The title “Change of Era” was a quotation taken from the message of Miroslav Volf at Sent 2023. It was chosen as a bridge between the last council and this council in Budapest 2024. It was a reminder, as if we needed it, that this is an era marked by change. There is no longer the opportunity “to walk the well-worn track” as Helle Liht reminded us at the opening service. Yet Helle in her address from Isaiah 43 also assured us that we can go forward into uncertain times, open to new ways and opportunities knowing that “God holds the past and the future.”
This council was marked by the significant geo-political changes in our region that are leading to increased pain and suffering and attempts to divide us. Held just a few days after the flooding had hit Central Europe, several unions including our hosts in Hungary had been supporting displaced families who had lost all their possessions and whose homes would take months to repair. At the same time, an escalation in the Middle East meant that several of the Israeli and Lebanese delegates were unable to make it: those that did were being sent videos from family showing missiles raining down on the cities they call home.
As we gathered in the modern folk museum, conversations around the tables turned to common challenges such as the polarisation we are seeing in our societies often connected with the rise of extreme right-wing politics. Another shared issue is related to church decline, loss of a younger generation, future church leaders and the new financial realities. However, migration is still seen as one of the biggest challenges that we face in the region with some experiencing it as a glorious opportunity and a solution to decline whilst others experience it as a significant threat. The immediacy of the issue was felt as word reached us that in Lebanon 1 million people had been displaced that week and that some Lebanese refugees were heading to Syria for safety.
It is a glorious testimony to the world that in such a divided region, so many can unite around the centrality of Christ and our shared baptist principles. That despite the challenging politics in the region and differing theological emphasis, baptist leaders will put aside their differences and stand with one another.
Our Hungarian hosts demonstrated an expansive sense of hospitality, opening their new Baptist House and Seminary for many of our sessions and taking us into the city and beyond to experience the mission and humanitarian work that they are committed to. Friday afternoon was a true adventure into the unknown, full of surprises, reasons to rethink our preconceived ideas and multiple experiences for which to give thanks and celebrate.
The council ran at capacity with 150 participants from 41 countries. Despite the tensions, wars and local disasters facing the region, we were constantly reminded in worship, teaching and in the reports that came from Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, that God is with us and working among us. In a challenging report from the Youth and Children’s committee, we were reminded of the feeling of isolation that is overwhelming a younger generation across the region and the need for leaders to connect, spend time, follow up with and give opportunity to these new leaders.
As always, some of the most important moments in council happen in private conversations and around meal tables where collaborative relationships are begun or developed, where support is gathered for new needs and where prayer is offered from one to the other as together we sense the movement of the Spirit among us. Central to many of these conversations is the presence of our partners who we welcomed from across Europe and North America.
As it happened, the “change of era” also applied to many of the staff around the European Baptist family. From IBTS we said goodbye to Director Mike Pears and the Director of the Learning Network, Ingeborg te Loo. We were delighted to welcome the new IBTS director Enoh Šeba from Croatia with his new team of Megan Forster and Anna Ujvari. EBF welcomed Dana Podriabinkina-Kalytiene, Kadi Tingas and Ceasar Sotomayor to the staff team before saying goodbye to the two longest-serving staff in EBF history, Daniel Trusiewicz and Helle Liht, who between them have served for 40 years.
It was a council of tears and laughter, of joy and sorrow. A time when we looked back and gave thanks for many years of service but also a time when we embraced the challenge of the moment, the challenge of insecurity and unpredictability, as we heard described in the words of Miroslav Volf “something is dying but something is not yet born.” It is in this time that we hold fast to the one who was, who is and who is to come.
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