Calvin Synod Herald, 2001 (102. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2001-01-01 / 1-2. szám

4

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

Elders in the Hungarian Reformed Churches in America

Rev. Albert W. Kovács - Woodbridge, NJ - November 6, 2000

The office of Elder or Presbyter has never been clearly defined in the Church, but reflects everywhere adaptation to the times and local situation where Christ’s churches are found. Leaders in the New Testament churches were known by these names and others according to their function, including also such terms as bishop and deacon, apostles and pastors, teachers and evangelists, probably with considerable overlap. It will not be our purpose here to redefine them, but to speak about the churches’ current leadership, particularly

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But, He said He would be with us wherever we go, and the Holy Spirit will bless our words and endeavors. In fact there are no choices, just one choice, “go into all the world,” and the world for us begins with America.

As Washington wisely discerned, this people cannot “disregard the eternal rules” without dire consequences. We are suffering from them already. Without God we cannot be preserved as a nation and, indeed would not be worth saving. The hymn’s words inspire us to pray for more Light, for the Savior who was born in Bethlehem, so we may be filled with divine inspiration, forsaking ungodly and sinful ways because we have chosen to know and love God even more. It was not without good reason, then, that Abe Lincoln pleaded, “that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom.” This year, as we leave Christmas behind to celebrate Presidents’ Day, all these words from the greatest of them are words for Americans to live by.

Louis Kossuth:

“Cradle of American liberty!” it is a great name; but there is something in it which saddens my heart. You should not say “American liberty”, you should say “liberty in America.” Liberty should not be either American or European, - it should be just “liberty.” God is God. He is neither America’s God nor Europe’s God. He is God. So shall liberty be.

John Greenleaf Whittier:

Our fathers to their graves have gone;

Their strife is past, - their triumph won;

But sterner trials await the race Which rises in their honored place, - A moral warfare with the crime And folly of an evil time.

So let it be. In God’s own might We gird us for the coming fight,

And, strong in Him whose cause is ours In conflict with unholy powers,

We grasp the weapons He has given, - The Light, the Truth, and Love of Heaven.

in the Hungarian Reformed churches gathered in America.

I.

A brief look backward is necessary to clarify the origin of present practices according to the Hungarian tradition and American usage. First, the historical primacy of the clergy in the order for European churches must be recognized, essential to an understanding of the theological and historical roots for the roles of ministers today. But the Reformation brought about a major shift away from hierarchy (in theory if not always in practice, sad to say) to an intentional parity among all ministers. This is visibly underlined in the Hungarian Reformed churches, whose ministers all wear the same basic pleated black robe, no matter special office or calling.

But the Reformation also brought with it a new sense of the laity’s participation in the Church, of equal worth in the sight of God, according to the several and diverse gifts of the Spirit’s apportionment. Yes, equal, but different from the ordained ministers in function, and not to be confused and confounded. In fact, it appears that in some early synods the clergyman’s vote would not count if the Elder from his church or district was absent.

In looking back, we have to recognize the very different political climate of the times in Europe, notably in Hungary, so unlike America which had developed new styles of polity by the time of the great influx of old world Magyars at the turn of the last century. In most of Europe, Hungary included, the landlord great and small - kings and knights, dukes and counts, princes and electors, ispán or grof - owned not only all the land but everything on them, and even the people living in their domains. Churches were built and clergy sustained by the landlords, as patrons whose goodwill and financial support were essential to the existence of even the smallest church. He alone would decide if they would be Roman Catholic, Reformed, Lutherans, etc., or even be allowed to exist at all. So it was natural that they would become the Chief Elders (főgondnok) in each local church, aided perhaps by lesser nobility or freemen and burghers. The ordinary folk, a peasantry of serfs, had no more to say about their church life than they did about their daily life, controlled by benevolent or tyrannical landlords who were not prone to sharing decision making with mere laborers.

II.

But America was another story, a land where all were equal, a lesson quickly learned by the immigrant with the lowest job, and the new Hungarian laborer standing up straight in his newly gained dignity. But not only in work and community was he equal, but in the church as well. In fact there was no landlord to build his church, so he joined hands with others and they built new churches in their neighborhoods. They held the titles to the property themselves, elected and called their own ministers, and sustained their godly work with but