Calvin Synod Herald, 1982 (82. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1982-02-01 / 1. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

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REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

dominance, yet allowing minority identity for the Croats and others to continue (native language schools, etc.). But the extreme class and religious differences remained as habit, stifling creativity and progress in many ways. At the close of the 19th century, Hungary remained a reluctant part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its internal conditions nearly feudal for the majority of its people. Clearly, though, the just causes of human liberty, and the idealistic patriotism of those seeking

We have seen the basic historical context of the Hungarian to be one of unhappy economic suppression and political frustration, to say the least. His attitudes toward church and state were unavoidably combined. In Hungary, both church and state exercised a stern authority, and their combined power often meant severe political and economic oppression of the poor. But the New World provided opportunity for revitalized attachments and new understandings of achievement and freedom. From very meager beginnings in 1871, the tide of Hungarian emigration to the U.S.A. reached a peak in 1907, but was heavy throughout the early years of the 20th century. For the most part, the attitude of the Hungarian government was that good citizens/churchmen go to America only to amass a fortune and then come home again. Between 1900-1914, about onequarter of the emigrants did just that. But many were what the Hungarian government would term “troublemakers,” i.e., those (1) who had a mind of their own and (2) who escaped for good the heavy hand of Hungarian “justice” (oppression).

The earliest Hungarian Protestant congregation permanently formed in this country was that of our First Church, gathered in 1891 in Cleveland. Father Boehm formed the first Hungarian Catholic Church in Cleveland in 1892 and followed suit in other cities such as McKeesport, Bridgeport, Toledo and South Bend. Some Old World problems clung to the new immigrants, such as Slavic domination of churches which was still characteristic of the Austrian controlled monarchy bea progressive new order, were heavily intertwined with the tenets and aspirations of the Protestant Christian churches. Separating political and spiritual realities was hardly a simple task for the Hungarian Christian. The matrix of his worldly suffering and hope for hundreds of years had been in both political and religious terms. The line was indeed thin between fierce loyalty to Protestant truth and the emotional yearning for national salvation.

fore World War I. And at first the Hungarian government had some influence on the churches here through control of pastoral salaries. Gradually these direct official ties weakened.

Hungary is predominantly Catholic, but Protestants make up more than one-quarter of the church population and most of them are Calvinist in their historical/ theological roots. In the modern period, Protestants tended to play a role in Hungary’s history out of proportion to their numbers. Protestant leaders included Count Tisza (pre- W.W. I), Admiral Nicholas Horthy (inter-bellum period), and Zoltán Tildy, President of Republican Hungary and an ex-clergyman. Whatever the signs of changing conditions in the old country, however, the American immigrants naturally faced a different set of problems and opportunities.

As the home country influence waned in America in the first quarter of the 20th century, Hungarians turned to their other American co-religionists for support and structural integrity. The Reformed Church in America through Andrew Moody, a Scotsman, helped, as did the Presbyterian Church, although its motives were poorly understood. Some effort to create an all-Hungarian Protestant Church in America was also made, but without lasting success. During World War I, the “joined” churches were taken over by the American Alien Property custodian—and then after the War absorbed by the American Reformed Church as part of the Tiffin Agreement. By 1930, Hungarian Protestants fell into these major groups:

the largest, the Reformed Church in the U.S., divided into Eastern, Central and Western Districts; the Presbyterian Church (East), mostly centered in New York City under Reverend László Harsányi; the Independent American Hungarian Church; those joined to the Protestant Episcopal Church; the Southern Presbyterian; and smaller congregations of Baptists, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists and finally the Unitarians.

Cleveland was (proportionately) the greatest concentration of Hungarian immigrants in 1920, through New York City led in absolute numbers (76,575). The pioneer First Church since its formation in 1891 has had only five pastors, and has seen waves of immigrants come in about the same frequency—the early settlers, the pre-War, post- World War I, post-World War II, the 1956 revolution, and in smaller but steady numbers, the escapees from Communist-controlled Hungary. Each type has brought differing views of the old country, differing expectations of the new land, but all have the same universal need and human limitations.

What of the minister’s role in this type of ethnic church in America? Those dealing with the new immigrant cast into an alien land know that the strength of such churches often begins with the genuine seeking of frightened souls coping with the rigors of a new life. The loss of the former security of the old homeland can create a void wherein “even the ‘strong’ seek God’s presence.” They have also learned that just keeping alive Hungarian roots is a losing battle if corresponding adaptation to the new dominant culture is not stressed. An obsession with the Hungarian language and traditions can become the principal cult of the church. Unless enlightened growth from the depths of spiritual commitment to the gospel is first, then the self-interest of the Pastor and people may predominate in their building of loyalty to a Hungarian congregation. Turning inward, opportunities are lost, people turned away, relevance for youth and other newcomers clouded. The fear of “letting go” of the old ways which have so personally defined one’s identity is understandable. But the

The Modern Period and The American Experience