Calvin Synod Herald, 1984 (84. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1984-02-01 / 1. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD-3 —

REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

UNITY MEETING IN NEW JERSEY

At one time u/e had more than 100 Hungarian Reformed congregations in the USA. Some of these churches are almost 100 years old. They are all related in their theology, yet all these years they lived in disunity, and belonged to four major groups.

The largest group is the Calvin Synod (UCC) with 38 congregations in full standing and six with dual standing. Or. John Butosi of Bridgeport, CT is the bishop.

The second largest united group belongs to the Hungarian Reformed Church of America. They have 30 congregations in full standing and one with dual standing. This group is under the leadership of Bishop Dezső Abraham of Allen Park, MI.

Those who belong to American denominations of Reformed background form the third group. They have no regular meetings or spokesman. All congregations that are not members of the Calvin Synod, the Hungarian Reformed Church of America and the Presbyterian Church of the USA are placed in this group for the sake of showing where we stand. In this category we also include all other Hungarian churches which are without denominational affiliations or totally independent. These number about 15.

We also have about 10 Presbyterian churches with Hungarian background. These are located in five different states, but in spite of the distances there is a spiritual fellowship among them. Each year a spokesman is available to speak in behalf of the Presbyterians, but he is only a representative of an unbinding fellowship and not of an organized synod.

There were many attempts in the past to create an organic union among the Hungarian churches of America. Constitutions and by-laws were prepared and in 1948 the Calvin Synod, (Magyar Synod then) and the Hungarian Reformed Church of America needed only the signatures to ratify an organic union within the Presbyterian Church, when in the last minute one party withdrew from the possible union.

Some of our younger pastors were not born yet when the last serious unity effort failed. They do not share the prejudices of the older

ministers, and they would like to have a greater share in the unity discussions.

Although organically we are not united we still share many of our missions and activities. Presently we have the following in common: one week long Summer Youth Camp; the Bethlen Home and its Archives in Ligonier, PA; district meetings for church workers, young people and women; Hungarian religious radio programs; regional and national ministerial meetings; hymnals; our mission for South America and Transylvania; sending heart-lung machines to Hungarian hospitals.

What we could (should) also have is an organic union, in which our resources could be better utilized in the service of our people. Our synod meetings, publications and pastoral services could be unified if we would give our wholehearted support to the cause of unity.

It is unfortunate that while we try to bring all the Hungarian Reformed Churches into an organic unity there was a division in one of our sister denominations within the last few months. The issue of who was going to be the bishop has divided a group of people from the main body of the Synod. This issue about power has kept us separated in the past. It will keep us devided in the future too, unless we approach the conference table with Christlike humbleness.

At our February 28th conference at Uoodbridge, N.J. we could sense a genuine desire for organic unity within the younger pastors and a very cautious optimism within the older ministers. There was also a a sense of impatience within the younger generation, almost as if they were saying: "You could not unite us in the past. You move too slowly in the present. Please give us a chance." A threat was also voiced by one pastor, "If we don't see a serious effort toward unity here, then we will create a union of Hungarian Reformed Churches in New Jersey, and we will call it the New Jersey Synod." The writer of this article also mentioned the possibility of having the Columbus congregation seek dual membership with the Hungarian Reformed Church of America. If congregations within the Calvin Synod and the Hungarian Reformed Church would seek dual membership with each other, then a legal relationship could be created over and above the present spiritual fellowship. Here we must emphasize that we in Columbus want to participate in the life of our Calvin Synod as actively as we did in the past, and we don't wish to leave our Synod. When we mention the possibility of dual membership with the Hungarian Reformed Church we just want to show that this may provide us a probability toward organic unity.

Some major denominations found organic unity after centuries of separation in America. What are our chances? We are in better position than any time in the past decades. Our only problem is that the power struggle of the past is still evident. We still have many who desire to be chiefs, and we do not have enough Indians. With each passing decade our ranks are being reduced slowly. We have a lot less number of Hungarian churches and ministers in America than we had 50 or 25 years ago. Will the decay within us awaken us to reality and a just sense of responsibility toward each other? It is very hard to predict. But we know that there are many amongst us who genuinely desire organic unity. These people will do their best to continue the unity talks, and will offer their best to bring the discussions to a fruitful conclusion.

There were 26 people present at the Woodbridge unity meeting. Besides Bishop Abraham and Bishop Butosi there were six-six official delegates from our two Synods. We also had representatives from the Presbyterian and other Reformed groups, but only our Calvin Synod and the Hungarian Reformed Church of America had legal authorization from their churches to speak and act in their behalf.

Pastors of the Calvin Synod had a retreat last November in Cleveland, OH, at which unity was also discussed. This is not a new topic for most of our people. Among our ministers we have many who spent a lifetime in trying to solve this issue. We hope that this time we will be successful. Paul Kántor