Faith Church () is an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ...

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

and a

megachurch A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

. Its headquarters in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

has over 150,000 members.

History

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

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

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 people 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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 ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #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 c ...

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza (, ) 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 the Northern Great ...

and

Salgótarján Salgótarján (; , German: ''Schalgau'') is a city with county rights in Hungary, the capital of Nógrád County, north-eastern Hungary, making it the third least populous county capital. The nearby Salgó Castle is a well-known tourist attra ...

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. Prime Minister

Victor Orban The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

's son Gáspár Orbán converted in 2014 to the Faith Church is currently a minister, who claims to have heard from God and witnessed miraculous healings.

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 ( ) is a city with county rights in central Hungary. It is the List of cities and towns of Hungary, eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun County, Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the ca ...

. 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) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds: ...

. In a service on 16 November 2019, Németh 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
{{coord missing, Hungary Protestantism in Hungary Evangelicalism in Hungary Christian organizations established in 1979 Pentecostal denominations established in the 20th century Pentecostal denominations Evangelical megachurches in Hungary

History

Social programs and publications

Beliefs

See also

References

External links