Baptists in Hungary

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Baptist church (former Haban chapel ) in Neszmély
Baptist Church in Neszmély - Interior

Most of the Baptists in Hungary belong to the Magyarországi Baptista Egyház , the Hungarian Baptist Union .

history

The German Baptist movement founded by Johann Gerhard Oncken in Hamburg in 1834 was also the starting point for Hungarian Baptism, the history of which began in 1846. The Baptist missionary work experienced its real boom through the German biblical and treatise colporteur Heinrich Meyer , who came to Budapest in 1873. His evangelistic activity in Hungary lasted about 10 years. During that time he baptized 629 people.

The free church movement of the Baptists first spread among the ethnic German population of Hungary, but then also reached the Hungarians. In the period that followed, tensions arose between the two groups, which then initially gathered in two different Baptist unions. It was not until 1920 that the differences in questions of church leadership could be resolved; both unions merged to form the Hungarian Baptist Union.

As early as 1875, Hungarian Baptists evangelized among their compatriots in Transylvania , where they laid the foundation for the later union of Hungarian Baptists in Romania .

organization

The most important organ of the Baptists in Hungary is the delegates' conference of the congregation union. This conference meets once a year and decides on all important matters of the Hungarian Baptists. Among other things, the conference also elects a governing body that conducts federal affairs. Kornél Mészáros has been the Federal Secretary General since 2000 . The seat of the federal government, which also maintains its own diaconal aid organization, is in Budapest .

The Hungarian Baptist Union is part of the World Baptist Union and the European Baptist Federation .

Ecumenism

The Hungarian Baptists maintain close relationships with other churches. This expresses u. a. from their membership in the World Ecumenical Council of Churches and the Evangelical Alliance . There are also good connections to the other Protestant churches in Hungary, against the background of which the pastors receive joint theological training.

statistics

According to the Hungarian Baptist Union, there are around 12,000 baptized members in the country (excluding children and friends). However, considerably more Hungarians feel inwardly connected to the Baptists. In the most recent census, around 18,000 Hungarian citizens identified themselves as Baptists. This bond is also expressed in donations. The Hungarian legislature provides that one percent of all taxes already paid can be determined retrospectively for church purposes. In this way - according to the Baptist general secretary in 2006 - the tax revenues in the previous year had grown by 30 percent from 18 to 25 million forints (around 100,000 euros). All other churches, on the other hand, had to accept a loss of income.

The number of Baptist local churches has grown from 245 in 1999 to 330 in 2005. 16 congregations alone were founded in Transdanubia in recent years . A further 25 Baptist congregations have recently emerged within the Roma and Sinti ethnic groups .

literature

  • Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World. A comprehensive Handbook , USA 1995, ISBN 0-8054-1076-7 , pp. 261-263 ( Hungary )
  • Ian M. Randall: Communities of Conviction. Baptist Beginnings in Europe , Schwarzenfeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-937896-78-6 , pp. 137–146 ( Beginnings in Hungary, Transylvania, Serbia and Macedonia )

See also

Web links