The State Secretariat for National Policy provided HUF 52.8 million (EUR 139,000) for the construction of the church.Continue reading
The anniversary will begin with a commemoration in Darány, Somogy County, where the first Pentecostal prayer house in Hungary was opened in 1923.
As part of the series of events, a National Pentecostal Conference will be held in the spring of 2024 to strengthen Pentecostal identity, explore its roots, and set directions for the future. It will conclude with a major evangelization event in 2028, on the centenary of the Church’s official foundation. Several publications will be produced to mark the centenary, including a book on the centenary of Pentecostalism.
Tamás Földesi, President-elect of the Hungarian Pentecostal Church, said:
The past 100 years are proof that God wants to use Pentecostals in the service of society.
A hundred years ago, our ancestors felt a strong sense of mission to reach out to people because they experienced that when they prayed for the sick, they were healed, addicts were saved.”
The centenary celebrations are part of the renewal process launched by the new presidency elected in the spring. Their aim is to
put congregational life at the heart of the church alongside the proclamation of the Gospel, in order to build their service and pastoral communities with a new vision,
to focus on empowering the next generation, and to engage with society through their institutions.
The pioneers of the Pentecostal movement emigrated to U.S. at the turn of the century, joined Pentecostal churches there, and preached the gospel on their return home. The first prayer groups and churches were formed around them.
The first Pentecostal prayer house was built in 1923, in Darány, Somogy County, by József Szalai and his wife, who had returned from Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to the one in Darány, prayer groups and congregations were established in Hajdúhadháza, Csetény, Gyönkö, Bakonycsernye, and Kispest. In 1926, the Pentecostal congregations held their first joint conference in Csernye (now Bakonycsernye) in Fejér County, where they also elected a president. In February 1928, representatives of eight congregations in Kispest founded the Association of Assemblies of God, the legal predecessor of the Hungarian Pentecostal Church, on the model of the American Pentecostal denomination.
Via MTI; Featured Image: Pixabay