At the Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj-Napoca, students and teachers gathered for the seventh time for the talent management day. On November 27, the Bethlen Hall was not only the venue for various programs but also a meeting space: church and society, faith and science, personal questions and broader horizons were able to enter into dialogue with one another.

The event was opened by its organizer, Szabolcs Ferencz Kató, who formulated three goals that seem simple at first glance, yet are full of substance: to be together and listen to thoughts that move both our minds and our faith; to discover the border areas of theology and look boldly toward other scientific fields; and to be inspired to engage in scientific research. The evocation of the Ugaritic Aqhatu myth accompanied the day as an attention-grabbing image: it is not enough to preserve what we have received; we must learn to engage in dialogue with what is new, foreign, or even unsettling.

We asked students about their experiences, and in this context, according to Szabolcs Albert, the talent management day was truly an opportunity to look outward: as a theology student, he rarely steps beyond the strictly faith-related questions, yet this time he encountered sociological perspectives that shed new light on everything done at the Institute. He expressed it this way: “Talent cannot be nurtured with blinders on. It is beneficial when as many viewpoints and approaches as possible enrich what we all strive for here at the Institute: to look toward God.”

Róbert Fejér, a third-year student, sincerely admitted that upon seeing the poster, his first thought was: “Well, this is not my thing; I’ll be bored the whole time.” In the end, however, he experienced the exact opposite. If he had to describe the day in one word, he would choose overview, because “I received a comprehensive, interesting, and useful picture—knowledge—of a slice of the world of the sociology of religion.”

The first lecture was given by Dr. Dénes Kiss, a sociologist of religion at Babeș-Bolyai University, entitled The Changing World of Religion – A Sociological Overview of Religion in the 21st Century. In his historically framed presentation, he guided the audience from the anti-clerical atmosphere of the 18th–19th centuries and the classical authors who examined religion as a social phenomenon to the various interpretations of secularization. Graphs, surveys, and international examples helped illustrate how industrialization, urbanization, and the spread of education reshaped Europe’s religious landscape: while pews are emptying in many Western European churches, new communities and renewal movements are emerging elsewhere.

In his report, Nándor Attila Dezső highlighted Dénes Kiss’ lecture in particular. He was struck by the image of a church in the Netherlands: “It was a frightening sight for me, the picture shown by the lecturer of a Dutch church whose interior had been transformed to serve an entirely different function.” At the same time, he also found it interesting that “secularization” does not mean mere disappearance but transformation: some people remain religious “in their own way,” while others rediscover faith in charismatic communities.

The second lecture was given by Dr. László Fosztó, researcher at the Institute for Research on National Minorities, entitled Charismatic Revival Movements in Roma Communities in Transylvania. In his presentation, he spoke about the interweaving of religion, identity, and social position. Patrik Kiss described what he heard as follows: “Although it was not new to me what kinds of charismatic revivals exist in Roma communities, nor what rituals characterize neo-Protestant denominations, I had never before encountered such a comprehensive, detailed exposition and explanation of all these. If talent management day were to be organized again with the same program, I would definitely recommend it to those who want to hear meaningful presentations on these topics.”

Szabó Kinga participated in the program with the hope that her curiosity would be awakened and that she would become more open to various scientific disciplines. “It was interesting for me how the lecturer, going back all the way to the origins of the Roma people, outlined their social situation and their special rituals.”

After the morning lectures, the program continued with two parallel workshops. Dénes Kiss’ workshop introduced participants to the world of quantitative social science research, while in László Fosztó’s workshop, titled The Anthropological Analysis of Rituals, they discussed funeral rituals, forms of farewell, customs related to mourning, and the tensions arising from them.

For Róbert Fejér, the workshop on rituals proved to be one of the highlights of the day: “Among the workshops, I chose the one dealing with rituals. It was worth it. I was confronted with what ritual, religiosity, or mysticism means in the Roma world, how these are lived out in everyday life, and what effects they produce.”

Antal Mátyás reported that through the workshops, the “dry” methodological questions and seemingly abstract concepts took on a very practical, human-centered face: “I came to talent management day with the intention of gaining knowledge about research, questionnaires, and interview techniques. I especially liked that the lecturer emphasized that interviewing is preferable to questionnaire-based research. He explained in a way that was both interesting and simple. I regained my motivation for research—and I consider this a success. I ended the day with gratitude, feeling that it was worth coming.”

Angéla Hunyadi shared that she experienced as a great joy the fact that she could listen to the presentations of specialists well-versed in the topics, formulated in a direct, understandable language tailored specifically to students: “The conference not only inspired me to continue research, but it has already helped me to immerse myself more deeply in it, and I was enriched with much new information. With positive experiences and new insights, I can hardly wait for the next opportunity to participate in our institute’s talent management conference.”

“After the first few minutes, I was pleased to realize that the hours spent here would not be in vain,” says Ágota Somodi, a fourth-year student at our Institute. “I am grateful for this opportunity because if these questions and phenomena had not been brought to us, perhaps we would not be dealing with them at such depth. They sparked my interest and gave me the courage not to be afraid to research things that interest me; not to take away from myself the joy and excitement of research. I was especially captivated by Dénes Kiss' dynamism and enthusiasm—this kind of passion is something I would like to awaken in myself as well, in order to work with similar engagement and openness on what interests me—and, if the opportunity arises, to share it with others in the hope of our mutual growth.”

Thus, the overall picture of the 7th talent management day emerges: a day in which professional rigor and the joy of community did not appear as mutually exclusive realities, but as ones that strengthened one another. The program was not only about “talents”, but also about how talent becomes responsibility, curiosity becomes research, and theory becomes community-shaping practice.

Emőke Ibolya Kacsó (Mátyás)
first-year master’s student in theology

(The photos were taken by Ákos Benkő, theology student.)