Calvin Synod Herald, 2005 (106. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2005-09-01 / 9-10. szám
6 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD are satisfied with their lives, who are “lukewarm” in life. And I think this applies to us now, when we face a serious issue. “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” This IS THE TIME TO ACT! We are faced with an issue which is no longer theoretical, it is no longer “someone else’s problem”, it no longer “does not affect MY congregation.” A number of our own congregations are so incensed that they want to leave the UCC, thus, affects our community of Reformed congregations because it threatens to split us. It affects ALL our Reformed brothers and sisters in the UCC because it is a perversion which is pleasing to those with “itchy ears” who are leading our Reformed brethren astray. It affects ALL our Christian Brothers and sisters of ALL heritages and backgrounds, those without a true “pastor” as they are being led away from their own heritage to a “bumper sticker” theology. I too believe that “God is still speaking” - an excellent “bumper sticker” concept. But the small print missing in the UCC campaign is this: * “God told us that WE, in the last 30 years, are the first to truly understand His word. * The authors of the Scriptures, the Prophets, Jesus himself didn’t get it. * Over 3,000 years of Jewish relationship with God was based on a misunderstanding. * 2,000 years of Roman Catholic theology, 1,100 years of Orthodox Church theology, almost 500 years of Lutheran and Calvinist theology were wrong, as is the understanding of ALL denominations since then.” But this is too much to fit on a “bumper sticker.” And had it been presented in this honest, straightforward way, all Christians would have said “NO!” But for 30 years we have been like the proverbial frog, in the pot of water. The water was cool at the time the frog was placed into the pot, so it didn’t jump out. And as the water got hotter, the frog didn’t notice it, since there is no rapid temperature change. Then before it noticed, the frog is cooked! The water is hot, and the “fine print” on the bumper sticker is screaming at us! But again I say, this is OUR CHURCH, yours and mine, entrusted to us by Christ. DO NOT DESERT it, leaving the legacy of our forefathers to those who would gladly “claim as their heritage” the theology of our ancestors (and all their money) for their own purposes. Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig Bishop, Calvin Synod Calvin Synod - UCC: The Facts Calvin Synod is not a “temporary conference” of the United Church of Christ, nor does it exist by “permission,” as erroneously suggested in a recent UCC email chatroom. In one General Synod after another, attacks have been made about its continued existence, with some insisting it must die. However, while it is not large, it is very much alive. Calvin Synod, in fact, never was and is not now an “acting conference” of the UCC, but remains unchanged as a Synod in its own right. Calvin Synod (originally named Magyar Synod) was one of the Synods of the Evangelical and Reformed Church. While it was the only Synod that rejected the merger with the Congregational Christian church, under E&R constitutional polity whenever three-quarters of the Synods ratified the merger all the Synods were automatically included - Magyar also. At the point of merger, all E&R Synod and CC Conferences retained their identity. The “Basis of Union and the Interpretations” together were the covenanting contract. It provided for merger of the area Synods and Conferences, when mutually agreeable. These were not to be a swallow-up of E&R into CC conferences, but completely new by union. However, there was no parallel structure for merger with the ethnic Magyar (Calvin) Synod. So it has not continued by permission as a temporary structure, but exists as a Synod in continuity - what it was, what it is and potentially can be in perpetuity. The words “temporary” or “acting conference” are nowhere in the merger documents, in reference to Calvin Synod. However, its name stood out like a sore thumb once the area synods and conferences aligned themselves (they did it, with the lines subsequently approved by the General Synod). About 1964 there was a strong push in the UCC leadership to squeeze Calvin Synod out of existence, and absorb its churches into the area Associations. It was strongly resisted by The Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Szabó and other presidents of the Synod, Synod officers and the weight of the Synod’s delegates. They refused to submit - true to their heritage as a freedom loving people: Nem! Nem! Soha! Yet, with a conciliatory effort to express covenantal unity the name was changed to “Calvin Synod Conference.” Unfortunately, even this was spumed by the denomination, which grudgingly acknowledges only an “acting conference.” Despite any other nomenclature, this remains a Synod - in historical continuity and in polity. But why is it so important for the larger conferences to swallow up the few churches in their areas? There is another more subtle motive underlying this, going back to the early days of immigration. Many efforts were made, well documented in extant books, to assimilate these brute foreigners of a lesser culture and to Americanize them. Obviously not everyone thought this way, although some newcomers also did and failed to teach their children their mother tongue, but significant numbers of the churches’ leadership did. The Hungarian churches were merged into the (German) Reformed Church in the United States following World War I, turned over by the Reformed Church of Hungary in the Tiffin Agreement of 1921. They became members of the area Synods.
