We ushered in the New Year full of thanksgiving for the things that happened within the Reformed Church in Hungary. Looking back at 2014, some of the highlights include:

Unity and Solidarity within the Hungarian Reformed Church which we continued to sustain. We celebrated 5 years of Solidarity and Unity in the Hungarian Reformed Church (HRC). There was also a 7th Hungarian Reformed World Summit. As a continuation of our solidarity the Synod Council of the Reformed Church in Hungary approved a statement after the High Court ruling on the re-nationalization of the Székely Mikó High School. In response to the Ukrainian situation, the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid set up the HRCA Sub-Carpathia Action Plan which included donating of fuel to people living in the war stricken area all through Autumn, and over advent season, the delivery hundreds of shoeboxes, packages of food and other donations to the region.

Celebration of Unity

7th Hungarian Reformed World Summit 

International Partnership continued to be maintained, but in the process others were born. The Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH), the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PCN) and the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB), met in Amsterdam on 21st-23rd May 2014 to lay the groundwork for a three-year project within the framework of the European Region of the World Communion of Reformed Churches and in cooperation with the Reformed Mission Alliance. The undertaking is focused on searching for new forms of mission in secularized environments and will involve mutual church visits from the Czech, Hungarian and Dutch Churches from April 2014 to the spring of 2016

New Tri-church Project Born in the Netherlands

Communication campaigns  for the 1% tax (Each year, taxpayers have the ability to direct 1 % of their income taxes to a church of their choice, and an additional 1 % can be given to another recognized NGO) were more personal in 2014. The personal advertisements of the RCH's 1% campaign would like to show conversion and the inner and outer change that comes with it. We have looked for real life stories with real flesh and blood people behind them, whose life, lifestyle and environment have completely turned around by receiving the gospel and through the service of the Reformed Church. This took place from February through to May.

1% support - 99% spirit

I'm not a foster parent - I'm a parent

Something New

During the Closing Synod of RCH’s 13th Cycle, not only did we receive international delegates, but we also began facing the past. As part of their visit was a partners meeting which was about Peace and Reconciliation in the light of Communist Past. It took place on 11th November, a day before the Synod Meeting. The meeting consisted of partners from Scotland, Ireland, Austria, South Korea, Czech Republic, South Africa, Italy, Taiwan, Germany and Switzerland. 

International Guests at the RCH Synod

Facing the Past and the Present

This year the Church Revision Committee had finished its work, and the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary carried out a Research in Church Sociology. Church Revision Committee (CRC) presented its final Report and Recommendations to the Synod in November. The recommendations in a document titled “Dialogue with the Future” were accepted as part of further discussion.  The first results of the Sociological Research was also presented to the Synod in November.

Church Revision Committee's final submission - a short version

Sociological Report about the RCH in 2014

The New edition of the Bible and Calvin’s Institutes were published as part of Calvin memorial years a project of the Synod and in light of the occasion of the 450th jubilee of the reformer’s death. Calvin’s main work in Hungarian was complete. The new version of the bible is not only available in print, but also on the internet as an application that is downloadable on computers, tablets and mobile telephones.

The Bible for All

New Ways of Spreading the Bible

2014 being the Holocaust Jubilee saw many events in the church that included “Anne Frank- History for Today” traveling exhibition that was launched at Dóczy High School of the Reformed College in Debrecen. The Károli Gáspár University conference on Judaism in Hungary in the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to this the Jas Vasem Institution in Jerusalem welcomed a delegation from the Csenger Reformed Congregation with a ceremony to commemorate the common past of the reformed and Jewish from Csenger.

Anne Frank - a Traveling Exhibition

Common Past of jews and Reformed

The Path we turn to

In light of the 10th Annivesary of the Accra Confession, we shared some of our commentaries on the document that not only highlights our thoughts, that also sheds some light on our position on the document in a reflection by Bishop Gusztáv Bölcskei, Former President of WARC Europe and others.

10th anniversary of the Accra Confession from Hungarian Perspective

Elections: the long awaited elections of the Reformed Church in Hungary elections ended on 28th November  for the positions of Presbytery: Dean, Lay President and Their Deputies. Church District Positions: Bishop, Chief Elder, Deputies, Church Councillor of the District. Synod Members and Proxy Candidates. For more details visit. 

Official Election Results Published

Election guide

In other news, we had the difficult task as the Reformed Church in Hungary  together with the Tóth family to announce the death of former presiding bishop of the Synod, Dr. Károly Tóth,  3rd of April 1931. He studied, was ordained as a reformed pastor in 1956, began service in the Synod Office of the Reformed Church in Hungary, first as the head of the Ecumenical Office and later served as bishop Danubian Church District between1977 and 1991. From 1982 to 1987 he was the vice president of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary and went on to serve as the presiding bishop from 1987 to 1989.

The Passing of Bishop Károly Tóth

Njeri Wagana Hughes 

Photos: Reformátusok Lapja, RCH Communication Office