49th Day - August 26: Budapest, Day 1: Profile community with demanding church music

At lunchtime today, I was warmly bid farewell by Pastor Oliver and his large family in Szentendre, with an invitation to come back when I am near or in Budapest. Because the Hungarian capital city, which is only about 20km away, was my destination today. Pastor Matyas from Tata recommended that I visit the Lutheran community at Deak Terenc, in the center of the city. My plan was to stay in Budapest for two days and get to know two communities. The evening before, I sent an email to Pastor Feri, and he replied within the hour, inviting me to stay in the small guest apartment.

The drive along the Danube was quite easy. Soon, I entered the so-called "Budapest bacon belt," and on a busy road, I continued towards the city center. Along the way, I met a Chilean cyclist, and we chatted at a cafe for a while since I had some time.

In the afternoon, Pastor Feri welcomed me in front of the large Protestant community center, which also houses a Luther museum that I must see. After a refreshing shower, Feri showed me the evangelical urn cemetery, located in the basement of the community center. He explained that the old evangelical cemetery is located far outside the city center and is hardly accessible for older people. Therefore, an urn cemetery was established in the community center some time ago. I was amazed. We went for a coffee first to talk things over because I was invited to the baptismal service at 5 pm and could then visit the church. The community also includes the Evangelical Museum, a bookshop, and a kindergarten, which is why the whole complex is called the 'Evangelical Island'.

Pastor Feri explained the situation in Budapest, saying that out of the approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of Budapest, about 30,000 belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In the city area, there are a total of 35 (did I count correctly?) separate church communities of different sizes. His community in the city center has about 1600 members. There are even three worship services every Sunday, at 9 am, 11 am, and 6 pm. The main worship service at 11 am is the most well-attended, with 150-180 people - outside of the summer season, of course. His community, as we would describe it in Germany, is a profile community with a focus on classical church music.

When a cantata is performed during a worship service, even more visitors come. At the same time, there is a Bach music week every year, which took place for the 33rd time this summer. This community's focus on church music is possible because of its size and the fact that it has its own full-time church musician, of which there are very few in the Evangelical Church in Hungary. The kindergarten and school are also important, as symbols of the 'Evangelical Island'.

The cantor of the community also greeted me at the baptismal service and invited me to the Sunday worship service. The baptismal service was quite short, about 30 minutes, as I learned because it is not possible for the baptismal party to stay longer on Sundays.Then, I took a closer look at the church. What struck me in particular was that each row of benches had a carved Luther rose on the side. This makes the Lutheran confession visually visible to every visitor.

After the baptism and the church tour, I took a walk along the Danube riverside in the city center and admired the illuminated city panorama with the Fisherman's Bastion and the historic castle. However, I soon headed back because I wanted to research the access route for my next country - Romania - and an interesting day came to an end.