Magyar Egyház, 1954 (33. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)
1954-12-01 / 12. szám
18 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ ENGLISH SECTION On Our Thirtieth Anniversary Every time we reach an important milestone we should pause for a moment to acknowledge God’s gracious care for us and to express our thanks to Him. At this time this milestone is the thirtieth anniversary of the Free Magyar Reformed Church in America. It was here in Duquesne that our Church was founded on December 9, 1924. Thirty years are not too many in the history of a denomination. Yet it is an important milestone for us members, and for the American Hungarian Reformed Christians in general. We are at the crossroads; we have important decisions to make. We could drift, and drift we would, unless we set forth our aims, examine our position, and reexamine our relationship to others. Therefore, we must know who we are, what are our aims and how will they be met, so that through our life, work and efforts, God’s name be glorified. I. The understanding of our own selves is of prime importance. We are Christians with a background of historical Calvinism, spiritual offsprings of the Reformed Church in Hungary. As individual believers in Christ, we are sinners justified by His blood; we profess to be “new creatures” in Christ fighting our daily battles with our “old selves”, being born anew daily, and we profess to be pupils of Biblical Christianity as it was interpreted by John Calvin and his followers, and accepted by our mother-church. We speak of our Hungarian Reformed background, and rightly so. To deny it, would be theologically misleading and psychologically a grave mistake; it would deny the diversities in creation as well as the diversities of gifts of the Spirit, and it would uproot our historical anchorage in fast moving times and situations. To call ourselves Hungarian Reformed is not a nationality question. People of various other nationalities, finding their spiritual home with us, will unknowingly and unquestionably share this heritage. It is not a question of self-preservation either, nor prolonging of Hungarian church life in America, it is a natural piece in the mosaic-like American Christianity, without losing our distinguishing marks of faith and order.. The name, Free Magyar, had a significant meaning thirty years ago in its Hungarian usage. The emphasis was on our independence from any other denominations. In English the name may be quite misleading, it suggests a group separated from an original church-body, whereas this is not the case. The birth of our Church took place on American soil as the historical moment presented itself, when the spiritual mother and the would-be-adopted mother were talking about the future of the child. The child (some Hungarian Reformed congregations) felt herself old enough to decide her own faith after about thirty years of growing pains and maternal negligence. Had the founders of the Free Magyar Reformed Church in America chosen the name “Hungarian Reformed Church in America”, it would have declared in name, too, of being the only “Hungarian-Reformed church on our continent. The use of the same name by other groups was a well-meaning misrepresentation and face saving toward the older generations. The fact is that some congregations, according to their choice, are Presbyterian, or Evangelical and Reformed. In meetings where the three largest groups are represented, it is misleading to use the same name as if it were a common tie. Whereas the acknowledgment of difference might serve a firmer start for a basis of common agreement. It is more honest and practical to state that we differ and then strive to agree than to state we are the same only to find that we differ. The writer will find an opportunity to discuss whether the relationship between the Hungarian groups represent useful diversity or sinful division. At the present only the mere fact of who we are, and not what we should be, is stated. The diversities of our Faith and Order are being clarified more and more, as we all follow the “denominational line” in our teaching and youth work, as well as in our form of worship. These do not necessarily mean greater separation from each other in spirit, they only clarify our position. The basic confessional standards, the form of worship, the place of tradition, the spiritual and mental attitude, etc., collectively create that branch of Christianity which we call Hungarian- Reformed. (Statistical data as to who we are may be found in the “General Information” about our Church.) II. It is also important to clarify our aims. It would be improper to ask the Episcopal or the Presbyterian Church, “What are your aims”, unless we meant to ask them as representatives of the Christian Church. The fact that we are small and being a fraction of the socalled Hungarian Reformed People in America (and for that reason looked upon as a rival group rather than co-workers in the vineyard), we often have to answer the question, veiled or unveiled. As part of the one Holy Universal (Catholic) Church, our Church’s primary aim is that of the whole Church. (There is no need here to give a thesis on the purpose and function of the Church.) Our secondary aims include the perpetuation of the Christian doctrines as interpreted by the Reformed Church in Hungary, to continue the way of worshiping and form of church-government, etc., — not for the purpose of simply following tradition but because of realization of our people’s spiritual and psychological necessity, and to provide opportunity and occasion for
