Today, members of the Hungarian Reformed community extend well beyond the boundaries of Hungary. However, the distance does nothing to lessen the historic and ethnic ties that bind these reformed people to their homeland.
The Hungarian Reformed Church (HRC), the unified church of Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin, is "mother" to many Hungarian reformed congregations that were formed all over the world following the massive migration of Hungarians at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century.
But how does today’s HRC remain connected with these diaspora communities in Western Europe, America, Canada and Australia? In 2008, the Reformed Church in Hungary first organized a meeting with the diaspora from all across the world to discuss ways of cultivating relations.
The situation is unique in every location, but one main way of support and continued relation is through the “Pastor-Sending” Program to Western Europe, a joint project between the member churches within the Carpathian Basin that was started in 2009. Within the framework of the program, pastors from congregations throughout the Carpathian Basin apply and are sent to fill pulpits in Hungarian reformed communities in Luxemburg, Brussels, Paris, Geneva and München. Since the program began, over 40 pastors have made 58 trips to these communities.
In these congregations, there are only a few cases of pastors serving on a permanent basis. Instead, several times a year pastors from the HRC are chosen to travel in order to offer support and pulpit supply to the Hungarian-speaking congregations.
“We are responsible for each other within and outside the Carpathian Basin, so we must carry each other’s burdens,” said Gergely Márton Kis, pastor in Tokaj who traveled to serve the congregation in Paris.
However, at the request of the congregation, the community in Luxemburg follows a slightly different model than the other congregations. It has a little more stability in the fact that the same pastor comes to preach each time and visits on a more regular basis, as well.
László Petró, the pastor in Luxemburg as well as the Great Church in Debrecen, expressed the importance of the “Pastor-Sending” Program to Western Europe in this way: “For those living in diaspora it is important to experience that the HRC, despite the distance, wants to stay in touch with them. For the HRC it is important to have an intense and strong relation with these congregations.”
Maintaining ties with the Hungarian reformed diaspora communities is the HRC’s aim, and in cooperation with partner churches and seminaries, it continue to explore new ways of facilitating these relationships, such as encouraging scholarship students to serve these congregations. One example of this is the newly developed cooperation between the Debrecen Reformed Theological University and the Erasmus program where theological students will have an opportunity to complete their required practicum year in Germany.
As László Petró said, “(The congregation’s) enthusiasm is enviable, and because of this, despite the travel, you do not feel tired. Spiritually I get more in this country than I bring there.”
Amy Lester
photos: Gergely Márton Kis, László Petró