A comprehensive questionnaire was prepared by the Debrecen-Nagytemplomi Református Egyházközség and the Árpád Kiss Közhaznú Egyesülete of Doctoral Students of the University of Debrecen about the habits of those who go to church. The initiative is called “Understand each other”, because the leadership of the parish considers it important to know people’s opinions about their occasions and how they feel in the church.
At the press conference presenting the questionnaire, the church pastor András Beszterczey said that “all over Europe we are faced with the fact that there are fewer and fewer people in our Christian churches. The Western press is talking about more and more closures and alternative uses. As responsible leaders of the Great Temple Congregation, we realized that we had to act.” András Beszterczey emphasized: “it is important that the message of the Bible does not change, Jesus does not change, it is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but the way we pass on this good news, explain it, translate it, frame it, not only cannot it change but even without change neither will those who want to hear understand it”.
2023 is the “Year of Worship” in the Great Temple congregation. President-Pastor István Oláh informed us that the service in the church is one of the most important occasions when people experience the encounter with God and each other, which we want to make even better in the Great Temple. 40 percent of church members go to church, we want this trend to improve, and that’s why we’re initiating a dialogue – emphasized the pastor.
Ágnes Engler, head of the department at the University of Debrecen, head of the research, referred to the Hungarian youth research, which confirms that the number of regular churchgoers is decreasing, at the same time, the university associate professor also reported that compared to the last data collection, the proportion of non-religious people has decreased and their number of religious people. The expert also mentioned that
In Mária Kopp’s Hungarian state of mind survey, it was shown that, in addition to family relationships, religion and faith have the greatest health protective factor in protecting physical and mental health. “That’s why we thought it was important to prepare this questionnaire and help the work of the congregation in the Great Temple,” emphasized Ágnes Engler.
At the press conference, the Debrecen-Nagytemplomi Református Egyházközség and the Árpád Kiss Közhaznú Egyesülete of the Doctoral Students of the University of Debrecen signed a cooperation agreement.
The questionnaire covers the practice of religion and the experience of personal faith, but the primary goal is to give the parish an idea of how people think about worship and the reasons why they come and stay away from religious occasions.
The online questionnaire takes 15 minutes to complete and can be completed throughout January. After the evaluation work, the leadership of the parish wants to use the experience and make the message of the Bible more understandable for people.
The Debrecen – Great Church Congregation, the most well-known parish in Calvinist Rome, considers it a priority task to “understand each other” with those who enter the church.
Tiszántúl Reformed Church District
