Bringing Our Shared Dream Before God

Pastor Emese Varga is one of the driving forces behind the strategy working group. She derives her task directly from Jesus' commission. ‘The Great Commission has not lost its relevance. And what we experience among pastors and congregations is that everyone is trying to fulfil it in their own way, but it often seems that there is no connection between the different cells, whether people or institutions, and that there is no common vision,’ she explains. If you want to get somewhere, you need to know two things to find your way: where you are now and what your goal is. According to Emese Varga, purposeful action is important in every system, and with the mandate we have received from above, we have an even greater responsibility in this area.

Their investigation aims to cover the entire ministry and operation of the church, starting from the congregational level. Pastor Anett Tóth focuses primarily on the congregational level: “The latest census data show a dramatic decline in church affiliation, which can easily make us feel uncertain. It is true that the structures of the national church have been slowly disintegrating for decades, but they still have resources – intellectual, spiritual and community capital – that we can confidently build on. We can still seize this legacy and use it as a starting point to form living and witnessing communities with new vigour. Our goal is not to pit the national church against the confessing church, but to move forward by building on both: preserving the existing structures, but filling them with the Gospel. We see what has happened in other countries – for example, in the case of the Anglican Church – where churches have been emptied and it has taken a difficult and painful restart to breathe life back into the church structures. In our country, however, the national church still carries a kind of stability, which is why we do not view this heritage as a past to be discarded, but as an integral part of our identity which, if filled with the Gospel, can naturally lead us towards a living, professing Reformed faith. That is why we seek and support good practices, examples from congregations where the power of the Spirit of the Gospel is already pulsating behind the old forms. It is in this spirit that the current tour of the country is beginning: let us build together a church that preserves its past and courageously embraces its mission in the present.

Emese Varga emphasises that they do not draft their action plan in the comfort of their synod offices, but consciously draw on the practical experience of the congregations. “Ministers from all over the country are invited to share their experiences. We want a common goal – a vision – that our church can work towards together, through prayer and action. In short, we could describe it as follows: committed believers, based on personal decisions, use the individual and communal strength of their living congregations to support other congregations and plant new ones. In the first round, we are involving our deans and bishops. It is a joy to see those brothers and sisters to whom we cannot say anything new about the mission church because they have been serving with this spirit for years. We want to learn from them how to do it. We are taking our model from the field: from congregations operating within the framework of a vibrant national church, where we find members who serve guided by their own decision and do not attend out of habit,” says Emese Varga, outlining the essence of the plan.

Since they themselves have been experienced in the field, i.e. in congregational ministry, they know the power that lies in community cooperation. In addition to discovering the different opportunities and best practices in different parts of the country, it is therefore important for them to organise a network of people serving in similar situations. “Travelling around the country is an opportunity to connect communities that are geographically distant from each other but function in the same way, because they may be lonely in their own environment. And how good it is to be strengthened by the awareness that we are not alone! This allows dialogue between members and ministers in scattered congregations, urban or rural parishes, or those who maintain institutions that have already found proven ways to fill this role with spiritual content. Those who are new to the ministry can seek out these circles and draw on their experience”, continues Anett Tóth.

Of course, ministers cannot only learn from each other. Recently, several new training opportunities have emerged, such as ‘Acorn’ and ‘City to City’, but these sound unfamiliar and even confusing to many. Many church members and ministers have limited time and background knowledge to investigate where these initiatives come from and how they can be reconciled with our Reformed tradition. This is why Anett considers it important to carry out this preliminary investigation for the benefit of the congregations. “We examine the various missionary and evangelistic approaches on the basis of Scripture and help people to navigate among them. Many people are uncertain and do not see how these options differ, and we help them to make more courageous decisions about which methods to choose,” she explains, adding that the mapping of training opportunities is done across denominational and national boundaries, the only criterion being whether the method in question is consistent with our Reformed faith. “Since pastors today have to perform a wide range of tasks – managing construction projects, infrastructure, and systems, and acting as employers in institutions – we cannot rely solely on our church’s training programmes. However, we first assess the relevance of each option in our spiritual and cultural context,” she emphasises.

She also confirmed that they are not only thinking about pastors, because when they talk to church leaders or mission co-workers, the most frequently asked question is where the resources will come from. “In such cases, we must not only think about material resources, although the missionary approach does involve financial sacrifices, as initiatives that are not yet self-sustaining must be supported. Similarly, in revitalisation processes, there are times when external assistance is temporarily necessary. But the more important question is: where will we find the people to make this happen? We do not believe that the apparatus of the church strategy working group needs to be expanded; we see the resources in those who serve in their own places. These are not only the elected or appointed pastors, but also our lay people. They are the members of the congregation who consider the church their home, the elders who have taken on service in the spirit of their vows, elderly women, but also young men who, in addition to their eight-hour workday, devote time to their congregation—many of them several hours a week—to build it up. They too need their faith to be grounded in sound theological knowledge and to receive inspiration from outside the congregation. That is why it is important to offer them training that helps them find inner peace or strengthen their commitment to service. We see good examples of this. If we look at them as our primary resource, we are filled not with concern but with hope!”

Anett Tóth also confirms that they do not want to build from a hierarchical perspective, because, in the words of László Ravasz - former bishop of the Dunabian church district forced from his position in 1948 when the Communist government - the church lives in its congregations. They are looking for parishes that have real resources, whether in their pastors or lay ministers. In her experience, many leaders isolate themselves and try to solve problems only within their own circles, as if building walls around themselves. This struggle is often difficult and lonely. Yet these communities and ministers have values that could enrich not only their own congregations but the entire Church. There are also experienced pastors who do not seek office but still have the strength to serve – and who would gain new momentum if they could connect with colleagues in similar situations. Strategies and action plans can be developed authentically from such encounters, dialogues and shared experiences. This is also the idea of László Ravasz: from local congregations all the way up to the Synod.

The first step is to establish contact with bishops, deans, missionaries and congregations that could be partners in planning and work, and with whom support systems could be built. At the same time, the two pastors are under no illusions that they will be met with unbridled optimism everywhere. “We have to win people over to the cause, because our church world is particularly distrustful at the moment. We would like to open up these circles. We need to restore the dignity of parish pastors. There are no good or bad congregations, whether small or large. Wherever we reach people, our goal is to proclaim the Gospel. I see that the church works well where the pastor has a Christ-like spirit and proclaims the gospel. In such places, renewal will come sooner or later. Where people dare to dream big and believe that we can still be strong. From my own experience, the faith and vision of a retired caretaker confined to his bed were enough to bring about the return of a pastor to a congregation that had been doomed to decline, and the community began to grow again, says Anett Tóth.

Emese Varga says that dreams are important, but perhaps even more so are the desires and requests that we bring before God together: "We also draw a lot from international relationships. Ric Thorpe, an Anglican missionary bishop, for example, said that our goals must be bigger than ourselves. So big that we must involve God in them, so that we do not even accidentally try to achieve them on our own. Our stagnation is rooted in our human desire to hold on to what we have, even though the Lord can give us more. Why do we consider the vision of a growing church to be naive when Christ's many parables show us that the kingdom of God is alive, growing, fruitful and capable of multiplying?

The author uses an example: despite its cyclical nature – in which it loses and then sprouts new leaves, blooms and bears fruit – a tree is actually constantly growing. Both upwards and downwards – by this he means that without theological foundations and faith, it is not possible to bear fruit. Anett Tóth, on the other hand, noticed the determination of the searcher in the story of the lost drachma and asks the question: can we carry out our mission with such passion?

Reporting on their experiences during their visits so far, they say that the deans and bishops carry a heavy burden, yet they speak with great love about their congregations, pastors and the mission. At the same time, it is clear that the fate of small congregations often determines their vision for the future, and the infrastructure of weakening, dysfunctional villages places an extraordinary burden on them. “In many places, pastors have said that with daily burdens such as religious education, administration, infrastructure issues and the intensity of services, spirituality, mission, evangelical spirit and operation are pushed into the background. Yet this is what all our services should be rooted in. This is not what it should point to, but rather what it should spring from," says Emese Varga.

Emese Varga also finds it difficult to look to the future when there are so many current problems. “I could give the example that people don't usually think about their holidays and book plane tickets when they are lying in a sick bed. Anyone who takes the situation of our church seriously finds this burdensome. At times like this, a hopeful vision can easily seem unrealistic. We have to deal with the present situation, heal communities, pastors, and servants, and see what motivates us to get out of bed... What gives us the enthusiasm that we have a task: to seek out and gather the lost into community and to show the kingdom of God. This is the common cause of all baptised people,” says Emese. She believes that even in a family, when there is a lot to do, everyone just does what is necessary day after day and there is no time to stop and think about what will happen next week, because people only see as far as tomorrow. "We are grateful that we have the opportunity and time not only to fight fires, but also to think together with the servants of the congregations. The burden remains theirs, but we support and help with what they have little time for. And if the order of importance changes, that also helps the pastor. It is not the spiritual side of the work that tires them, but rather the administration, overwork and lack of feedback. They are burdened by tasks that they have to perform even if they do not have the talent for them. If someone has the right priorities, it nourishes them!

Although networking is still in progress, sub-units eager to get involved are already gathering under the umbrella of the mission service and, within that, the church strategy working group: such as worship and contemporary church music, parish diagnostics and crisis management, or the family-like congregation working group. They do not work according to a top-down approach, but assess the current situation and desired goals themselves and break down the path to achieving them into steps, tools and methods. “We see people,” says Emese Varga, “who want to do more than just serve their own congregations: they want to help other parishes or even plant new ones. How wonderful it is when, for example, four pastors who are in the process of planting a new church get together and strengthen each other! I believe that they will develop a shared vision that can be passed on to others in similar situations, and that we can promote: look, this is a model for starting a new community or revitalising an old one,” says the mission worker. At the same time, she believes it is important to learn not only from positive stories. That is why it is worthwhile to share and analyse with each other those projects and endeavours that have not been crowned with success. Trust between us still needs to be built in order to discuss these, but perhaps our common goal will overcome any discomfort and perceived personal shame. ‘The reason we keep our distance is that we find it difficult to admit our vulnerability and our wounds. We want to create an atmosphere in which these can be acknowledged, and where purposefulness and mutual support drive us forward,’ she says.

Anett Tóth recalls the image that has become the motto of the mission: we do not manufacture ventilators, but fitness machines. In other words, they do not act on behalf of anyone, but want to be there to support them until they become stronger. “We are not building infrastructure or apparatus, but relying on existing values. We use dogmatic principles and the results of sociological research, we want to learn from our church history, and together with the identity working group, we seek answers to what it means to be Reformed today. We hope that by finding our valuable resources, we will be able to organise our communities into a supportive network.”

Anett sums up their work by asking an important question: can we believe that, despite the current negative trends in church statistics, we will see growth by 2035? If so, let us pray for this hope and vision for the future! And if we cannot yet believe it, let us beg for our hearts to be opened to God's renewing power. If we are strengthened in prayer, then all we have to do is think through with faith and take the steps that the Lord asks of us every day on this path.