Calvin Synod Herald, 2013 (114. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)
2013-07-01 / 7-8. szám
4 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD USA - Canada Diaspora Convene Niagara Falls Hungary Sends Three Officers Little time was spent watching water rushing over Niagara Falls during the meeting of the North American Hungarian Reformed Diaspora Conference, May21-24. The first gathering of its kind brought the scattered Reformed Church family together from Canada, United States, Australia, Romania and Hungary to discuss their common concerns. Many millions with Hungarian heritage live outside the nation’s present boundaries. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has led a new effort to connect with them, the Diaspora who left Hungary for many reasons, and the next generations. More than a hundred years ago, from lack of work, emigres settled in North America’s industrial and mining areas, followed after the World Wars and the ’56 Revolt by refugees from political oppression, who built new lives outside the homeland They took with them their language, culture, values and faith, and many still cherish these ties. Not to be forgotten also are the millions in the countries adjacent to Hungary, their communities handed to other nations after WWI as prizes of war, but who still maintain their Magyar identity, worshipping in the same revered ways and same language, but who are incessantly pressed to forsake it all. Hungary has set up new programs to restore those connections and, while some are attuned to civil and secular groups, it recognizes that the churches are among the strongest of its partners. Hungary’s new Fundamental Law, its Constitution, acknowledges the nation’s historic connection with the Christian churches, and that the values perpetuated by them remain the basis of the nation’s laws and morality. Those values are the same brought with them by the founders of our Hungarian Reformed Churches and, in fact, the founders of the governments of the United States and Canada. The current political situation in Hungary and here is much the same, with the threat of casting off those values and the Judeo-Christian heritage that fostered them, by radical extremists and godless secularists opposing them. It is in the interest of Christians here and in Hungary to partner and work together, united by those same fundamental principles, as without them all our countries will become tragically corrupted. Gathering Friends As the first time together, it was an occasion to celebrate Hungarian Reformed unity on this side of the ocean as well as to reaffirm old bonds with the Church family abroad. The Rev. Zoltán Vass, of Canada, accepted the challenge of arranging a multi-faceted program and for local accommodations, executed with truly commendable thoroughness. From the USA, Bishop Bela Poznan of the Calvin Synod and Bishop Sándor Szabó of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America were joined as participants by Bishop István Csury from Romania. The ministers and laity from Montreal to Vancouver, Connecticut and Florida to Los Angeles and Seattle, as well as distant Australia, met up with the faces behind the names they had often seen only in print, or renewed old friendships. The keynote address for the Conference was provided by the Rev. Zoltán Balog, Hungary’s Minister of Human Resources, and a Reformed Church minister, who suddenly was unable to attend but whose speech was presented by Rev. Vass. On the second day the Conference heard attentively Mr. Zsolt Németh, the Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, also a Reformed Church Elder. The concluding session was addressed by Ms. Zsuzsanna Répás, Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who is a member of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary. The dispatch of these high level officers demonstrates the serious intention of the Hungarian government in fostering ties with the Diaspora, scattered kinfolk nearby and abroad. The Conference was convened in Mount Carmel Monastery on the banks of Niagara Falls, with a beautiful edifying chapel and fine accommodations. Converted to a spiritual retreat house in 1979, it afforded an appropriate atmosphere for the Lord’s people in a meeting of minds, and encouraged an ecumenical sense of the unity of the Church of Jesus Christ across all boundaries. The North American Churches and Hungary The churches on this side of the ocean had different beginnings. While the American immigrants settled largely in mining and industrial communities, many of the Canadian were established later in agricultural areas. However, in the discussions it was realized that the effects of shrinking economic opportunity, with many younger people moving away, had the same practical result in both. In fact, the economic situation in Hungary and its adjacent neighbors brought about a similar effect as well. During a time in the program to divulge their churches’ situation, most spoke of declining membership and their efforts to adapt and sustain their congregational life. A primary object of the conference was to consider those necessary changes for the churches here to adapt to the reality of great changes in their communities since their organization years ago and the present day. Hungary’s participation is an initial endeavor to assist the churches in facing their current day challenges and discovering timely solutions. Simultaneously, their concern with the wellbeing of those people beyond its borders who are of Magyar heritage has brought about new programs to assist them where they live, but also to reestablish their connections with the land of their families’ roots, especially for young people. By this, windows may be opened for them to see a broader world picture, more interesting and informative for generations equipped to live in a global society, to which they can contribute the best values of our Hungarian Reformed churches. In Christ Meet East and West The eyes of Hungary necessarily look to the East as well as the West, and the South and North, where more Hungarians live - several millions of them. The Trianon Treaty, on June 4, 1920, divided up the nation as spoils of war, and left the Hungarians in the newly formed surrounding nations as unwelcome citizens
