Every two years, thousands of Reformed young people between the ages of 14 and 35 from the Carpathian Basin gather for five days to listen to God and return home with a strengthened spirit and richer knowledge. It is a good time to build new relationships between Hungarians and people from abroad and also by this, living out our unity.
Debrecen welcomes Starpoint, taking place from July 23 to 27. We are organizing the meeting on one of the campuses of the University of Debrecen located on Böszörményi street. The venue and the date are symbolic because Debrecen has been a place of several celebrations of the unity of the Hungarian Reformed Church. In 2009, this was the place where the Hungarian-speaking Reformed churches in the Carpathian Basin declared their reunification.
The Hungarian Reformed community in the Carpathian Basin was founded in the time of Reformation and its foundation dates back to the Synod of Debrecen in 1967. However, the Hungarian Reformed Christians has been divided by borders of different countries after the First World War and these churches have lived in isolation. On the 22 May 2009, unity beyond the borders was declared in the Great Church of Debrecen. Given the 10 year anniversary of the declaration of this unity, the theme of the Starpoint Festival of 2019 is Unity and Community.
What Surrounds You
If you are coming to Starpoint, you can think about the main theme of the festival, which is on the relationship between unity and community, at the morning devotions, the keynote speeches, and in small group conversations. In the afternoon, you can choose from several programs. This year the structure of the morning spiritual program will change. The aim is to bring the theme closer through the keynote speech, followed by a personal testimony, and an artistic performance. In the evenings, as usual, there will be an evening devotion, followed by concerts.
For us, belonging to God means that we are not alone; because we are surrounded by His love and held by the community. This is the community where we represent Him and His kingdom together; a home that is not only for life after death, but on the contrary, for the life on earth too! At this year’s Starpoint, we want to show how we are all surrounded by the kingdom of God, even if we don’t feel it or we haven’t recognized it yet. This is summarized by the biblical motto of the festival from Luke 17:21 “The Kingdom of God is already among you.”
But what does this really mean? What is among us? What surrounds us in our everyday life? Information, sounds, pictures, news? Light and darkness? Family members, friends, classmates and colleagues? What should we do with this? What is our relationship to each other? What can we do for each other? Do we know what God has done for us?
The good news is that we have an answer, so don’t be afraid to ask questions, because you are not alone – your place is here!
This year 31 youth delegates from 11 countries and 16 RCH partner churches joined the festival. Read more about the 2019 Starpoint Reformed Youth Festival!
Reformatus.hu
Translated by Jázmin Milcsevics
Edited by Ecumenical Office
