According to statistics, there is a diminishing amount of young people involved in the church. The Synod Youth Forum has expressed its intentions to contest this fact. The Forum was held 19-20 April with more than 40 young participants.
József Csomós Jr., youth rapporteur at the Forum, spoke about the negative statistical data regarding the number of young people. He pointed out that the church is in the same position as the lover from the fifth chapter of the Song of Songs who did not open her door in time. He defined the most significant task of the Forum; that young people, who have changed and given their life to Jesus, must think about what comes next for the church, because the church's future is the same as their future; they are church's future – they are gradually building it together. However he said, to do this young people have to be able to use God's word and must learn to work as a community.
During the Forum, some members were seeing the Synod Office of the Reformed Church in Hungary for the first time. Daniel Püski talked about the fear of an unknown place during the devotion on Saturday morning, quoting the story of Moses and the burning bush. As he said, God called them to their task just like Mose, and there should always be a little fear, but it needs to be a good fear – not something to stop you, but something that keeps you interested – and now their role as young people is to go and act in the church.
According to Eszter Dani the Director of the RCH Mission Department, youth and mission are the same things. Mission means being a signal and delegate in the church of personal and shared renewal, said Dani, and youth play a significant role, because they are sensitive to the truth and open to admission.
On Saturday the youth members formulated statements connected to Reformed identity, trends of devotion and religious authenticity. First, they asked, is it necessary to have a unique Reformed character? If the answer is yes, then the Forum said we must translate the old confessions into modern language. Secondly, according to the members of the forum, it is essential that people with different ideas are cooperating with each other within biblical frameworks concerning devotion trends, and finally, being authentic is nothing but admitting weaknesses, being tolerant, open to dialogue and striving for perfection.
The topics discussed throughout the Forum show that it is growing and gradually changing into a true Synod itself by attempting to answer important questions, such as: How can the church keep its young people?
Translated and condensed by Csilla Kuzma