On Revised Route

You became the leader of the Reformed Church in Hungary at a special historic moment. What made you say yes to the nomination? Was it unexpected?

I had not expected it, as I was not the candidate for pastor before the spring session of the Synod, and the surprising change came later. At first, I was shocked. I was in the last term of my tenure as bishop in the Transdanubian Church District and was preparing to hand over my ministry before retirement. As the pastor of Balatonalmádi and Balatonfűzfő, I would have liked to spend more time with my congregations, because I love them very much. In the end, I was convinced by the unanimous support of the brothers and sisters, the willingness to help and the unanimous vote of the Synod. I thank the Lord, the Presidential Council, and my colleagues in the Synod Office for their encouragement, and also the congregations, pastors, chief elders, and presbyters. My wife and my children are behind me, they adjust themselves to me daily so that I can concentrate on my work. My heart is overflowing with reliance on the Lord's saving grace and humility, with joy, hope and zeal for action. I pray that in the next two and a half years, during this time of apparent transition, I may be able to carry out the ministry entrusted to me.

How do you currently see the role of the Reformed Church in public life?

In February, after the outbreak of the clemency case, we all tried to get over the shock of the first few weeks with dismay. What is happening to us? - we asked. I began to pray for my fellow leaders, for our church, that we would have clarity in our decisions, sufficient strength not to despair, and that we would stay together. Having learned the lessons of the past period, I expect to be more involved in public life than ever before, but as I said in my inaugural address, now is the time to take a step back, to work quietly, to build the Kingdom of God. In the meantime, I have a duty to go public on issues of importance and concern to the Church, and to respond to inquiries from the secular press. Of course, this does not mean a constant media presence, but it certainly means showing what ministries we do and why. We need to publicize the work we do in our public education and social institutions, because that is what we have been given the resources for and that is what we use them for. Power is always a service, and the Church, in particular, must not become an overbearing and bureaucratic institution. We are striving to preserve our Christian heritage, building bridges in our divided society, because that is our only task. We are not all on the same side in our Reformed communities, but we are all bound together by the Word of God. Looking beyond the boundaries of our Reformed Church, we cannot afford not to be hopeful towards everyone, even those who think differently about the world, or who may be hostile towards us, because that is the essence of our ministry: to proclaim the universal gospel. We need to serve so that people would understand and love the cause of Christ, and we look to God for the growth. I want to move both within and outside the bounds of our church, asking for the Lord's strength and wisdom, but quietly, so that the cause of Christ may be seen, not me. I am surrounded by an excellent team of professionals who help me in this ministry.

In the current situation, how can we best support our congregations?

Above all, we must encourage each other. The Word of God that speaks among us and through us gives us hope. God loves us and has not let go of our hand. I trust that the Savior's message will strengthen fraternal relationships and reassure church members, even those who are wavering. We can be disappointed in the visible church, but we must trust in Jesus Christ, and trusting in him, we will love and improve the visible church, too. The church is not of this world, but it lives in this world, and is full of misery, but it moves forward on the path of sanctification by Christ. I believe that everything can be discussed and problems can be solved, so I have contacted pastors who had different opinions about the dramatic events behind us. We are one cause; we are in the same boat. Let's start with the clarification inside! This is the biblical order, the apostolic way of restoration.

How will you lead the Reformed Church? What kind of leadership is needed?

As a bishop and as a minister of a congregation, I have sought to be present as a pastor, because that is what God blesses. I want to be a synod leader, a bishop, a pastor who can be approached, who can see those in need, who can stop on the street, who can hold many accountable. Christ, the Good Shepherd knows his flock and we are in his following. As a bishop, I have devoted a lot of energy to pastoral ministry. I will continue to try to reply as soon as possible to any emails that arrive in my own inbox, if necessary, from the back of my car, although this is becoming a greater challenge. But of course, the pastor is also a leader. He knows what is absolute and what is negotiable, and he sticks to the really important principles. For us, the direction is marked out by our creeds: to follow Jesus Christ with merciful, gentle, but firm love. We do not want to go down blind alleys; we follow our Master on a sure path. On the coat of arms of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District is the words of Zechariah 4:6: "Not by might nor by power, but with my spirit! - says the Lord Almighty." In the biblical sense, power has a negative connotation, because we humans are always abusing it. Christ was given all power, and he gave himself for his own: this is the power of redeeming love.

What strategy should we follow?

I have great respect for my predecessors as ministerial presidents, Bishops Loránt Hegedűs, Gusztáv Bölcskei, István Szabó and Zoltán Balog. We will continue the work begun in the first three years of the cycle, but more quietly, with less spectacular publicity, with a different focus, and in dialogue with everyone. Zoltán Balog has done a powerful and far-sighted job. The Synod Office has been restructured, and the Church's tasks have been organized into five ministries headed by great leaders. The head of the Synod Office, the General Secretary of the Synod, and the Legal Adviser are excellent at bringing together the different areas. For the more serious decisions, I add experts to the Presidential Council, so that we are not carried away by the weight of the system and its constraints, but can make informed and calm decisions. For me, it will be a great help if I can concentrate more on the spiritual and not get lost in the financial and bureaucratic maze, while the lay president of the Synod and I also have to see everything through, because the responsibility is ours. The reform of the training of ministers is under way in cooperation with the six Hungarian Reformed seminaries in the Carpathian Basin. It is necessary that the renewed concept be both academic and practical, focusing on the training of congregational pastors. Let us teach the future generation the beauty of congregational ministry, as it is the guarantee of the survival of our whole Reformed Church, we live in our congregations. No less important is the work of institutional pastors and their recognition, and the relationship between congregations and institutions. How many institutions should we have? How many can we fill with spiritual content? And where do we draw the line where these do not overwhelm the ministry of the congregation? We are grateful for our public education and social institutions, our charity work, our hospitals, and for all we serve with. We have been consistently proclaiming our church's thematic years for three years now. These have made visible that it is good to build on each other's faith, they have strengthened our identity. In 2022 we focused on religious education, in 2023 on the pastoral vocation, and 2024 is the year of the Living Word. This year points us to the essence of our ministry, to what it means to be called by the Word of God. Our events, conferences and summer camps in our congregations, presbyteries or church districts will be organized around this theme in 2024. So it works. The overall plans for building our church go back a long time, perhaps as far as the Church Revision Committee set up under Bishop Gusztáv Bölcskei. So, there is no need to reinvent everything and start from scratch. However, joint programs and initiatives will be implemented in a way that does not distort them into forced centralization.

How would you like to help Hungarian Reformed communities beyond our borders?

Within the Hungarian Reformed Church, in the current threatening political situation, we continue to pay special attention to our brothers and sisters in Transcarpathia. We pray for the manifestation of God's liberating, peace-giving power in Transcarpathia. We look to our Hungarian Reformed churches in Western Europe and overseas as brothers and sisters, they are constituent members of the the Hungarian Reformed Church.

You have been serving in Balatonalmádi for more than thirty years, since 1990. You consider this to be the great privilege of your life. From where and how did your path lead you to the shores of Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe?

When I was a child, we lived twenty-five kilometres from Lake Balaton. My parents took us to the beach once a year. It was the big holiday we had been waiting for throughout the year. I have never forgotten those days at Lake Balaton. When I was still a seminary student, I was preparing to become a pastor in a small village in the region that lies between Lake Balaton and the Danube River, the manse was already being renovated for me, and I had already obtained my university leaving certificate, Attila Császár, the then dean of the Reformed Presbytery of Veszprém and Bishop Attila Kovách, called me in unexpectedly and said: Balatonalmádi. I was going to get ready to go somewhere so different that at first, I didn't understand. It's like when God closes a door in front of us, we weep and despair, but soon it turns out that God has prepared something even better, more than we thought. Balatonalmádi is our first place, my wife and I have been serving here together from the beginning and we are very happy. I could get any invitation; I would not leave them for anything.

How was your faith formed, what attracted you to ministry?

My parents were people of faith, my father, who died at a young age, was baptized Roman Catholic, my mother Reformed. To this day, I still don't know how my mother managed to get both her sons to become Reformed. True, we attended Reformed Sunday services, but through my father, I was also influenced by the Catholics. We used to take a three kilometers bus ride to church on Sundays, and everyone knew that the Steinbach family usually arrived only before for the hymn prior the preaching. On the way home we used to walk most of the time, in snow and frost, even on Christmas Eve. A living, convicting faith in Christ came from the sermons of pastor Ferenc Csákváry, which resonated deeply in me even as a primary school student. We were still living in the difficult years of the regime of the communist leader János Kádár in Hungary, yet the church in the little village of Szentgál was packed to capacity. When I was in secondary school, I used to go to Balatonfüred from Herend, and had to change in Veszprém, the administrative center of our county. I studied in the county library, went to their music library and listened to Bach and Mozart. I read through the greatest works of world literature, including the philosophers, on the basis of the History of World Literature by Antal Szerb, a Hungarian author. I reveled in every branch of art, and in the meantime, I discovered that every human being, knowingly or unknowingly, seeks God. At the same time, I studied the Bible and saw that the questions posed by the arts and sciences are answered there. One of the most difficult passages of the Bible is the test of Abraham’s faith in Genesis 22: he set out to sacrifice his son Isaac on a mountain in the land of Moriah. But the Lord God had already provided a lamb, a substitute sacrifice. One of my leitmotifs since then has been verse 14 of the passage, “The Lord Will Provide. […] On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” God shows the way, He gives a solution, He gives salvation, that is what we need most. For me, this was a concrete call to the ministry.

How old were you at the time?

Sixteen-seventeen. I decided to go to seminary, but I didn't dare tell my parents, nor did I feel ready. I took a job, working for two years as a gardener at the Children's House in Veszprém. In the meantime, I studied Greek and Hebrew with Géza Horváth, a teacher at the Lovassy László Grammar School, and went to study theology with a basic knowledge of the biblical languages. One more moment about my vocation that is engraved in my soul: the long-distance buses from Ajka to Budapest stopped at Herend, near the main road nr. 8. While waiting, a lorry passed by. One of the drunk young people sitting on the back of the truck threw a beer bottle between us and it exploded. No harm was done, but in my soul, I prayed with a shaken heart: "Lord, is this the task to somehow tame this rude, wild, irresponsible behavior with the love of Christ and proclaiming God's life-renewing love? Yes, this is my way."

When did you and your wife meet and how did the collaboration develop?

We met Klára Cenkvári, my future wife, at the House of Children in Veszprém, where I was working after finishing my secondary education. We talked a lot. I mentioned to her my desire to become a pastor. After my entrance exam to the seminary, I was taken to the army, and Klárika faithfully waited for me, and we got engaged. Five years of seminary followed. In those days, if you were a full-time seminarist you could not get married until you finished your studies. So, we waited nearly eight years for each other. We persisted. God tried us, matured us. Klárika has been my devoted, irreplaceable companion ever since. I owe everything in my life to her, as an instrument of God. She was a truly beautiful, tall, long-haired, pretty woman when I courted her - she is the same for me today - and men turned after her. I consider it a miracle and a divine gift that she stayed with me. I am very, very grateful for her, my partner and helper. The Lord led us together to Balatonalmádi and kept us in all ministry. Without my wife I would not be who I am today. Her humility, her strength, her love, her gentleness, the way she stands behind me, serves the cause of God in everything. Our two adult daughters are gifts from God to us, one is a development engineer and the other is a veterinarian.

What is the Bible verse that defines your life and how does it affect your daily life?

"Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again, rejoice!" - we read in Philippians 4:4. Paul was not a man who asked others to do what he himself would not have done. In the records of his life, we can follow his joy, even in the most difficult and trying situations. Yet he says, rejoice always. He does not call us to exaggerated or vain joy. Joy comes from experiencing grace. Even when we find ourselves in difficult situations, let us remind ourselves where we would be without God's grace. Sometimes we are burdened and hurt by all that surrounds us in this world, even tormented by it. But I ask God for joy every day. At the end of the day, having survived all its blessings and all its hardships, I surrender my life into the hands of the Lord God. I wake up in the morning to find that his mercy is renewed and joy is given again. The Lord provides, there is providence on the mountain of the Lord. Knowing our weaknesses, our talents, our limitations is not a disadvantage, in fact, it is essential to what we do as leaders.

In a busy life with a lot of responsibility, what is the source of relaxation and recreation for you? What is your favorite pastime?

Any type of physical work gives me rest. My father brought me up with a strictness full of loving care. I studied hard, then helped him in the garden. He taught me the value of manual labor. Running makes me happy, and I now increasingly have to take time out of my day to do it, in the truest sense of the word. On the treadmill I am well propelled, jogging in the open air I prefer to admire the scenery, pray, prepare for a sermon, relax. Art, literature, poetry, visual arts, music, even popular music, are also indispensable for me, because they speak honestly about all the joys and pains of being human. If a work of art or a play is a cathartic experience, God is always there. All this indirectly strengthens my faith. All branches of culture, and science could be a springboard for us to reach more people with the Gospel. I have a sincere humility, I consider every day as a grace, and with all my strength, asking the Lord for His strength, I will carry out my ministry with joy and hope as long as my time is measured, and as long as the Lord allows.