Magyar Egyház, 1975 (54. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1975-04-01 / 4. szám

6

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

mission outposts in the new world. It hoped to be able to transfer them as a group under the protection of some reformed denomination in America. The mother Church, in its hour of need, also dreamed that its mission outpost, acting in conjunction with other reformed bodies in America, could come to its support. As a result, the mother Church in Hungary turned down the suggestion of its chief representative in America for solving the crisis at hand.

As the first step in solving the financial crisis, the General Konventus in Hungary, on the recommendation of its ministers in America, freed each congregation from its required association with the Hungarian Reformed Church in Hungary. As a second step, on October 7, 1920 in Tiffin, Ohio at a meeting of the Hungarian Reformed congregations, it was decided to recommend affiliation with the Reformed Church in America. The Reformed Church was to pay the debts owed to the ministers and pay the debts the individual churches owed to the General Konventus. The mother Church in Hungary thought the Tiffin agreement was the only possible course of action its individual congregations could take in America. László Ravasz, president of the General Konventus, expressed the hope that each congregation would accept this agreement and, as a group, affiliate with and come under the protection of the older, larger North American church that had already shown its good will toward its brethren. The Tiffin agreement, however, was not accepted by all the individual congregations. As a result, the Hungarian Reformed Church was divided and an unhappy struggle began that was to rage for decades.

Those congregations that did not adhere to the Tiffin agreement went their separate ways and, under the leadership of Endre Sebestyen, in 1924, formed a new denomination — The Independnet Hungarian Reformed Church in America. Despite the fact that there were no differences in doctrine, the mother Church in Hungary refused to give official recognition to The Independent Hungarian Reformed Church in America until 1938. Since the 1950’s, the representatives of the old mother Church and its independent offspring frequently meet as observers and/or participants at various international meetings. The days of conflict over old issues are no longer a barrier to communication.

The conflict between the independents and the affiliated of the formerly united Hungarian Reformed Church has continued much longer. In these years of conflict between two groups sharing a common heirtage, the fighting spirit of the Hungarians was harnessed and both groups advanced their cause independently. During this first half century, seven independent churches have closed their doors, as their members moved away to new distant neighborhoods or were called to their heavenly home. Despite these losses, our denomination has grown to its present size of twenty-two churches as well as associated churches and missions. THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA today carries the names of forty-five ministers on its roster even though some of them are presently serving outside of our member churches.

Within the past decade, there has come a reconciliation between the independents and the affiliated churches. The graet battles are over; the heroes have gone home; we give thanks and honor to those who have served and are still with us. We give them thanks, for the love they have shown to their church for which they were willing to fight and make every necessary sacrifice to sustain and preserve. We share with the affiliated churches the special meaning that the Hungarian language brings to our religion. During the past 400 years, it was through the Hungarian language that our ancestors gave faith its distinct flavor and heritage. We would like to transmit this sacred faith, we hold and confess, to future generations, Hungarians and all others, who wish to share with us this 400-year heritage that the Holy Ghost has nurtured and preserved in our souls. It is our common heritage that reminds us that in our sorrowful, troubled history our strength and refuge was always in the Hungarian Reformed faith.

When The Independent Hungarian Reformed Church in America was organized in 1924, it started off with a detailed Constitution and Bylaws to guide the denomination. In these documents, the requirements for church membership, holding office and the need for all members to provide for the material support of the church were detailed. One of the historical traditions preserved was the requirement that the Church’s ministers wear a common religious vestment. This has always set the ministers of our Church apart at various gatherings where they have had to wear their formal vestment. In addition, there were other basic premises that guided the Church: each member church shall have full control over its material possessions; each member church shall not accept any missionary support from outside of the denomination. The denomination also tried to preserve the Church structure as it existed in the mother Church in Hungary. This last point has been modified a number of times in the Church’s fifty-year history.

The original Church organization was that of