Reconciliation Leads to Mass Ordination Service in Hungary

By: Victor Hulbert, Trans European Division News

Two mass ordination services on Saturday (Sabbath), October 27, 2018, will see a further step in the reunification of two branches of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Hungary. The two groups divided more than 40 years ago, principally over issues of government control during the then communist regime.

In recent years the two groups, the official Seventh-day Adventist Church and the KERAK group, have spent considerable time actively listening to each other, seeking forgiveness for past mistakes, and building understanding. In 2015 they signed a joint declaration following a series of consultations that began in 2011. Leaders then traveled together to the 2015 General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas.

To discover the background to the two ordination services that will take place on the same day in the two conferences that make up the Hungarian Union, Natasha Pujols traveled to Hungary to meet with leaders of the two church groups, and to understand the process of how they have come back together.

Trans-European Division president Raafat Kamal will travel to Hungary to join in the two special services. The process toward reconciliation started long before he became president, and Kamal acknowledged the contribution of a variety of leaders in the process. “I am delighted to join with the Hungarian pastors in this significant and symbolic step,” he said.

An original story was posted on the Trans-European Division website.