Kosice – On 20 and 21 June in the Slovak city of Kosice, Slovak and Hungarian Baptists jointly commemorated the life of the Anabaptist reformer Andreas Fischer (1480-1540) for the first time. The event was entitled “The Message of the Faith of our Forefathers”. Fischer, a German speaking theologian, was an advocate of adult, believer’s baptism and had fled from Evangelical and Catholic repression to Upper Hungary – today’s Slovakia. There, in the course of many years he had been successful in winning over people, above all local miners, for his theological convictions. Yet in the end he was arrested and executed by being thrown from the tower of the fortress Krasznahorka near Kosice.

During the congress, hundreds of Baptists hiked to the fortress to attend a commemoration in which a plaque in four languages was dedicated. It reads: “The martyr Andreas Fischer, a representative of the Anabaptist wing of the Reformation, was thrown from the tower of this fortress in 1540 according to the decree of Ference Bebek, the Prefect of Gerner. Slovak and Hungarian Baptists honour his memory,” The festive sermons at the commemoration were held by the Presidents of both Baptist Unions: Tomas Kriska (Bratislava) and Dr. Kalman Meszaros (Budapest). A historical novel dealing with the life of Fischer written by the Hungarian author Janos Somogyi was also introduced at the conference. It is entitled: “The Crown of Life”. A projector (or beamer) helped with the translation of the conference for Slovak participants. A male choir from Budapest, “Vox Nova”, was responsible for the musical portion of the festivities.

At a celebratory service in the chapel of Kosice’s Baptist congregation, Pastor Kriska stressed the significance of the Christian message as a force for reconciliation between the nations. Though tension has existed between Slovaks and Hungarians in the past, the Gospel has remained “a solid foundation for both sides”. He added: “The Gospel is for us a more decisive issue than national differences. It is the Gospel which unites us.” The mayor of Kosice, Fratisek Knapik, expressed himself in similar terms. He lauded the role of Baptist believers in society and called on them to continuing doing their best for the common good. At the behest of the Hungarian Bible Society, Lajos Marosi Nagy, Senior Elder and Press Spokesperson of the Hungarian Union, distributed 250 copies of a bilingual, Slovak-Hungarian New Testament. He expressed thereby the conviction that this Bible would help deepen the friendship between Slovaks and Hungarians. President Meszaros stressed the historical significance of the gathering in Kosice: “It never before has occurred that Baptists from our two countries have celebrated jointly.” In his sermon he pointed to the unlimited possibilities which the Holy Spirit can offer us. He indeed is capable of negating all differences.

The Baptist Union of Hungary has approximately 12.000 members in 362 congregations; the Slovak Union has roughly 2.000 members in 24 congregations.