Faith Church (Hit Gyülekezete) is an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...

and a

megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. The headquarters of

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

has over 150,000 members.

History

Faith Church was founded in 1979 by a group of seven Hungarian believers, led by Pastor , who leads the church until today. The independent Pentecostal-Charismatic church could conduct its worship services only illegally during the years of the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

regime. Its activities and leaders were monitored by the Communist secret service. By 1989, membership reached 2,000 people. In 1989, the Hungarian State declared Faith Church a recognized denomination based on the 1895 XLIII Act. In 2008, Faith Church in

had 30,000 faithful in its 5,000-seat building. In 2016, the Church has 70,000 believers regularly attend worship services across Hungary. The weekly Sunday service of the Church is regularly broadcast on live television. There are about three hundred local church branches of ''Faith Church'' functioning all around the country and beyond the borders of Hungary. All neighboring countries,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the U.S. have local Faith Churches as well. The majority of local churches hold worship services on privately owned property. Local churches in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza (, sk, Níreďháza) is a city with county rights in northeastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. With a population of 118,001, it is the seventh-largest city in Hungary and the second largest in t ...

and

Salgótarján Salgótarján (; sk, Šalgotarján) is city with county rights in Hungary, the capital of Nógrád county, north-eastern Hungary, making it the third smallest county capital based on population. The nearby Salgó castle is a well-known tourist ...

are also housed in buildings that can accommodate more than a thousand people. Based on the 1% tax designation to churches, Faith Church is the fourth most supported church in Hungary. However, according to the last census in Hungary Faith Church was not among the four biggest churches. It kept its official church status after the Orbán government's 2011 reduction of the number of churches.

Social programs and publications

The Faith and Morals Cultural Foundation performs social services, provides aid to families, cares for the elderly and also pursues teaching, training, information distribution and cultural services. Faith Church maintains elementary schools in

and

and a kindergarten in

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( , sk, Kečkemét) is a city with county rights central part Hungary. It is the eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's third ...

. The state-accredited theological college, Saint Paul’s Academy, functions in Budapest. The Church has published a weekly news magazine, '' Hetek'', since 1997.

Beliefs

The denomination has a

confession of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

. On the 16th of November, 2019, the head of the church, Sándor Németh, on a service described yoga as "a physical exercise of demon worship."

References

External links

* *
CBN: Pastor Moves on Atheistic Hungary

Charisma Magazine: Breakthrough in Budapest

Faith Church TV Presentation
{{Authority control Protestantism in Hungary Evangelicalism in Hungary Christian organizations established in 1979 Christian denominations established in the 20th century Pentecostal denominations Evangelical megachurches in Hungary

History

Social programs and publications

Beliefs

See also

References

External links