“The participants unanimously admit that the volunteer year made them braver and more creative. The experiences were life-changing and enriching for them,” summarizes Krisztina Csordás, project manager of the Voluntary Diaconal Year Programme Office. This is also a place to visit for people who want to do voluntary work, those who are looking for short-term assignments.
“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.
Church leaders in Hungary prayed for persecuted Christians in a joint service at the opening of the Ecumenical Week of Prayer in St Stephen's Basilica. At the event, Reformed Bishop József Steinbach stressed that Christ himself became the Good Samaritan, and on the cross, he "went to the very end for us" to show his boundless love.
Lieutenant Colonel Szilárd Sajtos, a Reformed military chaplain, has visited the Middle East several times as a member of various military missions. In a recently published study on Eastern Christianity, he explained that the survival of the church in the region has been in serious danger due to massive emigration.
The Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA) provides comprehensive and personalized help to those in urgent need during the winter. In order to finance the program called “Neighbours,” HRCA launched a countrywide fundraising campaign.
The staff of the National Reformed Roma Ministry will continue to organise a variety of events, meetings, and trainings in 2024 to promote the Gospel values and the importance of reconciliation between peoples.
The search and rescue team of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA) closed an eventful year. The unit, which is five years old this year, was instrumental last year in providing assistance after the earthquake in Turkey, rescuing several survivors from the rubble.
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.
The Refugee Ministry of HRCA recently hosted two community events to bring its clients together for Christmas. The events were open to clients of the Refugee Ministry and featured various activities, from building gingerbread houses to crafting decorations.
He chose to send light where there is darkness. For God loves sinful man, but hates sin and darkness, and in his love he wants to save us from what separates us from him, causing our death, so that we may have life and march in his light. Christmas reflection from Zoltán Vas, published in the Reformed Weekly of RCH.
The programme to support twenty-four soup kitchens in Transcarpathia has begun. The Reformed Church in Transcarpathia (RCT) celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. On this occasion, the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA) has prepared a special gift.
The Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) hosted its General Assembly in Rome this year. RCH was represented by László Zságer, head of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid’s (HRCA) Refugee Ministry, and Angela Canadey, project coordinator of the Refugee Ministry.
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.
Mária Molnár, born in 1886, was the most notable Hungarian missionary of the Reformed Church in Hungary. She used the knowledge she acquired as a voluntary nurse during World War I in her mission work on the Manus and Pityilu Islands, ultimately becoming a martyr during the Pacific theater of World War II.
On November 6-7, the General Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary held its two-day session in Balatonszárszó. The participants discussed in detail the law on the legal status and service of ministers, but also the census data, youth mission, the Year of the Pastoral Profession, and the upcoming "Year of the Living Word" announced for 2024.
The Roma Ministry of the Diaconia of the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH), held a conference and a professional day for the first time for all who are involved in Roma ministry throughout the Carpathian Basin. The event on November 15th was attended by pastors, professionals, colleagues, and co-workers.
In October 2023, Bishop Zoltán Balog, Ministerial President of the Synod, visited Australia and Papua New Guinea together with a delegation of the President of Hungary, Katalin Novák.
The Reformed Church in Transcarpathia, Ukraine, celebrated the hundredth anniversary of its foundation in a thanksgiving worship on October 29th. Bishops from Hungary served at the event, which took place in the church in Beregszász (Berehove), Ukraine.