The church was founded in March 1948 when a Reformed pastor visited London and

realised that people from his home church in Budapest were not attending English churches,

mainly due to language difficulties. Rev. Karoly Dobos, a man with a heart for the Lord and

great organisational skills, chose a national holiday to get Hungarians together, hold a

church service, and have them sign the founding document of The Hungarian Reformed

Church in the UK. On 12th March 2023 his grandson, a Reformed pastor, a man with a heart

for mission and a fire to call sinners to repentance, preached at the 75th year anniversary

service of the church his grandfather founded.

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The Preparations

All events need careful planning and detailed plans. But when Istvan and myself discussed

the 75th anniversary, we felt that more needs to be done than a special service. We felt strongly

about giving an account of God’s grace over the past three quarters of a century. I took the

task upon myself to write a booklet and make a series of video interviews. The booklet

turned out to be a book of 120 pages, and in the videos almost 100 people, past and present

members, give their testimony of how The Lord used our church in their lives to bless them

spiritually.

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Following our eldest son’s departure to university, his childhood bedroom became an

archival reading room. I spent dozens of hours looking through dusty boxes of documents,

digitising the most important findings, including pastors’ diaries, articles, minutes of meetings

and photographs. A picture of blessings and struggles, happy fellowship times and major

disagreements, desperately low numbers and joyfully packed Sundays, rented places and

property purchase, a crumbling building and costly renovations started to emerge. The only

constant was the Lord’s ever present help. He “gave power to the weak, and to those who

had no might He increased their strength”.

The most substantial part of the book details what I knew most about: the church under

István’s leadership. The growth of the Sunday school. The beginnings of various Bible

studies, prayer groups, baptism classes, and family events. Recently, our expansion into the

online space has been particularly encouraging, with Hungarians now watching our services

from remote regions of the UK, as well as the continent.

Many times I was in despair, doubting whether writing, proofreading and editing would be

done in time to have the book printed before the anniversary service. When the boxes were

delivered with two days to spare, Istvan was greatly relieved and the children commented

“Now Dad can have his wife back.” But it was not until after all the interviews were cut,

edited and made into a short film (with 20 hours to spare) that I started to see that it would

eventually all come together in time.

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The Day of Celebration

Finally, we were there. 12th March 2023, a day for which we began preparations in

December 2021. And it turned out to be a day of great blessings. The church was packed

beyond capacity. The founding pastor’s grandson preached powerfully, calling the listeners

to repentance and pointing them to the Lord without whom our past is a failure and our future

is meaningless.

The Hungarian Ambassador praised the church for its work among needy Hungarians and

acknowledged the many who returned to their home countries spiritually enriched because

they found faith in London. Hymns and choruses were sung that “painted a musical picture”

of the 75 years. Testimonies were heard. It was a joyful service after which goulash and an

abundant bring and share lunch was enjoyed by all.

Among many things, we prayed for good weather, and among many things that was granted

too. The garden was filled with people having fellowship. It was a wonderful opportunity to

connect and reconnect, to reflect on the history and future of the church.Children were letting

off steam in the bouncy castle.

Istvan and myself were overjoyed to see how it pleased the Lord to bless the many

preparations, the book, the videos, and the celebration service itself. We know that we can

trust the next 75 years into His hands too.

As for the 100th anniversary? We will have just retired by then and hope to be invited. But

for taking part in the organisation? No, thank you. We enjoyed this anniversary but will leave

the next big one to the next generation!

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