Magyar Egyház, 1973 (52. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1973-08-01 / 8-9. szám

8

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

MAGYAR

“MY CHURCH AND I”

A lecture delivered by Richard Heyz, the chief elder of the Hungarian Reformed Church of Duquesne at the Laymen’s Conference of the Hungarian Reformed Churches of Pittsburgh and Vicinity.

Clergy and Laymen of the Hungarian Protestant Churches of the Pittsburgh area and guests!

This is indeed an honor to address you this afternoon on the topic “My Church and I”. At a preconference meeting of this Association, it was suggested that maybe having a layman address the Conference, it might just create a little more interest among us. After a few names were suggested, the Committee asked me if I would care to make 6uch an address. Sometimes it is hard to express in words what the heart feels about one’s church. It was suggested that I speak at will on the topic “My Church And I” and the various sub-topics listed in your guideline. However, with your permission, I would like to deviate from the sub-topics and speak only on the topic “My Church And I”, what my church means to me as a Magyar Reformed Christian, its problems, and what I hope will be her future.

Before I begin, I would like to say that this text is of my own personal opinion, without influence from anyone else. Also, I would like to give you a lew of my qualifications. First, I’m proud of my Magyar heritage, I thank God for my Magyar Reformed Christian grandparents and parents who always made me aware of that heritage. I attend my church regularly, I support her financially to the best of my ability, and when called upon, I serve her to the best of my ability. I have served as her chief elder for five years, and after a short two years absence I again serve her in the same capacity, with honor only to her, her traditions and her ideas.

And now for my text.-------o—.—

Articles may be read in our everyday newspapers about hardships suffered by people of different races and color throughout this country. But if we Magyar Reformed Christians would reveal our history, there would he no comparison at all.

CHURCH

For instance, in the year 1526, when the Reformed teachings were beginning to take hold in Hungary and the country was ripe for the Reformed faith, the Turkish invaders overran the country and reduced its population by 200,000. You can say that the invaders gave the Magyar Christians strength, for it brought together the common peasant and the nobility, uniting to resist the Turkish invaders. During this period so strong was the Reformed faith that by the end of the 16th century 90% of Hungary was Protestant.

The years of 1671-1681 were known to Magyar Reformed Christians as the ten years of mourning. During those years ministers and teachers were summoned by courts of the land and accused of disloyalty, treason and defamation of the Roman Catholic Church. They were threatened with torture and death, and they were given the choice of becoming Roman Catholics, resigning their charges, or leaving the country. Of the 400 summoned, 89 refused every threat and were sold as galley slaves.

And, as we bring history within our time, and here I speak of the first and the second generations, we look at the first World War, when 2/3 of Hungary was cut-off the motherland, and given to the neighboring countries, consequently a large number of Hungarian Reformed Christians found themselves living in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia. So, you see, Brethren, from just a few pages of her proud history, we Magyar Reformed Christians have suffered.

Let us turn to the Magyar Reformed Christian of today. All of us know that the Reformed Church is guided by the Heidelberg Catechism and the Second Helvetic Confession, two creeds that have kept the Hungarian Reformed Church united for over 400 years. As the Holy Bible gives us faith and trust in the word of God, these two creeds add strength to that faith and trust in the every day life of the Magyar Reformed Christian. Our church’s traditions and ideas were brought to America by our forefathers and even with their language barrier she began to grow. We are supposed to he a progressive church, growing with knowledge. We of the third and fourth generations have bettered ourselves. But, ask yourselves the