Baptist Union of Hungary

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

History

The 1834 founded by Johann Gerhard Oncken in Hamburg German Baptist movement was also the starting point of the Hungarian Baptist, whose history began in 1846. Your actual upturn experienced the Baptist missionary work by the German Bible and Traktatkolporteur Heinrich Meyer, who came to Budapest in 1873. His evangelistic activities in Hungary lasted for about 10 years. During this time he baptized 629 people.

The Free Church movement of the Baptists spread first among the German -born population from Hungary but then reached the Hungarians. In the following years there were tensions between the two groups, which then first gathered in two different Baptist unions. Not until 1920 were the differences in matters of church government be remedied; both societies joined together to Hungarian Baptist Union.

Already in 1875 evangelized Hungarian Baptists among their countrymen in Transylvania and laid there the foundations for the later Confederation of Hungarian Baptists in Romania.

Organization

The most important organ of the Baptists in Hungary is the delegates' conference of the Association of Municipalities. Once a year, this conference shall meet and decide on all important matters of Hungarian Baptists. Among other things, the conference also elects a governing body that conducts the business of the Federation. Secretary-General of the Federation since 2000 Kornel Mészáros. The seat of the federal government, also maintains its own diaconal relief organization, located in Budapest.

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

Ecumenism

The Hungarian Baptists maintain relations with other churches. This expresses itself, among others in her membership in the ecumenical World Council of Churches and the Evangelical Alliance. There are also the other Protestant churches of Hungary good connections, the background against which also takes the common theological training of pastors.

Statistics

According to the Hungarian Baptist Union there are in the country around 12,000 baptized members (excluding children and friends ). However, significantly more Hungarians feel the Baptists internally connected. Thus, about 18,000 Hungarian citizens have called Baptists at the most recent census. This bond is also reflected in the amount of donations. The Hungarian legislation provides that one percent of all taxes already paid in arrears may be intended for religious purposes. In this way were - so, the Baptist General Secretary 2006 - the tax revenues in previously grown by 30 per cent from 18 to 25 million forints ( about 100,000 Euros ). All other churches have, however, suffered revenue losses.

The number of Baptist congregations has grown from 245 in 1999 to 330 in 2005. Only 16 municipalities have been founded in recent years in Transdanubia. Within the ethnic groups of the Roma and Sinti emerged in the recent past another 25 Baptist congregations.