Calvin Synod Herald, 2001 (102. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2001-07-01 / 7-8. szám
4 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD Bishops Erdélyi, Tokes Elected Presidents Hungarian Synod and Federation Bishop Vitéz Re-elected Vice President Two meetings in Hungary and Romania drew Hungarian Reformed delegates from around the planet in July. In both, the election of officers highlighted their international character. Gathering first, the Hungarian Reformed Consultative Synod met at Nagykoros, in southeastern Hungary, on July 2 and 3. It was followed immediately by the Hungarian Reformed World Federation assembly on the outskirts of Nagyvarad (Orodea), Romania, July 4 to 6. The Synod gathers delegates only from ecclesiastical Hungarian Reformed bodies, such as our Calvin Synod. The Federation draws together churches and also such other non-ecclesiastical groups as the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America and similar associations. The Rev. Dr. Géza Erdélyi, Bishop of Slovakia’s Reformed churches, was elected the new President of the Synod to succeed Bishop Kalman Csiha from Transylvania who has retired. Days later the Federation reelected Dr. László Tokes, Bishop of western Romania, to continue as President. It also chose the Rev. Dr. Lorant Hegedűs, Bishop from Budapest, to serve as its Administrative President. Calvin Synod’s own Bishop Emeritus, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Francis Vitéz, was reelected as Vice-President, along with Bishop Mihály Markus, Bishop István Csete-Szemesi, and Chief Elder Daniel Szabó. Mr. Zsolt Semjen, a Secretary of Hungary’s national cabinet, was at Nagykoros to address the Synod. He pointed out, in words that reflected a perspective shared by President Bush, the opportunity for the churches and the government to cooperate in programs beneficial to the citizens of Hungary, and also Hungarians beyond its borders in the neighboring countries. (While ten million Hungarians live within its current borders, Hungary continues to express its concern for the five million Hungarians who live nearby, often prohibited from using their ancestral language and deprived economically educationally, culturally and in freedom of religion.) Bishop Csiha’s outgoing remarks included a response challenging Milan Opocensky of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, who had charged that the Synod was a nationalistic organization with narrow ethnic interests designed to restore pre-Trianon Hungary. Dr. Csiha noted that the Synod was not a newly conceived political organization, but in fact had met before World War II, and was unable to reconvene afterward because of the atheistic Communist regime. The current session, the second gathering since the Russian troops departed, serves to underline the theological, liturgical, historical and ecclesiastical unity of the Hungarian Reformed churches wherever they are in the world. He also noted the strides that were made in the printing of books, a new hymnal, and development of a common liturgy. The churches cooperation to alleviate the drastic effects of the floods in the Carpathia area was pointed out, including the donation of a farm combine and a plant for pure drinking water. During the Federation’s electoral process, it was necessary for President Tokes to yield the Chair and Bishop Vitéz, as Vice President, assumed the gavel. It must be said that his eighty years did not show as he led the session, including a contest for the presidency, with admirable dignity and capability. Calvin Synod was also represented at both meetings by the Rev. Albert W. Kovács. The American Hungarian Reformed Ministerial Association sent its representative to the Federation’s session, the Rev. Peter L. Toth of Chicago. Statistics revealed at the Synod noted that its constituent Hungarian Reformed denominations include 3029 churches, 1266 diaspora centers and 2469 ministers. In its elections, Mr. István Szabó, of the HRCA, was elected a Vice President also. In addition to the Synods of Hungary and its immediate neighbors, there were other delegates present from Argentina, Sweden, Netherlands and other countries as well as Canada and the United States. □ Conservative, Confessional and Moderate congregations have been hesitant in raising their voices and expressing their opinions, allowing the minority to shape and promote policies which don’t always represent the entire church body. The position of Calvin Synod was eloquently and firmly expressed by our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Louis Medgyesi, in connection with the opposition to the SIECUS Declaration, resolutions #1 and #2, which were adopted at the Calvin Synod Annual Meeting in May 2001, in Somerset, PA. I was reelected to serve for six more years on the Executive Council and the Board of Directors of the General Ministries of the UCC, which will give me the opportunity to express and promote the position of Calvin Synod and our Reformed faith. Rt. Rev. Bela Poznan Rt. Rev. Bela Poznan Reports on UCC General Synod Meets In Kansas City Re-elected to Executive Council As a representative of Calvin Synod, serving on the Executive Council of the United Church of Christ, I would like to share some observations of GS 23 held in Kansas City Missouri. The meeting was held together with the Disciples of Christ, providing ecumenical fellowship among the two denominations. The Disciples are more conservative than the UCC and it was evident in their vote for or against resolutions. Among the six thousand congregations of the UCC, only fifteen hundred are liberal. The majority, the Evangelical,
