Calvin Synod Herald, 1997 (97. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1997-07-01 / 4. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD- 6 -"GOLDEN THOUGHTS" ON THE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY OF OUR BISHOP'S ORDINATION TO HOLY MINISTRY The Rt. Rev. Dr. Francis Vitéz, serving his fourth year as our beloved bishop, was ordained as a minister in Sárospatak (Hungary) on September 17,1946. His long overdue Celebration was postponed due to his wife’s unexpected illness. He was elected bishop on May 14, 1993, and was solemnly installed at his Perth Amboy (NJ) church on September 19th, 1993. The ever-recurring question: was it an Ordination? An Installation? Solemnization? Consecration? Or What? (Püspök-Szentelés? Vagy Püspök-Beiktatás?) The Magyar Calvin Synod, in its 58- year long history, has had 8 presidents and 7 bishops. At its 19971 Annual Meeting, our Synod in Buffalo (NY) changed the chief-executive’s title of “president” to “bishop”, by one single majority vote. Our present bishop is our 15th chiefexecutive at the helm. We, magyar Calvinists, do not share the views of Rome and the Episcopal Church, stating the bishop’s office as a divine institution with apostolic succession. Our theological and historical background is different. In our own and very distinct style of church government, the office of bishop is the product of historical development. In our Motherland, the office of bishop carried automatic membership in the nation’s Parliament. In our Presbyterian System of governing the churches, the bishop is “primus inter pares” - “first among the equals". The bishop cannot consider himself higher than the other ministers. Even the Canonical Law of our Church declares: “olim idem eratpresbyter, qui et episcopus". In the second century, the “episcopus” separates from “presbyter” and elevates itself over the presbyters and turns into meaning “sacramental priest”. The bishop, therefore, is a sacramental priest in equality with the other sacramental priests - the ministers. Giving the title of bishop in Hungary, by historical development, was pressed by the equality sharing in national government. Here in America, U.C.C. General Synod21 General Synod 21 of the U.C.C. was held in Columbus, Ohio, July 3-8, 1997. Our delegates to the General Synod were Bishop Vitéz, Rev. A. Kovács, Rev. István Nyeste and Irma Carnevale. Zoltán D. Szűcs, former bishop, as a member of the U.C.C. Executive Council, was in attendance, as a participant. Our editor was not be in attendance, however, his videotaped Pension Board message was shown on the screen to the General Synod. Since our publication’s intended purpose is always to convey both the “pros” and “cons” on every U.C.C. issue (indeed on any issue), we took the liberty to print this short presentation in its entirety. I am Stephen Szabó, bishop Em. of the Calvin Synod (Conference of U.C.C.), Pastor Em. of First Hungarian Reformed Church of Cleveland, Ohio. I retired from First Hungarian Church, the very first and largest of our churches in America, in the year of 1983 after 36 years of service in that church. I am extremely grateful to my God for carrying me on the arm of His amazing grace by giving me perfect mental health and physical health throughout the high number of years and I am praying for continued fluidity of the same. I express my sincere thanks to our Pension Boards for issuing my pension checks for already 11 years promptly and regularly each month. God bless General Synod 21 of the U.C.C. for any benevolent action to be taken and also for holding faithfully to the precious “Synod Name”, which is so greatly revered in our Reformed tradition. AMERIKAI MAGYAR REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA by an other historical local development, equality with the Free Reformed Church, which used the title with smaller numbers in the new land of the free. What a coincidence! Our bishop shares the Fiftieth Anniversary of his Ordination with Pope John Paul II in Rome. The present Polish Pope was ordained in Warsaw (Poland) at the same time as our bishop was ordained in Sárospatak (Hungary); not too far from each other even in geographical distance! (This by no means changes the character of any of the two!) Our Calvin Synod Herald has an additional reason to celebrate: Our present bishop was the editor of our oldest publication for fourteen years, from 1968 to 1982. His service in that capacity was immeasurable and extremely high in both quantity and quality. He himself wrote these memorable words during his term as editor: Our paper is a precious jewel in our hands! It’s real worth could only be judged by its absence! It is - indeed - AMERICAN, MAGYAR and REFORMÁTUS. It’s the free world’s free, Hungarian and Reformed voice! DO NOT LET THIS HISTORIC PAPER EVERY DIE! Multos Ad Annos! Soli Deo Gloria! EDITOR’S NOTE: I myself was hit hard on my retirement day, facing the new obligation of paying the medical and dental insurance payments by myself now, which before was done by my congregation. The quarterly payments of more than $1000 through 14 years was an extraordinary burden. Since I was given the opportunity to speak to the General Synod on this occasion, I would like to present a kind of an appeal for changing the existing rules of restricting health insurance payment amount supplementations to a more liberal and satisfying system by removing the heavy burden completely from future retirees. This is one aspect the people of congregations do not realize; not even some future retiring ministers. At this 40th Anniversary of U.C.C., this is one of the facts needing complete realization! QQQ
