Calvin Synod Herald, 2017 (118. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2017-07-01 / 7-8. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 3 normal cycle every human being goes through. Bread is a very important source in our lives. It satisfies the need for energy and provides the essential nutrients we need in order to keep the whole human body functioning. Hunger is the call of the body for energy. Jesus, however, points beyond this cycle of the body to a deeper hunger. He points to something no bread will ever be able to satisfy. Bread cannot fulfill the emptiness of a human spirit and soul. Bread cannot satisfy our inner need, in a sense of meaning and purpose, of getting the answer to who we really are, and of where we will get one day. Bread cannot fill these inner needs. We can try to fill our lives with work, hoping that achievement along with success and career will make that inner hunger and desire go away. However, sooner or later we realize that they do not work, because the harder we work, the hungrier we get. Additionally, none of the recreational therapy can fill the hole in us. It does not matter either how many relationships or friends that we may have. We may try to find in the others what we are lacking in ourselves, however, after a while we may realize that the spiritual vacuum in the soul is still there. How come then that nothing seems to work? There is no food that fills that hunger. No drug or alcohol can take away the nagging hunger for something more, something real, and something more permanent. Human beings are essentially spiritual creatures. We are all eternal beings. Our life was given by God. This life carries on long after the body dies. Therefore as eternal beings we must have a relationship with God. Without the connection to the Holy Source we will never be able to find true sense of peace, well-being, purpose, and security. Christ wants to feed us with the Manna of the end times. It is God’s Bread that came down from heaven to us, to His people. Jesus comes into your life as pure gift. He took the first step toward you. He purchased your freedom through His suffering and death, by giving His body and blood on the cross. He loves you. He hears your cry and prayers, and cares about you, and wants to direct your life’s path. He says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (Jn 6:35). Those who accept this statement, who believe in Christ and trust in Him, they will experience the truth and reality of this statement. They will receive the living Bread, the Bread of Life that feeds us to eternal life. Amen. Yours in Christ, Rt. Rev. Dr. Csaba Krasznai Bishop Re-Visioned Ministry Apropos of the Proposed Changes of the Manual on Ministry In a few weeks, the United Church of Christ USA will have its thirty-first General Synod in Baltimore, MD. There are twenty-one resolutions and formal motions submitted for consideration. Among them is a prudential resolution calling for a period of engagement and reflection with the “re-visioned” Manual on Ministry (MOM) prior to presenting Constitution and Bylaws recommendations at General Synod in 2019. The material under discernment is the outcome of the work of the Habakkuk Group, which is a diverse working group, established in 2013. The writer of this article was present at the AM21 (Authorized Ministry for the Twenty-first Century) conference held in San Antonio, TX, from November 30 to December 3, 2016. The attendees of the San Antonio conference heard a series of presentations on the new MOM. In the present article, first, I reflect on what I think the most important change in the MOM, that is the matter of ordination and ordained ministry. Then, I present a short overview on the traditional tenets of ordained/ professional ministry and its indications. I finish the article with my constructive proposal on the issue. Leveling the Filed: Toward a New Kind of Ordained Ministry I think it is natural to ask, why should we change the MOM? The answer is short: because the existing MOM is based on an already outdated system. Currently there are three forms of authorized ministry in the UCC: commissioned minister, licensed minister, and ordained minister. A commissioned minister is authorized to perform specific church-related ministry. A licensed minister is authorized “to perform specific duties in a designated local church or within that Association, mainly preaching and conducting services of worship for a designated time” (UCC Bylaws). An ordained minister is authorized to preach and teach the gospel, to administer the sacraments and rites of the church, and to exercise pastoral care and leadership. In ideal circumstances an ordained minister is a highly trained professional, who holds a Master of Divinity degree, which is one of the most expensive and timeconsuming master’s degree to obtain. It is natural that the person who puts so much effort and money to obtain such degree also supposing to get a job where her/his efforts pay back.1 They are preparing for fulltime ministry with
