Winnipeg.hu – Your gateway to Hungary

Who are we? ...our history

The congregation was formed in 1906 as the Hungarian Reformed Church in order to serve spiritual and cultural needs of early Hungarian settlers. Up until the end of World War I the Hungarian Reformed Church supplied the ministers who served the Winnipeg and some of the Saskatchewan Congregation.

After the Trianon treaty, the Hungarian United Church lost almost 40% of its members to the neighbouring countries, due to border rearrangements. This left the Church unable to look after the overseas congregations. With the help of the Scottish Mission of Hungary, however, they arranger for the American and Canadian congregation to affiliate with the local Protestant Churches, mostly with the Presbyterians.

In 1927, the Hungarian congregation in Winnipeg was reorganized and updated to affiliate with the newly formed United Church of Canada. Until 1957, the congregation was unable to support a full time minister, sometimes they even had problems to cover travelling cost from Saskatchewan to Winnipeg. Yet, in 1940 they managed to buy a church building for about $600. This building was sold in 1945 with considerable profit. Then, the proceeds were used to buy a large house with the main floor suitable for Sunday worship and other events. The second floor was suitable for Manse. This building served the congregation until 1957, when due to the arrival of a large number of Hungarian refugees, the United Church Superintendent arranged the use of one of the Sanctuaries at Young United Church.

In 1962, with the help of the late Reverend Fred Douglas, the congregation contained of approx. 100 members, was able to get their own church building at the junction of Brandon Avenue and Nassau Street. This quiet Fort Range neighbourhood became not only a place for worship, but also the place of cultural and recreational activities, a place of second home for the congregation. Unfortunately, the place was expropriated in 1968 by the City of Winnipeg for their bus Garage.

From 1968 until 1970 when the congregation found the present church building at 732 Ellice Avenue, they were able to use part of Rosedale Church as a place of worship. This transitional period was hard on the congregation and the new location at Ellice Avenue never provided the same “home like” feeling. From 1970 until 1982 the congregation was somehow stabilized. Folklorama provided an outlet for the cultural activities and the income from the participation was a welcome addition to the church’s budget. In 1982, the sudden departure of the minister, shook up the congregation a bit. The congregation was without a minister for almost a year. Then, a new minister from 1983 until 1985 turned out to be a disappointment. In this period, some of the members left the church to join with the Baptist Church or Elim Chapel.

It was in 1985 that the congregation had found Reverend Marton Kerekesh. At this time there were about 75 identifiable givers and about 100 members of the congregation. From this time on, the activities at the church as well as the membership have steadily declined. There were no Sunday schools, no youth activities, only Sunday worship, Bible studies for 4-6 persons and Folklorama participation until 1992. Also, the $5000 Block Grant from Winnipeg Presbitery discontinued in 1990. From this time on, the congregation struggled to make ends meet. 5 to 6 United Church Woman members remained working their hearts out making bake sales, bazaurs, lunches and other profitable activities in order to support the budget of $10,000-$15,000 a year. At the same time, more than $60,000 was used up from a saving account held from the sale of numerous fixed assets.

This congregations of material needs drained the resources and the spirit, leaving no strength for spiritual concerns. At the same time, the membership slowly declined from 65 identified givers in 1989 to 35 in 2002 (based on the latest available data). In 1998, Reverend Kerekesh ricked the retirement age, however, he opted not to retire, and carried on at a reduced salary. In the meantime, the same congregation members started to get concerned about the direction where the church was heading, but it was a “taboo” to question the leadership of Reverend Kerekesh. Even 5 years after his retirement in 2003, this problem persisted and emerged to split the congregation in two. The ardent supporters of Reverend Kerekesh who wanted “no change” on the one side, and those looking for new directions on the other side. This dispute resulted in the intervention of the Winnipeg Presbytery, which let the situation be placed under Pastoral Care.

Actually, the outlook is quite promising. Since January 4, 2004 the average attendance at the Sunday worship is about 30 participants. The average Sunday offerings is about $250 to $350. The new Sunday school is attended by 2 to 6 children. The Official Board has been reorganized and UCWis also under reorganization. On February 29, 2004 we had organized luncheon ion the Church Hall with a full house of 90 people.

The Hungarian United Church surveyed participants who at one time or another in the past 30 years have been in contact with the curch in various ways. The result is as following:

Founding and long time members..........................................25

Semi-active- one time members; supported the Church in the past..........24

Confirmed in the Church; attending seldom....................26

Baptized and confirmed.............................................................10

Newcomers........................................................................................8

English speaking spouses of Hungarian speaking members.......9

Total.................................................................................................................102

Present mailing list........................................................................65

Unidentified non-congregational donors..............................20

Total.......................................................................................................85