Baptist Union of Hungary

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The Baptist Union of Hungary (Magyarországi Baptista Egyház) is an organization of Baptists in Hungary for promoting cooperation in ministry.

The earliest known Baptist work in Hungary was begun by Germans in 1846. Later Heinrich Meyer, a German colporteur, would revive the flagging work. Because of division in opinion and ideas of the German and Hungarian leadership, two unions evolved and were maintained until the division was healed in 1920. In 1875, Baptists entered Transylvania from Hungary, which is largely responsible for the Convention of the Hungarian Baptist Churches of Romania.

The Baptist Union of Hungary is a member of the European Baptist Federation, the Baptist World Alliance, and the World Council of Churches. According to the 1999 Baptist World Alliance statistics, membership included 11,100 believers in 245 congregations. Headquarters of the Union are maintained in Budapest. Its affiliated ministries include Hungarian Baptist Aid. The current president (2004) is Dr. Kálmán Mészáros.

Christianity in Hungary is predominantly Roman Catholic. Nevertheless, with Romania, Hungary has one of the stronger Baptist communities in southeastern Europe.