The Hungarian Reformed Church

The Hungarian Reformed Church was founded in the 16th century.

The teachings of Luther and Melanchthon were most influential in the German burgher colonies in the north of Hungary, while the Hungarian-speaking people supported the teachings of the Swiss reformation, especially those of Calvin.

Several notable Hungarian reformers were responsible for the organisation and growth of the Church. Foremost among them were Gal Huszar a travelling printer and preacher, Stephen Kis of Szeged, a theologian and Peter Melius, pastor of Debrecen. It was due to the exertions of Melius that the Hungarian Reformed Church became a separate entity in doctrine and organisation. It adopted the Second Helvetic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism as standards of doctrine and religious education.
The form of worship and church government, however, did not closely follow the Genevan model.
Worship retained elements characteristic of the Roman Catholic Church, such as antiphons and passion songs.
The form of Church government was similar to the Lutheran church. Superintendents, who were called bishops from earliest times governed geographical areas. Local congregations were governed by the ministers together with landlords in the villages and magistrates in the towns.
It was not till the 17th century that elders and presbyters after the Genevan model were instituted.
The Calvinist princes of Hungary founded many schools and supported and built local churches in the 17th century.
In the 18th century the participation of laymen in church government on an equal footing with clergy become established.
In 1881 a national synod and Church came into being and lasted for 40 years until the Trianon peace treaty broke up the Hungarian empire.

At present the Hungarian Reformed Church is the main link that EEFC works with in the organisation of English language summer camps.

The Reformed Church of Sub-Carpathian Ukraine in the 1990s
by László Horkay

A new period in the life of the Reformed Church of Sub-Carpathian Ukraine began in the year 1990. Communist rule collapsed without the touch of a hand. The forty-five years of “Babylonian” captivity were the judgement of God upon us, and we were set free by the mercy of God. “O Lord, God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.” (Ezra 9:15)

Since 1990, in principle, everything was allowed that until then had been banned – with the threat of imprisonment – by the Soviet State. First of all we reopened the locked churches and renovated them. Our manses, schools, Church libraries and four Church printing presses had all been confiscated after the Second World War. They gave back only those manses that were uninhabitable. Still today thirty-nine former Church buildings remain in State-ownership despite the promise, given ten years ago, that these will be returned to the Church.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union caused the population great financial damage. The value of savings, gathered through many years of heavy toil, was wiped out from one day to the next. The rouble, the Soviet currency, became worthless. In 1991 Ukraine separated from Russia, which resulted in further economic collapse. Co-operatives, already in the red, went bankrupt due to the severing of economic ties and the lack of raw materials. The bulk of ethnic Hungarians, who until then had worked in the kolkhozes for starvation-wages, became unemployed . In this grave situation, in our great sorrow, we would have had reason “to hang up our lyres on the willows”.

But in this situation God’s maintaining power became visible. The past ten years were like the time of the prophet Nehemiah. Therefore we should talk not about the difficulties but rather about our gratefulness for the mighty deeds and wonders of God, who after so much misery remembered us and revived us.

Schools

Church and school belong together. Where they are separated, the children are separated from Jesus. In 1993 the Reformed High School of Nagybereg opened its gates with twenty-one students. In 1995 two other Reformed High Schools were established: one in Nagydobrony and the other in Tivadarfalva. Currently the three High Schools have 231 students altogether.

In Nagydobrony an elementary school with twenty-two students was opened in September 1999. Two other schools for gypsy children are under construction in Szernye and Nagydobrony. Hungarians live as a minority in 165 settlements, where there is not even elementary school education in Hungarian. We would like to establish Church schools in these “diaspora” communities, since Ukrainian law permits the opening of private schools if there are at least five children. The problem is only that such schools do not receive financial assistance from the State. In the High Schools only the teachers who teach specialized subjects receive a salary from the State; all the other expenses of the school are paid by the Church.
Church-run kindergartens exist in Szolyva, Búlcsú, Kigyós and Beregszász.

Mission

The Word of God cannot be shackled. All Christians can be missionaries in their families, at their workplaces and in society. Even during the most severe persecution of the Church, Bibles reached us through the “iron curtain”. God opened a wide gate for mission when religious literature could cross the border into our country without restriction. In 1992, in just one year, we received 49,000 Ukrainian and Russian Bibles from the Netherlands and from Scotland. With these we launched a literature-mission, through which we sent thousands of parcels throughout the former Soviet Union. It is difficult to continue the sending of such parcels, because the mailing-fees went up considerably. In 1999 we delivered 12,000 Ukrainian Bibles to Odessa using two trucks.

By the grace of God we started a three-year missionary training program in Tivadarfalva in October 1994. From there so far thirteen students have entered the harvest fields. Two are working in Kiev, one in Stepan, and the rest serve in hospital ministry, in youth work and among the gypsies. Five congregations have been formed among the Hungarian-speaking gypsies. New congregations were formed amongst those living in the diaspora. In 1990 we had eighty-one congregations and today we have one hundred registered ones. “So neither he who plants, nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Cor. 3:7)

In 1991, when we realized that the Soviet Union had eighteen hospitals for lepers, we launched the Leprosy Mission. The biggest is the Leprosy Research Institute centered in Astrakhan, and we immediately established a link with it. Together with the Leprosy Mission in Hungary, we sent lots of aid to these hospitals. Since Ukraine became separated we have primarily helped the Leprosy Hospital in Kuchurgan with food, clothes and money. The Leprosy Mission in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine is centred in Szürte.
The Alcoholics Anonymous mission (the Blue Cross) is active in Csongor, and is greatly blessed. Many of these addicts are freed from the bondage of alcohol during the ten-day courses that offer pastoral care and healing. The average attendance at such a course is 100 people.

Youth-work

In the area of religious education we have to overcome an interval of forty-five years. This is why, first of all, we have to provide well-trained teachers of religion. In 1990 forty-eight students applied for a three-year religious teachers’ course, and in the following year forty-five applied. In addition the students graduating from the Reformed High Schools also take an exam in religious education; those who pass receive a certificate. Today there are qualified teachers of religion working in each and every congregation. In our region 9,000 children attend religious education classes run by the Reformed Church.

Every summer we organize youth camps in each of the three Church districts. During one week of evangelization many youngsters receive living faith and, after returning home, they become active members in the local congregations.

In thirty congregations “Good News Clubs”, led by young couples and by teachers of religion, have been formed. We hold one-day retreats for young people on a regular basis, where young ministers proclaim the Word of God. At Ungvár and Szolyva we organize worship services for Ukrainian young people as well.
Diaconal Institutions

The Good Samaritan Reformed Home for Handicapped Children of Nagydobrony was established in 1995. At present fifty-nine abandoned, orphaned and physically and mentally handicapped girls live in the Home.

The Reformed Children’s Home of Munkács was formed in 1997. At present eighteen children live in the Home. Our aim is to provide a Christian family-style home for the children who live in a hopeless social situation, who are lost or orphaned.

The Diaconal Centre of the Reformed Church of Sub-Carpathian Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 with the purpose of helping those living in difficult situation, such as the poor, the needy, widows and orphans. There is a charity kitchen that feeds some 200 people every day with a hot meal. During the devastating flood in November 1998 help from abroad reached the victims via this centre. The work of rebuilding was also organized and directed from here.

Construction

He who looks at the wind will never sow. If we had looked only at the obstacles and the financial difficulties, we would never have ventured to construct even a barn. But when we planned to build a tower, we based our calculations on the endless riches of Almighty God. There was a tiny diaspora congregation that only had enough money for two truck loads of stones; but in 1991 they laid the foundation stone for the church they wanted to build; and the church was completed by 1995. The Nagydobrony gypsy church was constructed in two months using the ruins of the old manse. On the balcony of the Reformed church at Nagydobrony we found an inscription about the old wooden church: “It was constructed in 1775 during the time of the faithful preacher Reverend Gábor Sima Turóczi, in the Fall, in the cold month of All Saints - a needy year which was stricken with many troubles.”

In the past ten years, in needy years stricken by many troubles, twelve new churches and twenty-four manses have been built. Currently six manses and two churches are under construction. One of the churches is at Bakta, the other at the gypsy congregation in Munkács. We would like to complete them by the Fourth World Assembly of the Reformed Hungarians in July 2000.

With the help of the Dunamellék (Danubian) Reformed Church District in Hungary, a water plant was established in the flood-stricken village of Mezővári, which will provide clean drinking water to the part of the community beyond the River Borzsa.

Media

We have only one regular publication, Küldetés [“Mission”], which appears quarterly. Young ministers jointly edit it. Our paramount problems are the lack of paper and the cost of printing. This is why we are trying to establish our own printing facility. God willing we will set up such a printing facility this year in Beregszász, for our own purposes, with the help of Dutch aid.

Church Music

The Synod of the Reformed Church of Sub-Carpathian Ukraine decided on the use of the Hungarian Reformed Hymnbook in every congregation from 1 January 1998. We received 400 hymnbooks from Hungary; Stichting Hulp Oost Europa of the Netherlands printed 5,000 copies; in Ungvár [Uzhgorod] in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine, we printed 20,000 copies from our own resources; and with the help of the Ministry of National Cultural Heritage in Hungary, we printed 800 hymnbooks in Kolozsvár [Cluj-Napoca] in Transylvania, Romania. There is still a great demand for the new hymnbooks. Therefore it seems more expedient if in the future we will print them at our own printing facility in Beregszász, in order to provide for a continuous supply.

In 1999, the training of Church-organists commenced in Beregszász where 20 students trained amidst great difficulties. We would like to create the position of “organist and teacher”; those working in this position, as well as teaching music, would be teachers of religion, youth-leaders and public instructors. We have choirs in seventeen congregations and in the three High Schools. Our aim is to make known to the congregations the authentic Reformed treasure that we have in hymns, and to educate people in the for rhythmic-singing of the Geneva Psalms. Two choir festivals have been held in Mezővári and Beregszász.

The Structure of Our Church

Before 1990 the Church operated under the direction of the State-approved Bishop alone. Instead of by the elders in the session, the minister was supervised by the so-called “Council of Twenty”, appointed by the chairman of the local council, as if the minister was simply an employee. Informers were planted in every “Council of Twenty”. The minister wasn’t allowed a say in anything – his task was to preach in church.

Since Ukraine’s separation, the Constitution has ensured the independence of the Church, and currently the State does not interfere in their internal matters. In 1991 free elections were held within the Reformed Church of Sub-Carpathian Ukraine. Church government, based on the principle of the Synod and the elders or session, was restored. Three Church districts [egyházmegye] began operating with a senior pastor [esperes] at their head; and at the head of the Church, the Bishop and the Council of the Synod, which has twenty members elected on the principle of parity, half from the ministers and half from the laity. A new statute-book had to be created for our Church, and committees and departments had to be organized. The elders had to be newly elected, and they were installed in office after they gave their vows.

First of all it was necessary to destroy, lay waste and weed; then to clear away the rubble; and then we could make a start on building and planting. The work is not yet complete; this is just a little beginning. But we are sure that he who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Our labour in the Lord is not in vain.

Before the Second World War there were 104 ministers and teachers of religion in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine. By 1974 there were only twenty who were alive and who worked: many of them having become invalids and old; and others of them as survivors of the Siberian prisons. From 1974 the authorities allowed us to accept two candidates every two years to be student ministers (studying privately) to replace ministers who had passed away. Thus a Correspondence School was launched in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine in Beregszász, where a number of ministers trained who are still serving today. This was enough to ensure survival, to ensure that the chain was not broken and that the churches did not become empty. In 1990 we were still only twenty-four in number. Then from 1991 the opportunity arose to train in Theological Seminaries in our mother country, and later in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca, in Transylvania) and in Komárom (Komarno, in Slovakia). Now, including assistant ministers, we are already forty-nine – and forty-six students are studying theology abroad. For this may the name of the Lord be praised.

Our Plans and our Aims
Our greatest need is for spiritual renewal, because the Church is strong when it has faith in the living, resurrected Christ. The purity of families is also needed, as is the ethical re-birth of the young people. We are preparing for the Fourth World Assembly of the World Alliance of Reformed Hungarians, and we desire closer links with Reformed Hungarians scattered around the world. We would like to train preaching elders [lay preachers], so that if a new time of persecution should come, we will not be found unprepared. We would like to further develop the Church library and archives, both of which were founded in 1999 – we ask for the support of our sister Churches in this. The care of the Reformed Hungarians living in diaspora situations is a sore point for us, as we do not have workers whom we can send. There is no one to gather together the Hungarians living scattered across the former Soviet Union. Finally it is necessary for the Bishop to have a flat beside the Synod office in Beregszász, in order to ensure the untroubled operation of the Bishop’s Office.
We believe that our God will do everything by His power, if we ask for it by faith. May all the glory be His, for ever and ever. Amen.

László Horkay, Bishop, Beregszász