Calvin Synod Herald, 1976 (76. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1976-05-01 / 5-6. szám

REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

3

The State of the Synod The Bishop’s Report

I intend to give a brief account of our activities in six categories: (a) matters concerning our congregations; (b) matters concerning our church leaders; (c) matters concerning our classes and Synod; (d) matters concerning our relationship to ecclesiastical bodies; (e) matters concerning non-ecclesiastical entities; (f) miscellaneous matters.

1. MATTERS CONCERNING OUR CONGREGATIONS

I have to start with our congregations because this is the basic unit of the church. Pastor and Bishop, classis and Synod, yes even denominational boards and agencies are for the local church so that the gathered people of God may bear witness to God’s eternal purposes in faith and obedience all over the world.

What is the state of our congregations? The statistical signs are distressing. Beginning with the late 1960’s and continuing up to the present most Protestant denominations experience serious losses in membership. The Episcopal and the United Presbyterian Churches report a loss over 14%, United Methodists and the United Church of Christ have lost 8% and 9% respectively. Our Calvin Synod shares in this decline: while during the merger period (1941-56) we gained 1545 members in our 50 congregations, since then we lost 3262 (38.2%) and in 1975 the total membership of our 42 congregations stood at 5263. Even more painful is the loss of children: in 1956 our Sunday School enrollment was 3371, 20 years later it is 1226, a loss of 63%. Church attendance has also declined all across the land. Presently 55% of the Roman Catholics and 38% of the Protestants attend church in any given Sunday; I am afraid we share in this record too . . . Even in mission giving the picture is bleak. While in 1960, still in the E&R framework, we could give $26,964 for denominational purposes, in 1974 it dropped to $3,194; it is true that during the same period of time our Synod mission giving increased from $1,100 to $13,025, but the total mission giving still decreased from $28,064 to $16,219 because the per capita quota also decreased from $11.32 to $7.25.

In any event, statistics indicate that not all is well with our congregations. The struggle for survival is not over — but now we have to struggle not against denominational threat, but against the “Hungarian Hell Among Us.” For this reason I consider imperative that we raise not only the per capita assessment on a more realistic and equitable basis, but that we also find ways that at least the Bishop would be freed to visit all of our congregations for guidance and spiritual assistance. I consider this a matter of life and death.

2. MATTERS CONCERNING OUR CHURCH LEADERS

If the present picture of our congregations is dismal, the situation among our pastors and lay-leaders is not better. A recent study shows that moral integrity is the first and foremost characteristic which congregation and general public expect of church leaders and ministers. The reports that I receive indicate that this is problematic among us, too. Moral turpitude, lack of self-discipline, violation of our by-laws and disregard to the covenant of ministerial code if not the ethical code of common decency, is prevalent among us and the name of God is blasphemed among the non-christians because of us. “What shall I say to you?” —

I ask with the Apostles. “Shall I command you in this? No, I will not!” (I Cor. 11:22) Lovelessness is never excusable among Christians, but a wicked tyranny in which the accuser, the witness and the judge are the same, is always shameful for the church, even if it is popular in the world. Those who claim the freedom of America and the autonomy of the United Church of Christ to justify such an attitude, must remember the scriptural injunction: “If you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one-another ... For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal. 5:1,11)

In order to help the situation I ask the Synod to provide financial resources for re-establishing the ministerial retreats. In addition I urge the classes to call together their church leaders for study, exchange of experiences, and joint action.

3. MATTERS CONCERNING CLASSES AND SYNOD

On that level, too, we have problems.

a. Leadership is one: we are struggling with the problem of full-time Bishop, because we want to live out our destiny in fuller and more meaningful way. The Conference Council slowed down the process somewhat not only because the last Synod meeting failed to make financial provision for two meetings of 16 persons, but also because we consider this question too important to act on it with undue haste or secrecy. However, I wish to hope that the Synod would act without undue delay to improve the present situation for the future of our common life.

b. Communication is another problem. A recent study of the Office of Communication showed how insufficient the communications flow is in the United Church of Christ. I am afraid the communication flow is not sufficient in the Calvin Synod either. In order to improve the situation I resumed publishing the Calvin Synod News. The resigned editor of the Calvin Synod Herald graciously consented to delay the implementation of his resignation pending again on the action of the Synod in regard to full-time Bishop.

c. Structure is certainly a problem. My esteemed predecessor launched an imaginative plan of realistic reorganization, and in some classes the seed seems to sprout. I urge all classes to examine this plan more thoroughly and do even the impossible or else we shall find where we cannot afford it. At the same time the Conference Council recommends to prepare a new publication of the Synod’s Constitution and By-laws so that we may be able to up-date it at an early time.

d. Investment is becoming a problem as you will learn from the Treasurer’s report.

e. But more important than leadership, communication, structure, and investment is the problem of mission, the fulfillment of our ministry, the participation in God’s plan. Surely, we have attempted several things: Youth Camp, diaspora work, etc:, but many more are the urgent tasks which we have not even started to tackle, or perhaps not even aware of their existence. The student aid, the booklet of our history and accomplishments, the internship program have already surfaced, but evidently we have to do it with a more comprehensive, thorough fashion. For this reason it would be advisable to authorize the Conference Council to prepare a plan of establishing priorities within our Synod, utilizing the attempts of other conferences such as the AVAR program, and to report it at the next Synod meeting for consideration.