The Reformed Church in Hungary 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.
Delegation of swiss churches and HEKS with colleagues of the Mission Service of RCH
Between March 13 and March 14, representatives visited the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH), the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA) Refugee Service, and the Roma Ministry. The delegation represented churches from at least four cantons of the PCS.
The beginning of the visit included meetings with the Mission Service, Youth Department, and Ecumenical Office of the Reformed Church in Hungary. Here, the Mission Service, represented by its directors Rev. Borbála Mikola and Anna Ferentzi presented a new way to collect information from churches to draw an accurate picture of the situation in congregations across the country. The goal here is to make data more accurate, accessible, and readily available for decision-makers. In addition to this initiative, the Mission Service is also developing a new communication strategy to connect churches, congregations, and pastors. The primary aims of the Mission Service here are the vitalisation of churches and growth based on research on reformed identity and networking. The presentation drew insightful discussion from representatives of all churches on how mission can look and manifest differently across contexts.
Following the presentation from the Mission Service, the representatives received a presentation from the Youth Ministry of the RCH by Rev. Áron Ablonczy, head of the youth office. 2025 is the Year of Youth Service in the Reformed Church in Hungary, and the Youth Ministry prioritises addressing the spiritual needs of youth within the church. The presentation highlighted several points of research underscoring the large number of young people that leave the church, particularly around the ages of 16-21 and 28-31, right around when big life events are occurring. It was pointed out that it is likely in these cases that young people may get overwhelmed with milestones in their lives and gradually become disconnected.
Another point brought up was that the same study showed that a good percentage of young people report that church did not prepare them for real life. Thus, the Youth Ministry seeks to address these concerns with accompaniment, supporting youth in their life concerns and milestones, making communications with youth more relevant and in line with the media they are using most often. For example, the Youth Ministry is implementing an “online mission,” with testimony videos on social media platforms to increase engagement. Furthermore, the Youth Ministry seeks to focus on church planting in university-based cities for youth attending school. The presentation brought common points of understanding among the group, as youth engagement is a vital aspect shared across church communities. International church partnerships are an increasingly beneficial forum for exchanging good practices with youth engagement within a more interconnected world and youth populations.
In the afternoon, the representatives travelled to the Refugee Ministry of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid. At the Refugee Ministry, the representatives learned more about the work of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid as a public foundation, its history, and the various programs to support vulnerable people in Hungary as well as those outside of Hungary, including Transcarpathia and its disaster response team which has previously responded to catastrophes in Turkey and Morocco. The presentation also included an overview of the HRCA’s programs and activities to support the inclusion of refugees in Hungary. HEKS Swiss Church Aid has cooperated with the Refugee Ministry since 2016 to develop integration and inclusion programs assisting displaced persons living in Hungary. On March 14, the Refugee Ministry hosted a small brunch with the representatives and several beneficiaries of the service to gather and share their experiences of displacement following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how they found support in HRCA.
After the brunch, the Swiss representatives travelled to the Roma Ministry to meet with Laura Velkey, the Roma inclusion coordinator and Andrea Ignácz, the Roma inclusion coordinator, with local congregations. HEKS Swiss Church Aid has worked with the Roma Ministry to develop a Roma inclusion program in Hungary since 2015.
Following their programs in Budapest, the delegation travelled to eastern Hungary to visit another Roma inclusion project. The latter part of their visit included meetings with the Partium District of the Reformed Church of Romania, the Lampas Foundation team, an introduction to the project on domestic violence, and a meeting with church representatives from the Transylvanian District of the Reformed Church of Romania. The visits were a welcome opportunity for various representatives of the Hungarian reformed churches, the Protestant Church in Switzerland, and HEKS Swiss Church Aid to meet and discuss areas of shared interest between the churches in mission and service.