Calvin Synod Herald, 1985 (85. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)
1985-10-01 / 5. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD — 3 — REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA REV. AARON ELEK Keynote Address Present day priorities in our churches Church Worker’s Conference Allen Park, Michigan — September 29, 1985 The role of the Christian Church in modern times can be likened to the “seismograph” — to that delicate instrument which registers the fine jolts, jerks and tremors in the hidden depths of the earth. While man is totally unaware of them, the seismograph already senses the things that are in the offing; but they are too small yet for our ordinary faculties, such as hearing, feeling, and seeing. It is the very nature of the Church to see and sense the things that shall come to being. And 1 do not mean only the religious matters, but all matters, political, social, or whatever surrounds the Church and its people. This function of the Church is called the “prophetic role of the Church”, after its full blooming in the life of the Old Testament times. This charisma of the Church has two sides: one that looks forward and recognizes the hand of God amidst the multitude of vanishing events, while the other side looks at our present conditions, and sifts out of the temporal the eternal, the things which shall survive and prevail in the future. The Church of Jesus Christ is the beacon, the lighthouse on the shore of man’s history, gifted by her Lord with the ability to recognize the finger of God writing in the sand of time, and thus discerning the road of life from the road of death. Shortly after W. W.1I, the American churches had their heydey. Some of us who still remember those years can tell of the record church attendance, record Sunday School enrollment, record building boom, etc. A pastoral colleague of mine told us that his church had 60 (?) organizations. This was due, at least partially, to the general spiritual atmosphere generated by the war, and a welcome release from the horrors of it. However, this did not last long. After 10 or 15 years, it started to vanish away, very much like the other fads in those years. As churches were sobering up from the daze of their successes, problems began to appear: Steady loss in membership, dwindling contributions, depopulation of organizations, and so on... Churches kept these sores well tucked away in their “family closet” as long as they could, until they realized that the others have the same problems, and it makes no sense hiding them from each other. Presently, here we are in His service. The churches, reading the signs of the times, shed a great deal of unnecessary, peripheral concerns, and are regrouping their energies in few, undelayable services called the “priorities”. By definition, priority is a referral to precedence in importance. Something that cannot be shoved under the rug, unnoticed, unheeded. The churches tried to name preferable only a few (3-4-5) priorities, such as Christian education, peace in the world and hunger, youth problems, family life, to name a few. While there is a great variety of these priorities, however, one thing is apparent: churches realized that the ax is laid at the roots of the trees! These are no times to dilly-dally with unimportant matters. Priorities vary because churches are varied. Uniformity (not Unity!) is against the grain of the church. Priorities either take this into account, or miss the point. PRIORITY NO. 1. Our churches are of the Hungarian Reformed background, holding unto the Calvinist persuasion, with certain adaptations, and adjustment to the particular needs of that people. We have adopted the theological tenets of John Calvin (1509-63), but the morality derived from his doctrine had not been as rigorously followed as in other lands. Hungarians loosened the rigors, the unyielding “stiffness” of the Western Calvinist Church in Switzerland, Holland, Scotland and the Puritans in the New World. But we never betrayed the central superiority of the Scriptures as being the only reliable source for man’s knowledge of God. This, if anything, should be considered as our No. 1. Priority. This staunch adherence to the Scriptures (as interpreted by the Second Helvetian Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism) became the primary source for that church to survive and to be renewed. Protestant churches survived in the last five turbulent centuries because they had the ability to survive. And survival rests upon adaptation. The church that cannot adapt will perish. If we are to survive here, in America, our churches will have to rediscover the Bible, a truly flexible book, and lean on it, behold it, revere it, extol it. It is the lamp unto our feet in the darkness of this present day and age. PRIORITY NO. 2. The No. 2. Priority is the rediscovery of ourselves, by taking into account our heritage, and our religious culture, and re-evaluating them in terms of our needs. I feel that any discussion on the problem of being “Hungarian Reformed” calls for a spiritually truly mature person, since the subject, in this advanced age of our churches, cannot be overlooked or shoved under the rug. In many of our constituencies, the Americans are antagonistic to the Hungarians, and vice-versa. Frictions, dissentions, alienations resulted to the detriment of the church, which were wholly and totally unnecessary. It created an atmosphere that was not inviting, either for Americans or Hungarians. When such a problem arises within a congregation, polarization will immediately follow, with opening the doors for extremists. This is one of the subjects which we must face and handle with a cool head and a warm, compassionate heart. When such contention arises in a local congregation, the church will suffer the most. The trouble with most of our churches of Hungarian-American background is that we cannot turn this liability into our asset. We consider the Hungarian features of our fellowship in terms of a load, encumbrance, or stigma of which we should rid ourselves. We do not realize that we can lay claim to a large number of people, appealing to their background. By the same token, the presence of the English speaking brethren suggests the blending into the American spiritual milieu, and the two strands must complement and supplement each other within the framework of one congregation, instead of acting as separating forces. The American- Hungarian problem is not a language problem, but a problem of faith and love. PRIORITY NO. 3. In the USA there are approximately half-a-thousand denominations. Each has its own peculiar features. We are endowed with numerous constructive characteristics which sustained us in the past and will serve us in the future. Let us not underestimate our particular capabilities and consider ourselves a remnant and leftover from the past, a relic. Regrettably, we seldom exercise our “good” endowments, such as warmth, friendliness, hospitality, helpfulness, to name a few. Let us make our church services inviting and irresistable for the newcomers. Let them feel at home and welcome in our midst. Create an atmosphere that is uniquely Christian and compassionately human. We do possess such endowments, and until my dying days, 1 cannot understand why we don’t practice them. People are tossed to and fro, from pillar to post, in this newfangled modern age; they are rootless, they are
