wfn.org | Hungarian Church Leaders Outline Challenges of New Era

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23-September-1998 
98310 
 
    Hungarian Church Leaders 
    Outline Challenges of New Era 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-When the Soviet Union collapsed and the Iron Curtain fell 
in 1989, the people of Central and Eastern Europe breathed the air of 
freedom for the first time in more than 40 years. 
 
    With that freedom came unprecedented opportunities - and daunting 
challenges - for the churches in former communist countries.  For the 
Reformed Church in Hungary, founded in 1567 and now comprising 21 percent 
of the country's population, much is expected.  The fledgling Hungarian 
government, struggling to learn the ways of democracy, has come to rely on 
the church for many health, welfare and educational services. 
 
    One constant for the Reformed Church in Hungary throughout its recent 
history has been the support of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  And so 
the recent visit by two leaders of the Hungarian Church - Bishop Gusztav 
Bolcskei and chief ecumenical officer Bertalan Tamas - was equal parts 
thanksgiving and a search for more help. 
 
    "Our relations with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is important, so 
this visit is important," Bolcskei told the Presbyterian News Service in a 
Sept. 15 interview.  "We have the possibility to build a new relationship 
since the changes [in 1989] and there are many challenges which we have 
never faced." 
 
    Bolcskei said Hungary is dealing with a multicultural society - borders 
that were once closed are now open and Hungarian minorities live in 
numerous surrounding countries.  In addition, the Hungarian economy, which 
is relatively strong compared to that of some its neighbors, is attracting 
workers from nearby countries. 
 
    In addition, the newly open society has given the church much greater 
visibility, though in an increasingly secular culture.  How to carve out a 
role for itself in a free society is a task the current generation of 
church leaders has not faced before.  There is no more persecution or 
oppression of the church in Hungary, but neither is there yet a clear-cut 
identity for a church that witnessed in the shadows of the Iron Curtain. 
 
    "The churches are expected to do a lot more," said Tamas.  "Hungarian 
church life was more traditional before, but now we need evangelization and 
social ministry.  We can learn from your experience." 
 
    "We cannot avoid these challenges," Bolcskei added.  Noting recent 
efforts by the church to develop ministry to disabled children, the 
elderly, drug addicts, the homeless and children of working parents, 
Bolcskei said, "These challenges all came up rapidly and simultaneously and 
the government just can't handle it all." 
 
    Unique church/government partnerships are developing, as well as 
cooperation between the Reformed Church in Hungary and the Roman Catholic 
Church.  "Some of these programs are partly financed by the state," Tamas 
explained.  "If the church takes over a function, we all agree that the 
state should help support it." 
 
    And despite their different historical approaches - the Roman Catholic 
Church appealed more to the "cultural elite" while the Reformed Church drew 
primarily from the working class - "there are now many common goals and 
elements to the ministry of our churches," said Bolsckei.  "So there is a 
cooperative relationship, which is a new and positive experience for us." 
 
    This new way of being the church in Hungary has taxed the church's 
educational system.  "We would like to preserve the old tradition of 
classical education," Tamas said, "but we must increase our training." 
Specialized ministry is becoming an increasing focus of theological 
training in Hungary's four seminaries.  "The big question," Bolcskei noted, 
"is how to guide candidates into the pastoral work for which they are best 
suited." 
 
    The church is also placing a higher priority on elder training, and in 
Debrecen, the religious "capital" of Hungary's Reformed Christians, "there 
is good cooperation between the Reformed College and the state university 
in such areas as teacher training and clinical pastoral education," Tamas 
said. 
 
    Both leaders expressed gratitude for the relationship between their 
church and the PC(USA).  "Your church maintained its relationship with us 
even during the difficult communist days and found ways to help," Bolcskei 
said.  "Now this is a new day - the church is more visible and questions 
and problems can be discussed openly and more cooperatively." 
 
    And though the issues are tough ones for the Reformed Church in Hungary 
and its partners such as the PC(USA), Bolcskei and Tamas remain, as always, 
indomitable.  "We've come to discuss where we go from here with all the 
political changes that have affected us," Bolcskei said, "but the end of 
all this is safely in the hands of God." 

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