During 21 years in Pákozd [name of the Hungarian town] we had already tried so many different things and approaches. Some of them were applicable i.e. useful, or "successful", while others were not.

"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’" Luke 17: 10.

Sermons and Church Services 

Developing community in the church must begin with good exegesis, with sermons that are both understandable and challenging. My host congregation, the Emmanuel United Reformed Church might have been sad about not having a minister that time, but for me this meant the chance to listen to different preachers every Sunday. A special type of community was at Cherry Hinton Road. It was good to see how to keep fellowship in spite of the difficulties they faced. It was a privilege to join them from Tuesday to Tuesday. It was a real challenge for me to preach in English at Cherry Hinton Road as well as at Trumpington Street. In London, I had the chance to visit the URC Church-house and talk to the general secretary John Proctor and other members of the staff.We said prayers of intercession, too, but for me it was very useful to experience how important English brothers and sisters feel this part of the service.

Courses Attended

With the help of the Cambridge Theological Federation I enrolled to some courses held at Westminster College and Westcott House: Mission and Apologetics by Paul Weston, Sustainable Preaching Ministry by Liz Caswell and a tutorial group lead by Mary Irish. Although I had some difficulties in the lectures due to my limited vocabulary and poor listening skills, they proved to be very useful. 

Readings and Books 

In my room in Westminster College I read very good commentaries on the Gospel according to Luke. At the library of Westminster College I found many useful books. I borrowed a very detailed commentary by Walter Liefeld, the American Theologian (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary). The other book I read daily was “Praying Luke” written by a French Jesuit, John Reilly. It is rather a series of meditations than a commentary. It was very interesting to read the two books parallel as well passage by passage. It was most exciting to compare the ideas of two different authors on the same texts.

I did not only read Christian books. Let me mention "Dibs in search of self" by Virginia Axline. This book was not published in Hungarian, but some years ago I had the chance to read its synopsis in my language. I recommend this book to everyone who was or is ever dealing with children in the family, in the school or in the church. Actually, if I had the power, I would make it compulsory for all to read. As I mentioned, it is not a Christian book, but it is full of superb love even in the most difficult traumas of life. Self-knowledge, self-evaluation, mental health, as well as finding one's place in the family and in other communities - all these topics are clearer if one reads this book.

Among lots of books I have brought with me from Cambridge, let me mention one more: “The English Standard Version Global Study Bible”. It is really useful to read and study it when preparing a sermon. 

Religious Education 

Another field where community can be developed is Religious Education. Our Reformed Church in Hungary, as well as other churches is in the graceful condition of being able to go to the local schools to instruct children. Under the present government, this chance has grown a lot. But there are still questions to answer:  Do we use this opportunity well enough? How could we reach even more children at schools? Can we reach families through their children? How should we organise other events for children and families? These are only some of the questions we, Reformed ministers ask ourselves. That is why it was very useful for me to visit and observe four different schools in Cambridge. I wished to do that in order to feel the classroom-atmosphere, the children's reactions, and the different methods applied by teachers. On October 23^rd I had the chance to be present at St Luke's School (Church of England) at a School Assembly for pupils. On November 14^th I visited some classes at The Netherhall School & Sixth Form College. On November 28^th I observed some R. E. lessons at Hills Road 6th Form College, and on December 2^nd I was able to visit the Impington Village College.

Music 

Music is also a very good tool in terms of developing fellowship. I attended some of the midday concerts at Emmanuel, some choir rehearsals, two Taize worship services held on Sunday night at Emmanuel, as well as one night only of the singing house-group. I also had a chance to listen to a concert at West Road Music Hall.

English Language and Culture 

It was rather useful to practice and develop my English. I tried to observe more and more of English culture as well. It was really good to walk or cycle several times in and around the city, to feel the atmosphere of a nice, ancient, busy university-city. I visited several colleges, enjoyed the beautiful parks, chapels, evensongs in old buildings and the River Cam.

With the help of the John Hall Fund, I was able to visit other places than Cambridge, too, namely Ely, London, Cambourne, Norwich and Hastings.

As for English and Christian History I must mention the Round Church in Cambridge. I not only visited its attractive display 2 or 3 times, but took all my visitors there to do the same. As far as I know, the display and the film show was created with the contribution of Christian Heritage Fund and with the help of Emmanuel URC.

Displays and the Cafe at Triupington Street URC

It was interesting to observe the different displays at Emmanuel. They too are special kinds of outreach and attract people to the church. The café itself was at first unusual for me, in terms of our tradition in Hungary. But after having observed it for several weeks I understood its context, and I must say that I now appreciate those volunteers there. It is simply amazing that it also attracts people with learning disabilities. Yes, I am sure this is one of the aims of a Christian Church to give hope and love this kind of people, too. They are our “neighbours” too.

Street Mission 

A special field of outreach and developing fellowship is the job of The Street Pastors. We do have night shelters for the homeless in big cities in Hungary, and some kind of mission among them. But we do not have anything like Street Pastors, so it was a challenge as well as a privilege for me to be able to observe their patrols. I even had the chance to participate in one of their trainings at a Baptist Church on St Andrew Street. I still remember some part of this training: "patrolling in the streets you need two things: love for God and common sense". And the principle of the Street Pastors - helping without judgement - should be applied throughout our churches. I also learned that all local Street Pastors are organised only if different Christian denominations work together.

Other Activities 

I cannot enumerate all the activities I took part in, but I should mention a conference held at Addenbrookes Hospital (Faith and Medicine), the Romsey Mill project and the “forums” (i.e. lectures) held at Emmanuel URC. It was good to see and experience the lots of charities be they local, national and international working in the UK. We do have charities in Hungary too, but theirs cover far more areas of life than ours.

In the very first days of my three-month-stay I experienced some good ideas. The annual outing called Emmanuel Away Day was superb very well organized and it was good to see the people of the congregation away but together.
Westminster College is a beautiful and very useful place to live in, with its library, great atmosphere, guests, staff and students. I am very grateful to the John Hall Fund that chose this college for me. It was exciting to meet other people from all over the world, some of whom were also on a sabbatical leave.

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In some aspects our small Reformed Church in Pàkozd is ahead of Emmanuel URC, Cambridge, but in many-many aspects it is left behind. New methods brought from abroad cannot be copied easily. Lots of our circumstances are very different. But I do hope that at least some of the new ideas and experiences can be applied sooner or later. I hope that I will be able to share my new ideas and experiences from Cambridge with other congregations. 

I know well, that human efforts are not enough to develop community. Not in the family, nor in the church, nor in other fields. The mission is always the Mission of God. The Latin term says it quite clearly: Mission Dei.  On the other hand, God`S Mission works very often, if not always through people. So I am convinced we have to do all we can in order to do this kind of mission. Always beginning with prayers, of course, asking the Holy Spirit to help us.

The mission bursary, granted by the John Hall Fund, helped me to think over my thoughts about Missio Dei and about our activities, plans and aims.

Péter Kardos 

Minister of the Reformed Church in Hungary