RCH hosted a delegation from member churches of the Protestant Church in Switzerland and HEKS Swiss Church Aid from March 13 to March 14. The representatives visited with various departments and missions of the Reformed Church in Hungary and the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid to gain greater insight into the church's activities and mission in Hungary.
The task of the team of the National Reformed Roma Ministry is to support the ministry of evangelisation among the Roma people, either directly or in cooperation with Reformed congregations and institutions, and to work toward reconciliation between Roma and non-Roma. In total, the service reaches around 7,000 people. Interview with István Kocsis, the deputy head of the Diaconia’s department for social inclusion.
On November 7 and 8, Eurodiaconia, in cooperation with the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH), hosted a Roma Inclusion Network Meeting in Budapest. The meeting was open to partners across Europe working in Diaconia within the network or part of a member organisation of Eurodiaconia.
On 13 April, the Reformed Church of Káposztámegyer, Budapest, and its surroundings bustled with community life early in the morning. Roma and non-Roma people from all over the country came for the tenth edition of the prayer day. All had come for an exceptional opportunity to give themselves freely to the Word of God, the joy of encounter and their often challenging identity, the Roma culture.
The Diaconia of the Reformed Church in Hungary has become the country's largest afterschool operator after the Directorate-General for Social Inclusion deemed the operation of fourteen Reformed afterschools worthy of support for the next three-year period. The afterschools, which serve local children from typically difficult circumstances, include some that have been in operation for nearly a decade, but two newcomers will start operating in 2024.
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.
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.
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.
For the fourth time, the Department for Social Inclusion of the Diaconia of the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH) organised a professional development day with the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA).
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.
Since 2017, HEKS (the Swiss Church Aid) has supported efforts to make elementary schools maintained by the Hungarian Reformed Church more inclusive. Today, more than a dozen institutions carry out development aimed at inclusion, and their spring network meeting was hosted by the headquarters of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA). More than fifty employees from eleven schools participated in the all-day workshop on May 22.
“The common goal of our Christianity is for Roma and non-Roma Hungarians to live in peace and love with each other,” said Bishop Zoltán Balog on the ‘We Belong Together — Roma Integration Day’. During the event, the participants reviewed the results of the social inclusion program and shared their aspirations in round table discussions.
Between March 19 and March 22, almost fifty people came together at Berekfürdő to share knowledge and participate in accredited training on contextual theology within the Roma Ministry of the Diaconia of Reformed Church in Hungary.
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.
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.
Since September, a new team of mentors has been accompanying the institutional development of schools participating in the HEKS-funded inclusion program of RCH. The initiative is part or the strategic cooperation with the Swiss Protestant Church Aid in the Ministry among Roma.
Interview with Józsefné Tóth about the disadvantage-compensating and status-management significance of the so-called “Complex Instruction Program” (CIP).
The delegation of the István Wáli Reformed Roma Special College visited Italy, together with representatives from other similar institutions. The joint trip marked the tenth anniversary of the Network. Participants also had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis.
It is heartening to see that our church has diverse and hopeful programmes in the area of youth ministry, but we seldom talk about the ways we can provide examples to younger generations with our personal lives. Report about the annual conference of the National Reformed Roma Ministry.