Magyar Egyház, 1995 (74. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1995 / 2. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9. oldal DECLARATION AND MESSAGE OF THE CONSULTATIVE SYNOD OF THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCHES The Consultative Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Churches was established, to the glory of the Blessed Trinity of the Holy Eternal God, in the days of April 19-22 in Debrecen and held its first working session in Budapest. It gives thanks to God that it may, among the rich traditions of the centuries of its history, remember, as its predecessors, the similar Synods of 1567 and 1881. These synods created confessions, brought about common ecclesiastic organizations and dealt with questions of liturgy and education. The Synod is willing to continue practicing this lofty tradition, in responsibility before God and in love to the Reformed Church. The participants of the Consultative Synod of the Hungarian Reformed churches testify that they are members of the church reformed in accordance with God’s Word expressed in the Holy Scripture. They recognize as their only master the Lord Jesus Christ. They confess all this in unity, in the spirit of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) and the Second Helvetian Confession (1566). They protect and maintain the unity of our Church in the name of solicitous love. The Hungarian Reformed Church lives in the frameworks of a popular church, with the vocation of the Gospel, to become an ever more confessional church, but without losing its character as a popular church. Our Church is reformed Christian and our being reformed Hungarians is defined by our faith, the grace of God and the exclusiveness of the Holy Scripture in Christ, solely to the Glory of God. Our being Hungarian is manifested in our faithfulness to our cultural and lingual tradition. Even in our dispersedness, and being torn into pieces, we preserve the unity of our spiritual Israel. In the possession of this, we endeavor to enrich both the community of the Reformed churches and the universal human treasures. In this spirit our Synod wishes to collaborate with both the world organizations of the reformed people and the ecumenical bodies. Especially in the era of grace given after 1989, the contact of the church and the schools is very important for us. In the matter of our schools we took a stand in accordance with this conviction. We believe that our Synod has its ordered time and destiny, and will be able to fulfill it. Our Synod strives to understand and follow, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, God’s history forming work, and its own place in it; recognizing its task, to work for the growth of the Kingdom of God. Our Synod sends its salutations to all the Hungarian Reformed congregations, scattered about in the world, and prays for the blessings of God on their lives and services, putting the Word into their heart: “Preserve the treasure entrusted to you, by the Holy Spirit living in our souls.” The Consultative Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Churches The lay delegates: elders and chief elders THE LETTER OF CONGRATULATIONS SENT BY ÁRPÁD GÖNCZ, PRESIDENT OF THE HUNGARIAN REPUBLIC I congratulate wholeheartedly all those present at the formal Divine Service today, a few days after the greatest feast of Christianity. I first of all thank you for your invitation. Although my official duties call me elsewhere, I shall be with you in spirit. It can, by no means, be denied that we are badly in want of brotherly shaking hands, and of love. If love exists, it brings us to understanding. I know, your present assembling has been preceded by a lot of cumbersome labor. However, your wish that the reformed Hungarians, scattered about in the world, should be granted the relieving of tensions and remedies of their pains, achieved its end. We, who gained one fatherland from fate, should serve our common benefit by supporting each other in love, and by maintaining our brotherly communities. If we keep the hands of one another, also the protecting hands of Christ will be with us. Let us pray that he should not lose our hands, and should give us strength to preserve our freedom, to get rid of coldheartedness, and the fetters of hate, and do find the way to universal love, towards the sunshine of humane love of charity. Let all of us pray for this together.
