We want to know who we can count on, and we want those who claim to be Reformed to know that they too can count on us - said Zoltán Balog, the pastor president of the Reformed Church of Hungary in an interview with Origo. The Reformed have also launched a campaign in the 2022 census so that as many people as possible declare their religious affiliation. The bishop believes that religion is not a private matter and is confident that more people will confess their faith than in the last census.

There is no "typical Reformed". As the motto of our census campaign says: we are diverse, but we are united by our Reformed Christian faith - said Reformed bishop Zoltán Balog in an interview with Origo.

Among other things, the paper asked the president of the clergy why the current census is important to the Hungarian Reformed Church.

The bishop said: we want to know who they can count on and they want those who claim to be Reformed to know that they can count on them.

He also talked about how we are not alone in the midst of any difficulties, because God is with us, and as he said, we are here for each other, we belong together and we can count on each other.

He added to his thoughts that the pastors should compare their own records and the results of the census, adding that we would like to strengthen their family visiting service, which can reveal who the "potential" reformed people are who are looking for a community.

We also involved "ordinary" people who are not known in public life in the campaign, those who have personal credibility in a certain profession, and thus can also appeal to those for whom their Reformed religion was less important before, said Zoltán Balog about the campaign.

The pastor's president expressed confidence that the decline in the number of Christians will stop, or at least the rate of decline will slow down, unlike in Western Europe, where, as he pointed out, the decline of Christians is rapid.

He recalled the last census in 2011, when the number of believers decreased for all churches. The bishop sees that the reason for this could be that, compared to 2001, almost two and a half times as many people did not answer the question of their religion.

Many are deceived by the false slogan that "religion is a private matter". However, religion is one of the most personal community matters. The church is the scene of our Christian culture

- stated Zoltán Balog, and then continued: he is confident that more people will confess their faith than in the last census.

In times of war, more people turn to God in the face of human evil

- believes Zoltán Balog, who also said: they see in their institutional system that the majority of service users are those who do not practice their religion. As he said, addressing them is both an opportunity and a responsibility. The church is not for itself, but for those who are not yet in the church. We have to invite them - stated the minister's president.

Zoltán Balog also reported that the bishops of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference, the Hungarian Reformed Church and the Hungarian Evangelical Church met recently and discussed important matters that transcend denominations.

Among them, common prayer for peace, calling war crimes by name, addressing our compatriots with God's message of joy, reaching out to the poor, and providing the young people entrusted with them with high-quality value-oriented education.

Our job is to bring spiritual help in addition to bread, and to stand by those in need, said the Reformed bishop.

Source and full article: Magyar Nemzet

Featured image: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák