The Transylvanian Reformed Church District Elects a New Bishop

On 12 December, the Transylvanian Reformed Church District held its general assembly in the Bethlen Kata Diaconal Centre in Cluj-Napoca. At the event, decisions were made on the church district’s governing body, the composition of the board of directors, and the members of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Romania.

Of the 126 delegates entitled to vote, 121 attended the assembly, where Vilmos József Kolumbán, theologian, professor at the Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj-Napoca, and former vice-bishop of the church district, was elected the 47th bishop of the Transylvanian Reformed Church District. The inauguration of the new bishop will take place on 1 February 2025 in Cluj-Napoca, at the Farkas Street Reformed Church.

Vilmos József Kolumbán was born in 1974 in Barót. He started his studies in his hometown and continued at the Reformed College in Cluj-Napoca. In 1993, he was admitted to the Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj-Napoca, where he obtained his pastoral qualifications in 1999. He received his doctorate from the Debrecen Reformed Theological University in 2005. Between 1998 and 2000, he served as assistant pastor of the Reformed parish of Bölön, and from 1999, he worked as a lecturer at the Protestant Theological Institute, where he also held the position of rector between 2020 and 2022. In 2022, he was elected vice bishop of the Transylvanian Reformed Church District.

The general assembly elected pastor László Tamás Szegedi from Brasov as vice-bishop, while pastor István Jakab from Udvarfalva will serve as a mission coordinator. Attila Ambrus, Zsolt Tőkés and Levente Rácz will serve as lay presidents for the next six years.

In his speech, Bishop-elect Vilmos József Kolumbán expressed his gratitude to his predecessors, especially highlighting the work of outgoing Bishop Béla Kató. "We have experienced historic times, as never before have so many churches, congregation houses, kindergartens, schools, universities, and nurseries been renovated and built as in the past years," he said. In his speech, he pledged to work to preserve the Mother Church and the community, affirming his credo: "If God is with us, who is against us?"

The outgoing Bishop Béla Kató emphasised at the General Assembly: “Today is the happiest day of the past twelve years for me: it is possible to resign from the ministry because there is a bishop and other leaders to lead our church district. What greater joy does anyone need to be able to experience than this?!” He stressed that the result is a sign of confidence in the church district and confirms the belief that the Church can continue to make significant progress on the path it has begun by working together as a community. “We are an island in this difficult world: an island of peace, an island of moving towards a common goal. This must be preserved, and you can do this by trusting in those who go before us,” concluded the outgoing Bishop.