Well, we tried to make contact with our Reformed Church friends and colleagues in Serbia, but were unsuccessful. For some reason, in the months before our departure for Belgrade, my e-mails from the U.S. could never go through (something about my computer not speaking Hungarian, I imagine), and telephone calls from within Belgrade went on ringing or, all of Sunday morning, were met with a busy signal. In addition to seeing an old friend, Vivian and I were especially curious to see the church operation there. On the one hand, it would seem that we have such a small Reformed presence that it may be hard for a church to survive in the midst of an officially sanctioned Serb Orthodox culture, with Islam also an influence and a secular culture of not participating in any worship life at all (this was, after all, an officially atheist state throughout the communist era). But on the other hand we ought to be proud--and perhaps more supportive?--that our Reformed faith and beliefs are being positively represented by a brave and dedicated group, against enormous cultural odds. I am not looking at any figures at the moment, but I imagine the Reformed Church is about on a par with Catholicism in terms of distant minority status, in an area where nationality tends, to an overwhelming extent, to determine religious affiliation.
So the address for the church turned out to be in an apartment or office building, and all we could do on our repeated visits was stand outside and ring the buzzer--to no avail, alas, alas. Upon my return to civilian life, I will immediately use the old fashioned technology of paper, pen, envelope, and stamps, and contact our Reformed Christian Church of Serbia friends, as well as our PC(USA) offices in Louisville to give them an update on the status of the Church in Serbia. Despite our non-visit visit, we still seem to be a step ahead of the Europe Dept., who as of the date of our departure still had not updated the name of our sister denomination on the PC(USA) website. (What was the Reformed Church of Yugoslavia became the RCC of Serbia and Montenegro before adopting its current name).
St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral
So the address for the church turned out to be in an apartment or office building, and all we could do on our repeated visits was stand outside and ring the buzzer--to no avail, alas, alas. Upon my return to civilian life, I will immediately use the old fashioned technology of paper, pen, envelope, and stamps, and contact our Reformed Christian Church of Serbia friends, as well as our PC(USA) offices in Louisville to give them an update on the status of the Church in Serbia. Despite our non-visit visit, we still seem to be a step ahead of the Europe Dept., who as of the date of our departure still had not updated the name of our sister denomination on the PC(USA) website. (What was the Reformed Church of Yugoslavia became the RCC of Serbia and Montenegro before adopting its current name).
St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral
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