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

1982-12-01 / 6. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

— 7 —

REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

PASTOR AND CONGREGATION

Excerpts from our pastor's sermon at the Installation of the Rev. Sándor Patocs at the First Hungarian Evangelical and Reformed Church in Los Angeles, CA.

I. CHARGE TO THE PASTOR

Sándor! The most important thing a pastor can do is to love his people dearly. It is said that there are at least two models for ministry: the prophet and the pastor.

The prophet is the one who stirs up people, who calls them to repentance; the pastor is the one who heals people, who goes after the lost sheep. I am certain that today in many congregations we need prophets. But knowing us Hungarians, I would say, that before anything else, we need the healing touch of a pastor. A pastor who understands that we are cut off from our roots, separated from our beginnings. We carry a past which is painful, which hurts; we try to adjust to a new life; we are bewildered and wandering. It is true that we too need the strength of prophesy, but please Sándor, be a gentle prophet to us, radiate God’s love and reconciliation to us.

Another model I can offer you Sándor is the function of a bridge. As an ethnic minister you can be a bridge to your people. Most of us live in the continuing conflict of being Americans and Hungarians at the same time. We are at the crossroads of different cultures, different values and different ways of life. As you look around, you will observe mostly older or middle aged people here, and yet we would like to be a church with many young people also. We need a bridge between the generations. Sándor, you are at the crossroads where fathers and sons, the old and the new, the traditional and the experimental can reach for each others’ hands.

In fact, there is something special and Hungarian at this crossroad. In our Hungarian churches here a meeting takes place between the religious and the nonreligious. Most of our people who are under the age of 50, they received very little religious education, in fact we were taught by communist-marxist regimes. I am sure its effects are felt in our attitudes toward religion, even after one escaped from communism.

So in this church Sándor, you will find many people who, under normal circumstances, would not cross the threshold of a church, but because this is a Hungarian church, because there is a Hungarian and a cultural atmosphere here, they will come to this church. Sándor, this gives you a wonderful opportunity to preach the Word of God to them. So lead the people from wherever you find them, — lead everyone in a very individual way, — lead them to God.

I would like to give a double charge, both to the pastor and to the congregation. Consider your work as God’s experiment with Hungarians here in Los Angeles. If you come to think of it, Los Angeles is a major metropolitan city of the world, it is much larger than Budapest. We have presently 8 Hungarian churches here; we have 2 Hungarian weekly newspapers that reach everywhere in the world; there are thousands of Hungarian visitors who come here from Hungary, or from the neighboring countries in Eastern Europe, or from all over the world. So whatever we do here, that will be seen, observed, reported and discussed by Hungarians everywhere. It will have a far reaching effect; we are much more significant than we dare to imagine it. Sizewise we are not larger than a Hungarian village or small town church, but in significance and importance, — because of our geographic location, — we are a major

church among Hungarian churches in the world.

So consider our churches as university laboratories where advanced research work and experiments are going on. We can be examples and beacons for Hungarian churches in the world, even for churches in Hungary itself. In what areas should we experiment, in what areas can we be examples?

I don’t know how many of you realize that you, the local church have such freedom here, that is unheard of in our Hungarian tradition. We do not require the permission of a dean, or a bishop, or the government office of religious affairs. If something we prayerfully decide, and we agree to do it, then we can do it. No one is stopping us.

We can be examples, even to churches in Hungary, as to what it means to be truly ecumenical; we don’t have to wait until the rules are changed “up there.” We can be examples as to the real meaning of local democracy in the church; when things are discussed openly and in love, in order to come to an agreement. We can be beacons as to what it means to be living here and now in this modern world, and at the same time to be faithful to the Word of God.

H. CHARGE TO THE CONGREGATION

I hope that this congregation realizes that, — in the circumstances we are living, — it is a special favor, an extraordinary gift of God, that you were fortunate to find a pastor at all. Many Hungarian congregations in the United States and in other parts of the world, in fact many Hungarian villages are without pastors, or have only apart-time pastor, or someone who is recalled from retirement. I believe that in this country, and perhaps back in Hungary also, the majority of Hungarian ministers age-wise are close to their retirement. It is truly a gift of God to acquire a young Hungarian pastor. Now, I have to qualify that, — Sándor, you and I, we are young only according to Hungarian standards; in American churches we would be middle-aged, but at least according to our standards we are young.

Dear congregation! You’ve got an ambitious, well trained minister, — and like so many other gifts of God, — I do not think that you people necessarily deserve this gift. But God gave it to you, this is an opportunity, so please, appreciate and love your new pastor. Let me give you a few hints as to how to show this appreciation.

I would ask you to give your new pastor plenty of freedom, plenty of room to be himself. I know that almost all of us bear a mental expectation in our heads as to what it should mean to be a minister. These expectations we brought with us from a Hungarian village or city in the

1930s, or 50s, or 60s, and now in 1982 in Los Angeles we say: “If you are a minister, and a Hungarian minister, this is what you ought to be, and you better stay within that framework!” Don’t hang your expectations on the new pastor! Permit him to be a unique child of God. Sándor has his special gifts, talents, individuality, — and yes, he has his special sins and weaknesses, — this makes him a complete human being. Give him time and freedom to grow in his ministry! I can assure you that there is no seminary in the world, nor in Hungary, nor in Romania, nor in the United States, — and there is no prior experience that would prepare anyone to be a Hungarian minister in Los Angeles. So perhaps it would be better if he 'forgot a lot of what he had learned and precticed, and started a new everything. So permit him to make mistakes, permit him to experiment!

Give the minister time to be other than a busybody, like one who is always visiting, always on the phone, always organizing, always picking up things other people have left undone. The minister needs time to pray, to reflect, to read, to study and prepare. The minister needs time to rest and relax; and as a Protestant minister he has a family: a wife and two lovely children. Be sure you give him time to be with his family. What’s the use of saving the world while one’s own family is sacrificed?

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