Calvin Synod Herald, 2017 (118. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2017-07-01 / 7-8. szám
6 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD life devote to “prayer and to serving the word” (Acts 6: 4). S/he is to administer the sacraments and rites of the church, and to exercise pastoral care and leadership on a global level. S/he oversees the local pastoral ministry of the presbyters and deacons. S/he is the one who anchors the churches to the apostles and to God by keeping “sound doctrine” (Tit 2:1 and 10). In this sense, the episcopos is an identity marker for the church. Her/his main task is to guard the “authenticity” of everyday church life alongside with her/his coworkers, the presbyters and deacons. In other words, my proposal is to keep the Biblical/traditional threefold ordination model of the (1) episkopos/overseer: the trained theologian and leader, the mark of orthodoxy, who has a full time position; (2) presbyter/elder: one who is theologically educated into a certain level, but not a “professional” expert, and might or might not receive salary; and (3) deacon: one who is ordained to help the presbyter/elder and the episcops/overseer with full authority when they are not present in a given church. Please do not hung on to the titles, we need to re-think what these three does anyway. The episcopos!overseer would be a fulltime position, but her/his salary would be provided by a group of churches which make a covenant with her/him and with each other (the group could be as big as a current Association). The presbyter/elder would be responsible for one church (or, depending on the size of the church, it would have more than one presbyter). As I stated above, the presbyter/elder might or might not receive financial compensation, depending on her/his task. The deacon would be a non-salary position, but with compensations. I also would like to comment on the notion of the various gifts of the Spirit or the so-called charismata. I think that the re-visioned MOM makes a category mistake when eliminate the difference between charismata and ordinated ministry. Although an ordained minister should have charismatic gifts (even as a sign of her/his calling into ordained ministry) the two are not the same. I agree with Kärkkäinen that the “ordained ministry, which is itself a charism, must not become a hindrance to the variety of these charisms.”20 Second, I would like to point out that eliminating the difference we actually limit the Spirit. We need to give freedom and place for the charismata. They are not ordained, but empowered by God through the special gifts of the Spirit—their gift—and recognized by the body. No need for ordination for them. As a matter of fact, ordination would be a hindrance for them to live to the full capacity of their gifts. An ordained minister is limited by the fact that they represent the UCC. We need to keep ordained ministry and charismata somewhat distinctive for the sole reason of not “quenching” the Spirit (1 Thess 5: 19). Rev. Viktor Toth 'However, no one goes to seminary because of the prospect of financial gain (those days are long gone). 1 spent the last fifteen years in different seminary settings and never met anyone who had such expectation. All of us start on this journey because we have a strong sense of calling into ministry. 2John Dorhauer, Beyond Resistance: The Institutional Church Meets the Postmodern World (Chicago, IL: Exploration Press, 2015), 16. He elaborates his ideas about authorized ministry in Chapter 5. "There are very good and well needed proposals in the document (e.g., the more covenantal approach to ordained ministry). 4This second section is highly influenced by the work of my doctoral mentor, Dr Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen; especially the fifth volume of his systematic work: A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World: Hope and Community (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2017), chap. 18. 5I do not want to go into details about his mistaken view here. I only state that I have been studying postmodemity for five years under the mentorship of people like Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen and Nancey Murphy. Both are renowned experts on this issue, and their evaluation on this issue is far from Dohauer’s (he seems to make a category mistake by making a close link between postmodemity and the reform movements of the 60-70s in the US). 6Yet, even today the Cohenites and Levites have a role in the worship of the synagogue system. 7The Greek word etttoKoirrj sometimes translated “bishop” other times “overseer.” I will use “overseer” throghout this article, becouse the word “bishop” bacame theologically loaded. 'Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistle to the Philadelphians, 4. ’Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistle to the Magnesians, 6. '“Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1997), 372-73. "Kärkkäinen, 403. l2See for example: ibid., subtitle, 499. "Ibid.. 409. 14Ibid„ 415-16. "Ibid., 341. "Dorhauer, chap. 2. "Kärkkäinen, 410. "Cited in ibid., 414. "Ibid., 415. 20Ibid., 504. Performance of the Reformed School Choir of Pecs You are cordially invited to the performance of the Reformed School Choir of Pecs on Thursday, August 17, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hungarian Reformed Church of Lorain and on Friday, August 18, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the First Hungarian Reformed Church of Walton Hills. The 40-member choir travels throughout Hungary and to Hungarians, living in the diaspora throughout the year. This is the first time that they will perform in North America. The choir will dedicate this performance for commemorating and celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. The program will provide beautiful and quality performance both in Hungarian and English. For more information, please visit our website at www.firsthunrefchurch.org or call us at 440-786-7272. I