"We Do Not Have Subordinates or Supporters, but Our People"

“The story of Moses drawing water from the rock and the parched people is our story,” said Zoltán Balog, Reformed Bishop of Danubian Church District, Ministerial President of the Synod and Acting President of the General Convent, in his sermon based on the fourth book of Moses (Num 20:8b). He said that although this story seems distant in time, situation, culture and way of life, we read it because we want it to be our story, to be the wonderful pile of promises that God offers us. “We are not just reading a book, but we are looking for the living Word, the reality into which we can enter," the bishop added. He stressed that we read together so that God's living Word may bind us, Reformed Christian Hungarians, together every day.

"For us, the profession of faith is our most personal matter, but not a private one,” said Zoltán Balog, stressing that we do not want to be on good terms with God separately, but we want Him to lead us together, as He led Israel in the past; we thirst, like the chosen people in the wilderness.“The spiritual leaders, the pastors, thirst together with the people; they do not present God with separate needs, but they present the deficiencies of the community," said the Synod's Ministerial President, adding that they also have the task of drawing water from the rock for the people. “We are not our subordinates, we are not even our followers, we are our people," said Zoltán Balog. "We, the General Convent, are not simply standing beside you, we are you, you are us," he stressed to the Reformed people of Serbia. And to László Harangozó, he stressed that he was sent by the same God as Moses, and that he was promised the same thing to be with him.

“You will have to find out for yourselves where the rock is here in Serbia, from which water can be drawn, but you can be sure that there is water in it,” added the Acting President of the General Convent. "Because it is not in God's interest that anyone in Serbia, in the Carpathian Basin, in Europe, or anywhere else in the world should die of thirst," he added. “For us, Moses, the water sprinkler, is more than a leader, more than a role model: the whole Hungarian people can recognise his destiny in the history of the chosen people. We are one of God's chosen people, there can be no greater honour than this, and the world opens up to us,” said Zoltán Balog, and then pointed out to László Harangozó that he will not simply be the leader of a small national group or a denomination, but the ambassador of Jesus Christ. Turning to László Harangozó, he said, “Give him who is yours, the centre of your life, your strength, your salvation, your saviour, give Jesus Christ, and then the gates of hell will not prevail against us!”

After László Harangozó took the oath that he would do his best to serve the glory of God, and the good of the Church, the bishops of the General Convent and the Serbian pastors blessed the new Church leader.

László Harangozó preached his episcopal sermon based on Romans 8:28: “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” The bishop said, “This verse is easy to live when we are successful, when we find our partner, when our children are running around, but harder to live when we face struggles." Bishop Harangozó continued, “At such times, we often ask ourselves how God can love me and how I can love him when I am standing next to the coffin of my child, when I am ill, when I am unsuccessful, when I feel abandoned?At such times, the question may arise whether there is any point in believing at all, whether there is a future for faith, for Christianity in this Europe, in this world, where they abandon what is valuable,” the bishop said, continuing on with his answer, “He created us, He shaped us, and He is still shaping us, but sometimes it is a struggle, sometimes we have to go through abysses. But He carries us."

The new Reformed bishop exhorted the Hungarian nation to remember this even when God sometimes places difficulties before us. According to László Harangozó, we are called to be bearers of Christ in this world, and we must embrace this, so that God may shape us to be capable of this.

Bishop Béla Kató of Transylvania opened the greetings, stressing that the Hungarian Reformed bishops of the Carpathian Basin were all present at the event, expressing the unity of the Reformed Church and the fact that wherever a Hungarian Reformed person lives in the world, he is counted.

Béla Kató believed that László Harangozó was called to lead the Reformed people of the Christian Church in Serbia in a world of tension. According to the Transylvanian bishop, László Harangozó must bring together again the communities that are holding the wounds, or at least dampen the tensions. He concluded his address by calling for God's blessing on the new church leader.

Erzsébet Csányi, the deputy bishop of the Reformed Christian Church in Serbia, emphasized that it is a great feeling for them to be counted, and advised László Harangozó to love the Lord and the congregations of which he has become bishop, as the Scriptures say.

The Deputy Bishop reminded him that he would never be alone, because there would always be others who would stand by him. He also announced that the Serbian pastors will present the new bishop with a cloak, and that as this cloak will embrace his body, so will God Almighty embrace him with his love and care.

The Hungarian government was represented by János Nagy, State Secretary in the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office, who read out a welcome letter from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. "Those who believe are able to do and fight beyond their strength,” the Prime Minister wrote, adding that "in few places in the world is this understood as it is in Vojvodina, the northernmost province of Serbia inhabited by a considerable Hungarian minority, where for a hundred years the Reformed churches have been not only houses of faith, but also the sanctuaries of the Hungarian people.”

Orbán stressed that "a dedicated pastor, an experienced government official, who as a teenager was preparing to become a missionary, and as a pastor has held his own in a number of roles, from congregational work to institutional leadership, has been chosen for this task.” The Prime Minister wished László Harangozó a blessed ministry, the fruits of which would be enjoyed by the Reformed people of the Serbiaand the whole of Vojvodina.

“We are living in times when even those who are not used to being informed about seemingly distant events in the world watch the news with a worried heart,” said the President of Hungary Katalin Novák. She added that we see, we feel, we experience that the world is boiling around us as if it has turned upside down. “When the world is on fire, Christians turn to God for an answer. We want to know where the limits of violence and terror lie and how we can respond to God's commandments," the President added. Shestressed that she is also looking for answers to these questions, and her answer is to cling together. "Just as a mother is able to cling to her child, so the motherland is also able to cling to Hungarians beyond its borders, because now is the time for Hungarians to cling together," the President said, stressing that it is also about this clinging together when we count Hungarians outside Hungary as well.

"So who will take his place?" Katalin Novák quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer's question, as well as the theologian's answer to it: "Only he who is not the ultimate measure of all things, but is ready to sacrifice all these, when he is called to act obediently and responsibly in faith and in faithfulness to God alone; the responsible man, whose life wants to be nothing else but an answer and response to God's question and call." According to the head of state, it is a cause for joy that the Serbian Reformed Christian Church has a bishop, a leader who fits this description exactly, who knows where he got his strength, his faith, his talents, and knows that he will be strong when he and the community entrusted to him are able to stick together. “To this end, I wish you never-failing faith, strength, perseverance, and the rich blessing of the Lord God,” concluded President Katalin Novák.

Bishop László Harangozó, thanking the well-wishers, asked the participants to pray that all these will come true and to carry the Hungarian Reformed in Serbia in their prayers, so that "this community, which wants to live, can really live".

After the closing ceremony, the assembled guests were treated to a charity reception in the sports hall of the local school. Dániel Erdélyi played the organ during the service, and the apostolic greeting and closing prayer were given by Attila Orosz, pastor of Bácsfeketehegy. Deputy Prime Minister Maja Gojković represented the Serbian government.