Retired UMC Pastor Recounts Life in Ministry During, After Communist Rule

“Promote the welfare of the city”
-Jeremiah 29:7

The call from Jeremiah to promote the welfare of the city serves as a life motto for the now-retired Hungarian United Methodist pastor István Csernák. Rev. Csernák’s service spanned more than four decades, until his retirement in 2016. In that time, he saw his country transition out of communism and toward a representative democracy. At the same time, his Church transitioned from one of reclusive worship to one able to openly share the Gospel of Christ.

Rev. Csernák’s service began when he was 18. A friend invited him to travel by bus—Sunday after Sunday—to the outskirts of the small town of Alsózsolca in Northern Hungary where he volunteered to teach Sunday school to the small United Methodist congregation in the Roma neighborhood. There was no church building, but they met in the homes of the Roma church members and read the Bible, sang hymns, played soccer and partook in each other’s lives.

What he thought had been a simple invitation to teach Sunday school, became a life changing experience.

Rev. Csernák was shaken to his core when he encountered the extreme poverty and discrimination experienced by the marginalized Roma community. It was here that he first felt the call to full-time ministry.

It took several more years of prayer and discernment until he finally accepted the call. He first studied business administration, and following college worked in the offices of a state farm. During this time, he began his theological studies in Budapest. Soon, the desperate shortage of pastors in Hungary forced the church to call him into full-time ministry at the Miskolc church where he served while continuing his theological studies part time. This church is where he also met his most important partner in ministry, his wife Eva.

Finally, Bringing the Church to the Community

Rev. Csernák was ordained in 1984 and served in a number of churches until the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.

Previously, the communist government had forced the church to work in isolation and seclusion. While they were now free to openly share the Gospel, the transition was not easy.

“We were not prepared for the new freedom that came with the dramatic and sudden change,” Rev. Csernák said in a Zoom call from his home in Veresegyház near Budapest. His wife served as the interpreter. “We were overwhelmed and needed time to change our own mentality and grasp the opportunities,” Rev. Csernák continued.

He and others did not have experience practicing ministry outside of the church walls. Up until that point, social public engagement by the church was not allowed by the government. So, when Rev. Csernák was elected superintendent in 1996, he and Bishop Heinrich Bolleter, who was based in Switzerland, led the church through a time of transformation.

The United Methodist Church in Hungary started to evangelize outside the church. It formed new faith communities, built churches, visited prisoners and even started a home for the elderly.

In the Hungary church, family summer camps became a hallmark. The whole Csernák family played a role, seizing on the new opportunities to teach young families Christian values.

Another highlight for the Csernák family was when Eva was invited to join a task force led by the late Bishop Rüdiger Minor, who had just started his episcopacy in Moscow. The task force was called to explore opportunities for Methodist mission and ministry across the former Soviet Union member states. One example of the task force's work was to enhance the Methodist presence One example is the Methodist presence in the Carpathian region of neighboring Ukraine, which for many years was part of the Hungarian annual conference before it was assigned to the Eurasia Episcopal Area.

Connection Through Central Conferences

The connection with the world-wide church was strengthened through the joint ministry work in Europe and within the Central and Southern Europe Central Conference. In addition, the General Board of Global Ministries’ In Mission Together program promoted partnerships and collaboration between local churches and conferences in the United States and around the world.

In addition, the United Methodist Church in Hungary cooperated with the Upper Room Ministries in Nashville , Tennessee, to create an Upper Room devotional in Hungarian . Csendes Percek, which translates as Quiet Minutes, is now read in Hungary well beyond the Methodist community. Rev. Csernák remembers how much the opening of the borders and the end of the Cold War meant for the members of the small Church in Hungary.

“We were excited and inspired to see the worldwide Methodist connection extend it hands in solidarity to the small

United Methodist community in Hungary,” he said.

Rev. Csernák retired in 2016 after having served for 44 years. He is immensely grateful for the support of the Central Conference Pension fund.

The pension he receives from the CCP almost exactly matches the amount he receives from the Hungarian minimum monthly pension. Unfortunately, during communist times, the church had no way to build a pension fund or to contribute to the state system beyond a small amount based on the minimum salary.

This CCP pension allows Rev. Csernák and his family to live a life full of dignity, without having to work in retirement to survive.

For Rev. Csernák, the CCP is a God-sent gift.

“For us, receiving from the CCP is a great source of relief and peace of mind,” he said.