As the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) in Poland and Hungary keeps growing by the grace of the Lord, the Northern Europe Ecclesiastical District recently carried out streamlining and reorganization of congregations with the end in view of more effectively overseeing the members.

This resulted, upon approval of the Church Administration, in the establishment of a local congregation and two group worship services (GWS) between the two countries. These are the Local Congregation of Katowice and Lowicz GWS in Poland, and the Debrecen, Hungary GWS.

Their formal organization were marked by worship services at which Brother Vizar Balcita, the district supervising minister, officiated.

Katowice, Lowicz

The city of Katowice and town of Lowicz are almost three hours away from each other. Brethren from the new congregation and GWS at said places gathered together as one assembly on September 8, 2024 during their joint inaugural worship service at a rented hall in Hostel Lowicz, in Warszawska 9, 99-400 Łowicz, Poland.

Katowice began as a GWS for a year. Now, as a full-fledged local congregation, it holds regular worship services at Sokolska 33, 17th floor, Katowice.

Meanwhile, the brethren from Lowicz used to travel for an hour by train to attend worship services with the Warsaw GWS. Now they have their own place of worship at Gdanska 1, Lowicz.

Debrecen, Hungary

The brethren from Debrecen, a city in Hungary, used to attend worship services with the Budapest, Hungary GWS whose place of worship is more than 200 kilometers away, a six-hour trip.

Now a separate GWS, their place of worship is at Jeriko Utca 16, Debrecen. The inaugural worship service of the Debrecen, Hungary GWS took place on September 15 at an events place in Kisvarda, a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County.  

In the study of God’s words during the said gathering, Brother Balcita emphasized that amid these challenging times, true servants of God always strive to be pleasing to Him. Doing so, he pointed out, is proved by having that unwavering zeal to serve Him.

“I’m overjoyed that our Lord God has answered our congregation’s prayers. We’re nearer the place of worship which means our faith will further more be edified. This worship service has renewed my zeal to remain one with the Church Administration in pleasing God no matter what we face in life,” said Filbert Sudara, a deacon.

“To show our gratitude to the Lord God, we promise to remain true to our calling. We will strive to lead the brethren to never waver in their decision to only please our Lord God,” said Brother Danilo Caalim, the district Church officers overseer, who led the oath-taking of new officers in Debrecen after the homily.

In an interview, Brother Balcita said that these recent developments are God’s will. “The brethren will all the more be able to dedicate themselves in the works of the Church. These have paved the way for more people to come to know the truth that will lead them to salvation,” he added.— With reports from Ruzchielle Andres and Pauline Hizon of INC News Section