Dear Friends,

We celebrated the year 2013 in our Church as the “Year of Confessing.” For us, this year was more than a simple opportunity to commemorate the 450^th anniversary of one of our founding documents, the Heidelberg Catechism. Instead, it was a time to recall our basic gift and task as Christians, to communicate the Gospel in fresh ways and prepare, as it says in 1 Peter 3, to give an answer to all those who question the hope we have.

Looking back on the last year, I’m inclined to say that in a broader sense, we were challenged with communication in and outside the Reformed Church in Hungary. The Church Revision Committee began an expansive dialogue with congregations, confronting their ideas of mission and visions for the future. This then formed into a mission statement submitted to Synod that challenged the current identity of the Church, saying among other things that the organization of the Church “must be a tool and medium of the communication of the Gospel creating values, identity and community.”

Indeed, in our partnerships around the word, our paid and received visits, and even in our cooperation with ecumenical organizations, communication has played an important role. This is explained in more detail in the Annual Report, but let me just highlight one example. For the first time in our life, we were able to contribute to the German Church Days (Kirchentag) with our own booth. We were able to invite visitors to participate in (self-) critical discussions concerning the role of Churches in today’s Europe and destabilizing social and political tensions we face together. This thought provoking message is one we tried to carry with us and share throughout Kirchentag.

“It is our conviction that in an ever diverging Europe the responsibility of Churches, especially the communion of Protestant churches, in creating space for mutual, critical conversation and a promotion of exchange among equals is essential…Otherwise, the so often boasted ‘diversity’ coupled with the financial and economic crisis will turn into a ‘tension test’ for the old continent, and instead of solidarity, frustration and distrust will increase where unity in diversity should prevail – in Europe.”

Our motive for re-energized dialogue and exchange is best captured in the motto we adopted as our own some years ago: Ambassadors for Christ. The fact is, we see ourselves, and hope to be seen by the world as well, as ambassadors for our Lord. That is, we place not ourselves but Him in the focus and wish to communicate to the world His message as faithfully as possible – in words and deeds, through preaching and acting out of the liberating truth which God has shared with us in Christ.

And as I close, allow me a personal note. This is the last report I will have to opportunity to offer my words of greetings. In my 18 years of service as bishop and head of the RCH, I have learned that without this mutual, sometimes sobering, sometimes encouraging, but nevertheless challenging and directing communication with you, I would not have been able to fulfill my God given ministry as I have.

I’d like to close with the words of a well-known Hungarian author, Peter Esterhazy, “it is bloody difficult to even lie without knowing the truth…” to which Eberhard Jüngel, my master for life, added that “to accuse other with inaccuracy, failure or even lies, is easier the less we now of truth.” Over the years I have learned that we cannot possess the entirety of truth, but let this serve as a moment of truth in the communication of cultures.

And as a first step, I invite you to make a journey with us through the life of the Reformed Church in Hungary highlighting some moments of our mission and service in 2013. Read our Annual Report as a look into our life that might inspire you to visit, again and again, our English website, developed to serve as our continuous communication with you.

Trusting that in the future too our common pilgrimage for truth and freedom will continue,

Gusztáv Bölcskei

Presiding Bishop of the RCH