Calvin Synod Herald, 1992 (92. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1992-05-01 / 3. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD- 5 —

REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

CALVIN SYNOD vs. the UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST---------------------Rev. Albert W. Kovács--------------------“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels to show that the transcedent power belongs to God and not to us. "

II.Cor. 4:7

(Continuation From Former Issue)

A special Committee of Thirteen (Synod Council and a minister and layman from each classis) was appointed to review this “maximum offer”, and reported begrudgingly in 1963 that Magyar Synod should accept the “maximum offer”, and reported it “came to the conclusion that our present Synodical jurisdiction cannot be charged without our consent.” Depending upon the continuity of good faith in the denomination, it remarked. “The theoretical possibility according to which the General Synod might change the maximum offer at a future time can be naturally disregarded according to the Committee’s understanding in accordance with the promises of proper authorities.” Knowing that words are better put on paper as guarantees, the Committee reiterated the hope that the E&R verbage, “Hungarian congregations may constitute a Hungarian Synod”, “will eventually be included in the Constitution of the United Church of Christ as our churches and their representatives expressed such a rightful desire several times.” With high hopes the Synod suspended negotiations with other Hungarian bodies.

Indeed, President Arpad George commented in 1964, “The six year struggle and fight for our existence has ended at Denver in July, 1963, when the General Synod on the recommendation of the Executive Committee has granted the Magyar Synod a full Conference status, allowing us to govern ourselves by our own laws and to exist without geographical boundaries.” Not only was his view unduly optimistic, in light of current thinking in the UCC leadership, but it may also be erroneous since the General Synod never had the power to bestow life and legitimacy to the Magyar Synod, for that power is vested in the holy churches that have bound themselves together in this Synod.

VI

At a Columbus Day celebration by American-Italians in New Jersey this year, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Politan said: “We must fight to preserve our ethnic identity. To me, America is not and should not be a melting pot. It is a tapestry made of distinct, vibrant strands. It is a tapestry that remains strong only to the extent that its people remain united as a nation, but individually and culturally diverse.

In an era when the emphasis is on introducing black history and to hire bilingual Hispanic workers, why is it necessary for American-Hungarians to surrender their linguistic and cultural history and to deny their unique gifts to the Church? In words that were far ahead of their time, the Calvin Synod’s predecessors declared in 1960: “We honestly endeavor to be a color in the rainbow in the United Church of Christ within the framework of the Magyar Synod, rather than an unwilling material in an ecclesiastical melting pot without Magyar Synod.”

UCC President Paul Sherry has suggested that an important “challenge is to find appropriate structures for faithful ministry as we move toward the 21st Century.” We would suggest that one of these is that the UCC reject its outdated insistence that all Local Churches, Associations and Conferences must be copycat sausages that think, look and act alike, and that it accord in its Constitution the rightful place of Calvin Synod in the polity of the UCC. The oft-celebrated diversity in the UCC

should start here, being long overdue after more than thirty years of pressure and resistance.

VII

However, the question of “Calvin Synod vs. the United Church of Christ” is not one of ethnic identity versus geographical assimilation. That same Magyar Synod, in 1960, contended: “We do not want integration or Americanization — which neither can be hindered or accelerated anyhow — to be the primary concern in the process of this union, when witnessing for Christ should claim the undisputed first place in His Church.” Indeed, the real crux of the problem we face is a markedly different view of what witnessing for Christ means.

CALVIN SYNOD vs UCC

In his report as President of the Synod, Dr. Stephen Szabó warned against making the issue of assimilation paramount, which could distract from the fundamental differences. He said: “An impatient integrationalism, which does not recognize historical and natural processes or even contractual rights, is painful enough for us as it is, and yet it is even more painful for us to realize that the new proposed constitution of the United Church of Christ eliminates the characteristically Reformed doctrines and fundamental governmental principles of the Geneva Reformation, so dear to the hearts and minds of our people.”

“We are not opposed to church unions! In fact we do desire to participate in greater church unions with our honest and true intentions; but we do not believe in church unions at any price, which seems to be the hysteric symptom of our age. We cannot surrender what is considered to be our essence and the foundation of our ex-