naszádi, project coordinator of the Inclusive Schools Programme.
Three thousand prisoners of Roma origin were executed at the Auschwitz Gypsy camp on the 2 of August 1944. On this day, the Roma of Europe commemorate the Holocaust, the porajmos as they call it, or in the Lovari dialect, the pharrajimos, the destruction.
We talked to Sándor Fábián Zán, Bishop of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Transcarpathia (KRE), candidate of the 2022 elections. Among other things, he talked about the past 16 years of his term as Bishop, his current life situation, the present and the future of the Reformed Church.
We come across the concepts of assimilation and integration on a daily basis, but few people understand the meaning of the word inclusion. The term, which is primarily used in education, means ‘I will get to know your characteristics, and you will get to know mine, and this is how we form a community,’ explains Krisztina Naszádi, the coordinator of the Inclusive Education Program of the Swiss Church Aid (HEKS) and the Reformed Church in Hungary. We asked the specialist about the background and practice of inclusive education.
This September will be the second anniversary of the opening of TejjelMézzel (which translates as ‘With Milk and Honey’), a Reformed restaurant in Göncruszka maintained by the local reformed congregation. Interview with Rev. Levente Sohajda.
The leaders of the Church can perform exceptionally well if the organization behind them works seamlessly – professes István Mózes Mező, the head of the Office of the General Synod. He sees the office, established in the current synodical term as a separate organizational branch, as a tool which, with the effective use of resources, can affect not just the Church, but the whole society.
It was humility that God has thought him lately. He fled from Transcarpathia, Ukraine, but now he receives himself refugees in his home in Hungary. After crossing the border, he immediately started to volunteer; interpreting, transporting, and trying to be God's instrument. Interviwe with Zoltán Szabó, an elder from the Ukrainian village Sernye.
“To my mind, the church lives in congregations that perform their ministry with conscious and committed faith – not only within the community, but also when it comes to the outside world, to society.” Interview with the new head of Mission of RCH.
Eszter Dani was appointed as head of the Synod’s Mission Office in 2012, and she played a pivotal role in strengthening the national Reformed Roma ministry. Rev. Dani, who is also a pastor in Solymár, has been senior advisor of the Mission Service since 1 January this year.
At present, the question is not whether there has been a Christian Europe, a Christian Hungary, but whether it will exist in the future. It is up to us to achieve that through value based education - says Prof. László Trócsányi, new Rector (President) of the Károli Gáspár University of RCH.
Márta Sebestyén is a household name in Hungary, but why was she chosen by the leadership of the Reformed Church in Hungary to be one of the faces introducing the new Reformed Hymnal? An inspiring and thoughtful interview.
Interview with Józsefné Tóth about the disadvantage-compensating and status-management significance of the so-called “Complex Instruction Program” (CIP).
The Advent and New Year season is the most significant period in the life of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA). We have visited HRCA’s warehouse in Ebes, a city near to Debrecen, where volunteers work around the clock to select and wrap the gifts of the wishlists of needy kids.
„The spiritual depth and experience, is not bound to a place” – says Molnár Ferenc Caramel, a celebrated pop performer in an interview which he gave at the occasion of the special worship introducing of the new Himnary of RCH.