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The purpose of the editorial foreword is to present the special issue, to summarize the lessons I have found in the studies on the relationship between social work, spirituality, and churches, both in general and here and now in Hungary. The relevance of and interest in the topic is that nowadays the role of churches in social care is expanding both in Hungary and in other European countries, while their missionary role is steadily decreasing. This situation is creating tensions between those who believe that the state should have primary responsibility for the social rights of citizens and those who would rather see the responsibility for the welfare of individuals falls to the individuals themselves, then to their families, the local community, the parishes, and only as a last resort to the state. In a tense political climate, it is important to highlight the values and ethical principles that fundamentally unite believing and non-believing social workers, i.e., the spirituality that is at the core of all genuine social work, and to detach the issue from the political substrate that makes the conflict between social work rooted in religious faith and social work rooted in science seem irreconcilable.

Judaism lived in a traditional society, which we call the Kehila, from the time of the Talmud (2nd to 6th centuries) until the European Enlightenment. Even after this time, some Jewish communities continued to live in this traditional community of values and rules, essentially defined by the Hebrew Bible (Tanach) and the Talmud. I would like to briefly describe this traditional Jewish society, the Kehila, highlighting only a few segments of it, which was a typical form of Jewish life between the 16th and 18th centuries. I will then turn to the social role of the family in the context of the Kehila, the traditional Jewish societas. My focus is on the so-called Ashkenazi, European Jewry. My approach is social-historical, and I use the methods of Jewish studies.
Jewish communities that have existed for thousands of years have survived to the present day despite often brutally hostile environments. In this paper, I want to examine some of the sociological characteristics of medieval Jewish communities. Are there any particular principles or patterns that we can observe and draw general conclusions from? How did Jewish communities survive for thousands of years?
In addition to presenting the medieval Kehila, the Jewish community, I would like to draw some conclusions. Jewish communities, as I will try to present descriptively, subordinated the individual and even the family to the interests of the community. The survival of the community was more important than the will, happiness, and interests of the individual and/or the family. Everything was subordinated to the interests of the majority. The operating mechanisms of the community implemented the total supremacy of the collective over the institution of the individual and even the family. This may have been one of the secrets of its success.
The Jews could adapt, their traditional-spiritual way of life predestined them to do so, and their survival was successful.

The story of the "underground railway" is a striking example of radical social work. Slaves fleeing from the southern states of New-England to the north were mainly helped by deeply religious people who, due to their faith, could not put up with the legally sanctioned system of inequality. Both the fugitive and the helper risked a lot with their actions.

Gábor Sztehlo, an evangelical pastor, is one of the leading figures of the 20th century. From the beginning of his career, he was known for his work in building churches, organising congregations, and establishing folk schools in Hungary. During World War II, Sztehlo was involved in the work of the Good Shepherd Association, which saved children of Jewish origin. Under his guidance between 1944 and 45, "hidden" children’s homes were run in 32 villas and apartments in Buda and Pest, with well-organised daily schedules and basic supplies, subjected to constant harassment by the Hungarian nazis. By the end of the war, he had rescued 1500 children and 500 adults. His service was outstanding in the rescue of Jews, recognised by the State of Israel with the "Yad Vashem" medal, and he was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Later, Gábor Sztehlo set up Gaudiopolis in the Pax Children's Home which was an example of children's republic as a pedagogical method. In the 1950s, he organised the diaconal work after the nationalisation of church property.

In this study, I outline the appearance of the mission of American social work in the second half of the 19th century, and then the construction of the conceptual elements of the profe ssion. The choice of cited, typically American authors is also narrowly tailored, however, in my opinion, they give an authentic picture of the conceptual construction of the profession and adequately depict the development arc that the profession, which started from the religious charity and has now matured into a profession and a science, has gone through in the last 125 years. In addition to all this, I also try to answer such questions as, for example, where are the boundaries between religious and professional assistance, what does professionalism mean in social work within a religious community or church, and what is needed for a better integration of spirituality into the professional practice.

In making a carrier choice, many Christian students find the social work profession a good fit with their religious faith. Many specifically relate their faith to their choice of social work. Buti t doesn’t take long in their social work studies for these students to begin to recognize the complex tensions between religious faith, agency auspices, and the secular values of the social work profession. My intent in this paper to explain, or more accurately to reintroduce, the religious model of calling as used by Christian social workers, past and present, in linking Christian faith and professional social work practice.

This essay shows the importance of spirituality in a personal, self-reflective, short way. In this writing I try to showcase how does the spiritual attitude takes place in the work of a social worker. I'll explain the importance of spirituality in solving the helper syndrome and burnout.

In this short essay, I wanted to show how I use stories to help my clients, students, and colleagues transform chaotic reality into a meaningful story with a specific meaning.

In our study, we seek to answer the question of how Christian anthropology impacts on Christian social work for people with disabilities. An important question is how Christian faith can contribute to helping people with disabilities. One of the guiding principles of our thinking is the Confessio Vitium adopted by the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary in 2016. Our paper focuses on the added value of Christian social work in helping people with disabilities, based on a biblical view of humanity.

In the study, we examine the nature and extent of church presence in the subsystems of the social sphere since 1989 and we also review the evolution of the Hungarian regulations regarding churches, together with financial issues. In this regard, we point out legally problematic phenomena, such as the fact that the current regulation is not sector-neutral, which puts actors outside of the established churches at a serious disadvantage. The situation of the established churches is not reassuring either, as the favorable financial situation can change at any time through the change of the extent of the so called "additional church subsidies". After collecting the cases of unprofessional and/or abusive operation occurring in institutions run by churches in Hungary, we summarise the possible positive aspects of the same phenomenon.

The ecclesiastical takeover of the public services sector has been particularly strong over the last ten years. This change in the structure of the public sector raises several problems and dilemmas which are rarely discussed (openly) in professional circles. The expansion of churches has not come about organically but is the result of government measures. It is primarily ideological rather than professional factors that are at play, and in many areas, this is leading the care system in a questionable professional direction. This paper discusses the historical background to the emergence of the social care system, the differences in the way the domestic care system is funded depending on the type of provider, the pro-church restructuring of the service sector and the professional and ethical dilemmas of church-based service delivery.

Social work and Christian spirituality cannot be sharply separated from each other. The roots of social assistance are an important part of Christian morality and the teachings of the Bible. At the same time, in almost all of the Christian denominations, you can also find lay assistance, which provides help to those in trouble, nourished by the practical faith of the churches. In my paper, I examine the possibilities of Christian-based lay assistance and social assistance, as well as the relationship between spirituality and social work, using the example of the social and charitable activities of Calvary Chapel Hungary. It is important to recognize that lay help without professional social skills can sometimes cause more harm than good, but it is also true that professional social work can also be enriched by a commitment to help stemming from faith in God.

The Church Act of 2011 rewrote the previous jurisprudence on churches, making a distinction between established churches and those excluded from it: the new concept became "ecclesiastical legal entity", distinguishing between representatives of churches, which may belong to this category, which practitioners churches do not. In my opinion, this is when the division between the churches began: in a political sense, the secular state gradually ceased to exist. Since then, the established churches have enjoyed an advantage in all respects, thus undermining the principle of religious freedom. In the interviews, I also looked for the answer to how important it was for the churches accepted, supported and "established" by the Christian government, how the Gospel teaching about the good Samaritan teaching was represented during the refugee crisis, and how Pope Francis' call for activity and acceptance related to refugees was applied . I examined what role the church people played in the escalation of the mood, either by their silence or by speaking up.

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