Andras Pataki is a pastor and theology professor in Hungary.
When did you trust Christ?
I accepted the grace of Jesus during the 1993 New Year's Eve Lord's Supper service in the church my family attended.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
The most decisive moment was my mother's death when she was 41 (I was only 17 years old). I had recently participated in a Bible study week organised for the youth, where I had come to understand that my vocation was to serve as a pastor, and I had many questions about my future. My mother died a month later, entirely unexpectedly, on the day of my younger brother's birth. In many mighty struggles, I had to rethink my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ: what it means to believe and have confidence in Him, what my hopes were about my mother, and what the foundations were for my assurances for this life and life after this.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
I want to refresh my vision about the possibilities of sharing the Gospel in the quickly changing Europe. The Theology Network always builds my thinking and broadens my horizons.
What is your ministry?
I am one of the senior pastors of a large Reformed congregation in the centre of Budapest. My responsibility is foremost among young adults (20s-30s) and younger couples. I also teach at the Reformed Seminary of Budapest, and I am an assistant lecturer in the chair of New Testament studies. I teach courses in Biblical Greek, New Testament Introduction, and New Testament Exegesis.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
Before my theological studies, I had only minor, occasional duties in the congregation of my youth. After completing my studies (2004), I became associate pastor in the Budapest-Fasor congregation (where I am one of the lead pastors now).
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
I serve in one of the most influential protestant churches in Budapest. The Budapest-Fasor Reformed congregation, with its significant past, its central position in the city, and its institutions (a nursery school and a primary school), vigorously influences the Christian life of the capital and beyond. We have strong relationships with many Reformed congregations all around Hungary and in Hungarian-populated areas of Romania, Ukraine, and Serbia.
