From the 70s to eternity, the history of the Faith Church

The Beginnings

Sandor Nemeth, the head pastor of the Faith Church, is the leading personality in the history of the Pentecostal-Charismatic fellowship. As a child, Mr. Nemeth was brought up in a Catholic household and from 1973-on he was a student of the Roman Catholic Theological Academy. During his studies of the Bible and the Charismatic Christian communities, he had come to the realization that he had to turn to God with all of his heart. In reality, the history of the Faith Church began with the repentance of Mr. Nemeth in 1976.

An important event followed his baptism in the Holy Spirit as he gave his testimony to Judit, his future wife. From 1978 on, he started to maintain closer relationship with Derek Prince, whose support was a large contributor to the spiritual development of the church. Thanks to Sandor Nemeth’s testimonies, a very active evangelical community had appeared holding charismatic services in Budaörs near Budapest starting in 1979.

Behind the ’Iron Curtain’

During this time, Hungary was still an Eastern Bloc country holding Soviet-socialist ideologies. Since these communist-socialist ideologies considered Christian teachings to be an opponent, the Nemeths had to practice and share their faith in a hostile environment. Throughout the 80’s, government organizations regularly attempted to interfere with church services and a formation of normalcy. Despite this, membership in the church was constantly growing, not only in the capital, but throughout the country as well. Even then, the church was characterized by an extremely active community which held prayer services, bible school, and similar programs on a daily basis. The great turning point came in 1989; after many long years, the fellowship now with more than 2,000 members just in Budapest, received its right to operate as a registered church. The church was registered under the name: Faith Church.

The Legendary 90s

Following the end of the communist regime (1989-1990) the membership of the church started to grow rapidly. Simple blue-collar workers, intellectuals, youth, and the elderly alike, joined the work of the congregation, most of them reporting substantial changes in their personal lives and families thanks to its Biblical foundations. Since the mid-1990s, the Faith Church had started to hold services in the Budapest Sports Arena, where the average number of those in attendance had grown to over ten thousand. Its theological university, the Saint Paul Academy, has been in operation since 1990. Many local churches and prayer groups have been founded throughout the country, not only in the major cities such as Debrecen, Nyíregyháza, and Pécs, but also in smaller towns. The Faith Church has become a church bearing a nationwide institutional system! Its members work hard not only in their faith, but also in public (e.g., politics), musical, and other pursuits. This was followed by the next step; the gates of the Faith Park opened in 1998. This new building is the property of the Faith Church and is able to host more than 10 thousand visitors.

More Than a Church

Following 1998, Sandor Nemeth founded the church’s sociopolitical weekly paper, called Hetek, as well as the theological magazine titled New Exodus. ATV has been broadcasting Happy Sunday, a live, interactive television program since 2001. Through this television program, the word of God is able reach over a hundred thousand people every Sunday; it is regarded as the most popular religious program in Hungary. Within the Faith Church, there is also a large emphasis on the youth; the leaders of the church organize youth camps, and evangelical and Bible school programs every summer. Furthermore, there are separate youth services held weekly. Throughout the country, the church has founded numerous primary, and high schools. In addition, they even have their own sports teams (football, basketball, etc). According to some estimates, the members of the Faith Church number over twenty thousand; others say it may even reach 40-50 thousand by 2010. It is important to mention, that in addition to leading an active religious life, the church plays an important role in Hungarian society through their valuable contributions to the community, and charity work.

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