Magyar Egyház, 2008 (87. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2008-04-01 / 2. szám

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MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

Hungarian Reformed Church in America

Bishop’s Council Meeting

June 6-7, 2008. Bethlen Home, Ligonier,PA Bishop’s Report

Dear Members of the Bishop’s Council,

Dear Chief Elder Beke,

Dear Pastors, Elders, Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ!

I greet warmly the regular and advisory members and guests of the the Bishop’s Council.

On behalf of the congregations of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America we kindly thank the brotherly hospitality of the Bethlen Home. God bless the service of the Bethlen Home.

As the years are going, we feel the need to stay close to God. It is always go to be with him, there is always life, makes me think of Moses, who encouraged his people in front of the promise land, with God’s words. “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendents may live ..." Deuteronomy 30:19.

Our progress is determined in part by our past. For nearly 100 years, we Hungarian Reformed congregations have lived out of a truth: in Christ Jesus, we are one. Since the beginning, we have voiced the validity of our mission, to pass the Word of God to our Hungarian brethren. Today one description of our way of sharing that good news is: we are Hungarian Reformed, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. God is calling us to him, in this broken and injured world, we do have to option to choose life. Choosing life is attitude. It is prayerfully focusing on God’s blessings; it is deciding to live according to God’s will. Choosing life is also action. It is caring for the body. For individuals, this means attention to exercise the faith. For church, caring for the body means attention to the covenant by which we are related to God and each other. This is our mission and our duty as Hungarian Reformed Churches.

Today because of economical and social changes, those living far away from the motherland and mother-church no longer call themselves immigrants but Hungarian communities live in Diaspora. Geographically, we could be in the same place, same country, and same group or divided into many groups, however it does not change that fact that we are all God’s children. The Hungarian Reformed Church, which has been distanced for a hundred years from the mother-church, is yearning for a welcoming embrace. In the new land, new generations have started on the path of the faith and our church following the planted seeds of the Word of God. The new generation has no attachment to the old, yet we believe it is our duty to continue our service in the new world. The church is the same today, the service has not changed, because it cannot, we have to spread the Word of God and we have to work for the Kingdom of God.

1. Connections

The variety of our service dictates the path of our work. Besides the most important service, we have to nurture the connection with our brethren. Besides being a member in many international church organizations, first we have to continue building our relationship with our brother church the Calvin Synod along with the Reformed Church in Hungary. Recently there have been advances made toward this goal in our churches.

a. Calvin Synod:

In the last month, I attended the conference of the Calvin Synod and made few motions regarding the connections between our Synods. As we stated, the Bishop’s Council of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America proposes to continue the unification discussions with the Calvin Synod. Every bishop has tried it for the past 80 years to unite the churches and have not been able to make any progress. We are forced to continue this, due to the diminishing Diaspora Hungarian communities. We have to sit down again and start from the beginning, working out every detail. In the past, these initiatives have come from the leaders, I think we could try

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to inform the congregations by holding seminars to educate them on the benefits of the unification and if there is interest, we can continue the talks.

It has been an old plan, to unite the two Hungarian Reformed church bodies; however, the only way we can achieve that union is by not creating obstacles ourselves. Last September in Ligonier,PA with Bishop Ludwig from the Calvin Synod, we discussed the future of the union of the two church bodies and urged him to start with this process as soon as we can, and suggested to begin this very important issue in the year of 2009, when the Reformed church family will commemorate the 500th birthday of John Calvin. On this occasion, celebrations across Europe and all over the world will demonstrate the important legacy of the great Reformer and its continued relevance for the contemporary world. I think our plan to make the unification of our church bodies could be a good part of this occasion. We have to sit down with the elders, pastors and officers to discuss in this matter.

In connection with the Calvin Jubilee, I warmly greet the initiative of the Dean and pastors of the Eastern Classis, to start the Calvin Jubilee together with the Hungarian Reformed Church in America and the Calvin Synod on October 12, this year. I am convinced that the Jubilee of this great reformer can become an occasion of renewal of the Reformed church family as well as of common Reformed witness worldwide, including our Hungarian churches. I ask the pastors, elders and members of the congregations of our Synod and the Calvin Synod to be part of this process.

Regarding the resolution of our Bishop’s Council, I proposed a joint Ministerial Qualifying Committee be for in partnership with the Calvin Synod.

Also regarding the resolution of our Bishop’s Council, I proposed a joint publication with the Calvin Synod be put into circulation. This would help the union of the two church bodies.

B. Reformed Church in Hungary:

I started a discussion with the elders of the Reformed Church in Hungary in 2007. 1 ask our Synod for the continued participation and support of the Consultative Convent of the Hungarian Reformed Churches. As we know, we have membership in this organization that brings together Hungarian Reformed Churches around the world. As it is known, the Rt. Rev. Janos Büttösi former bishop of the Calvin Synod and the Rt. Rev. Kalman Csiha, bishop of the Transylvanian Synod were the initiators of this very important organization, which needs the membership dues and donations from the member churches, so it can continue its work. I was elected as the new managing president of this organization in 2007.

There is a new organization that unites Hungarian churches operating in countries bordering Hungary; this is the General Convent of the Carpathian Basin. We received informative letter from the elders of the Synod regarding the services of the General Convent, we are looking forward to make any connection with them.

Recently I have received notification from the elders of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary, in which they invite our Synod to the Diaspora Conference and Synod meeting in Budapest between November 15, and November 22, 2008. I suggest that representative attend the conference from our Synod, so we can give a presentation on the Hungarian Churches in the United States and the Hungarian communities that live in Diaspora.

The letter also informs the status about students on scholarships in the US, the general membership in the Reformed Church in Hungary and status of new pastors, who would like to serve in the US. The Elders of the Synod suggest us to order more “Reformátusok Lapja” official weekly newspaper from Hungary for our congregations.

2008 is the “Year of the Bible”. This is very important to call the attention of the congregations to organize Bible Days or exhibitions about the Scripture.

2. Constitution and By-Laws:

It is also important that after the Holy Scripture and our Confessions, we use and obey our Church’s By-Laws and regulations