This year is marked by the election of new officials in our church, due to the fact that on 31st December 2014 the six-year mandates of all elected presbytery, church district and Synod officers will expire. We have collected the deadlines, set by the election law, and summed up the agenda in connection to the elections.
The Teach Overseas program has been sending native English speakers to Hungary for more than 20 years. Most recently this connection has been manifested through the organization’s relationship with the Refugee Ministry of the Reformed Church in Hungary.
The number of matriculated students at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary increased again. The institution has expanded and is now waiting to welcome students in September with a new building. Rector Péter Balla also told us if he would be applying for the church elections this autumn.
The president and secretary of the European Area of the World Communion of Reformed Churches have issued a letter expressing WCRC's solidarity for the Reformed Church in Sub-Carpathia and the Hungarian minority living in Ukraine as they face the uncertain situation in Ukraine.
Maria Kojdecka came to Budapest as a volunteer with no real plan of where she would work. All she knew was that she wanted to teach and wanted an adventure. She found herself at the community center of the Reformed Church in Hungary’s Refugee Ministry.
The effects of the consistently escalating political situation in Ukraine since the autumn of 2013 are becoming more and more noticeable in the average household. Day by day the crisis can be felt not only in the crisis regions but also in Sub-Carpathia, within the Hungarian minority.
Quadrennial Assembly took place from 25 to 29 June in Atlanta, GA, where international guests were invited from 18 countries, which meant around 25 partner churches and organizations were present. Among the international sisters was RCH delegate, Szabina Sztojka.
At first glance, the connection between Hungary and Korea may seem distant if not all together non-existent. However, the historical parallel between the Korean and Hungarian people has become a solid foundation for cooperation among churches.
The leadership of the Reformed Church in Sub-Carpathia (RCSC) has issued a statement of peace, protesting any form of violence and war, and striving instead for the peaceful co-existence of all nations living in Ukraine.
Leaders of Transcarpathia have provided guarantees for ensuring the safety of the ethnic Hungarian minority and the county's stability, Hungarian Human Resources Minister Zoltan Balog said after talks on Friday.
There is an air of uncertainty these days in Ukraine, which is also being experienced by the 150,000 Hungarians living in Sub-Carpathia. No war has officially been declared, but the partial military mobilization affects Hungarian families, as well.
The Biztos Kezdet Kid’s Center was opened in the village known as the fresco-village, Bódvalenke on 29 May. The program is a lifesaver for the inhabitants where more than half of the population are children and 28 of their mothers are younger than 18.
Where do reformed Roma live?
Gypsies don’t have a unified religion. They generally adopt the dominant religion of their location, hence all the types of Roma living in Hungary, for example in Bulgaria both Christians and Muslims can be found.
So far, thousands have visited the Contrast exhibit, organized together by the Reformed Church in Hungary and the police. The multimedia art exhibition is part of the family and youth protection project and can be seen again in Budapest.
At the Konfi+ conference on 24-27 August, youth workers of the Carpathian Basin will discuss the possibilities of calling young adults. Why is it so hard for the Church to address these ages nowadays? We asked Szabolcs Szontágh, the head of the youth office of Reformed Church in Hungary.
The sanctuary of the Őrmező reformed congregation was once a pub but it has now become the home of a community center. The members of the congregation have been praying for over 10 years to have their own room in this housing district of Budapest.
"I do not believe in the Church, but I do believe that God's Spirit works among us. And I love the Church" - We talked to pastor András Harmathy, convener of the Church Revision Committee.
“Hungarian people become angry quickly, but there are patient and kind ones too,” said Sally, the 10-year-old who came from Syria with her parents. She learns a lot at the Refugee Community Center in Budapest with other foreign young people.
University pastors from across the Carpathian Basin declare that gathering reformed young people can be the only goal of a university congregation. These congregations, in connection with higher education institutions, offer a spiritual community for those who know nothing about the Church or for those who are disappointed in it.
Is there democracy in the Church? Are politicians allowed to talk about God? Why are we lamenting when a “bearded lady” becomes the example to be followed in Europe? István Bogárdi Szabó, the bishop of the Danubian Reformed Church District shared his thoughts before Zsuzsa Fekete’s microphone.