Glory to God Alone

The SDG Family Hotel and Conference Centre of RCH hosted the centenary celebration of the organisation, founded in 1921 at a meeting of theologians in Balatonkiliti. After the opening worship, participants celebrated with tree planting, cake, and informal fellowship and conversation. The programme was attended by senior SDG member (seniors are those who were members before 1949) Aunty Magda Vörös Károlyné gave a testimony of how God has worked in her life.

One of the SDG's popular programmes is the annual Compass pilgrimage. According to the organisation's president, Reformed pastor Viktor Katona, this year's event would have been combined with the Celebration, which would mean more people would have arrived on foot for the birthday, but unfortunately this idea was cancelled due to organisational problems.

The event was attended not only by members of the student movement that carries on the name, but also by other successor organisations of the original federation: the SDG Conference Centre, the University Chaplaincy and the Alliance of Reformed Youth (REFISZ), another youth organization within RCH.

According to Viktor Katona, they have not been able to meet much until now because of the pandemic, but in the past they had sixty to eighty people on a weekend, and thirty to forty people on pilgrimages. The main aim of the daily activities of the student movement is to help organise the faith life in Reformed secondary schools in cooperation with the school administration. They organise local groups of students so that they have a place to meet, talk and pray together every week.

Every six months, a workshop weekend is organised for group leaders and the most active members to develop their skills in programme organisation. They also have school mission days, where they are present in the hallways of educational institutions, where they can be met for informal conversations, organise afternoon activities for students or visit for Bible study. Every six months, they hold a weekend of silence: the Advent weekend is a time of retreat and spiritual growth, while the spring weekend is a more lively event with workshops. In the summer, they organise the pilgrimage mentioned above, and also participate in Star Point.

According to Viktor Katona, in addition to continuing these activities, in the future they would like to create an SDG-House - based on English models - in which eight to ten people would live there permanently, pray together, do the work related to the house, and on weekends they would receive twenty to thirty people, who would be given a retreat space. This would also open up to a new target group: families and spouses.

Soli Deo Gloria was founded in 1921 as “Soli Deo Gloria-Alliance of Reformed Students” and transformed after the end of Soviet dictatorship to “Soli Deo Gloria Reformed Student Movement” in 1994. The community focuses on bringing Reformed Christian youth together to be in community with Christ so they may be transformed. The organization has school groups called “ForLife” where they read from scripture and participate in service days. They also host national reunions and Bible study competitions. SDG also sends students to ecclesiastical events such as Starpoint Youth Festival. And Finally, SDG has the beautiful vision of the House to create a haven of peace, spiritual growth, and service to the community.